Zero tolerance

Unite delegate Suki Sangha today (Wednesday September 16) spoke at TUC conference on young people and the challenges they face today in and outside of work.

“The threat of eviction and bullying bosses are the two biggest fears which consume young people’s lives,” said Suki.

This is the reality for millions of young people across the UK trapped in insecure zero hours contacts and buckling under the pressure of daily life.

Today’s young people need social housing, decent jobs and a living wage. Not, Suki argued, benefit cuts, which only punish the most vulnerable for a crisis they didn’t create.

“I want to be clear that this motion cannot be about pitting one set of worker against another – the young against the old,” she said.

“We need to focus on the creation of new jobs for our young but also challenge this disgraceful drive towards forcing people to work until they die,” she added.

Taking on exploitative employers has always been one of the union’s biggest challenges.

“We must confront the employers who believe it’s acceptable to bring in younger staff on lower wages, who use modern apprenticeship programmes as a form of cheap labour with no opportunity for permanent work,” said Suki.

“The UK’s economy should not dictate that being under 18 means less of an hourly rate,” she added.

But now more than ever, the unions biggest challenge is with the government, who pass weak employment laws, which allows bad bosses to abuse vulnerable workers.

“How dare this government and employers tell a young mother working in the care sector that her labour is worth less, that her rights are more easily abused and that her child’s hunger is less of a priority than the child of a colleague five years older,” said Suki.

Unite’s young workers are leading our Decent Work for All campaign because they recognise more than anyone the disproportionate impact of precarious work on young people.

But at the same time they know that in order to win, we need to stand together regardless of age.

The Scottish TUC’s Better Than Zero Campaign is also working across all sections of the union movement to expose bad bosses.

“Our campaign is about saying young workers are better than the zero concern given to them by their employers,” said Suki.

“Better than Zero is a statement of intent. Better than Zero means zero tolerance towards insecure and precarious work,” she added.

Young people today undoubtedly face huge challenges. But the responsibility to make the challenge doesn’t lie solely with the youth.

“We need solidarity and support from older members in our movement,” said Suki.

“The simple truth is that if they destroy our spirit and life chances today, who will be there to fight for our class tomorrow,” she added.