Decent work for all

Unite Scotland community and youth activists will tell delegates to the Scottish Labour Party spring conference tomorrow (March 19) that growing trade union membership is the remedy to the rise of precarious work and anti-trade union legislation.

The call comes as the union ramps-up its ‘Decent Work for All’ campaign, which has seen increasing pressure brought to bear on zero hour contract employers like Sports Direct and the G1 Group and the fight against the progress of the Tory Trade Union Bill.

Delegates will hear from young people who have worked on zero hour contracts of employment and will watch a campaign video about how organised unions can help defeat the UK government’s anti-trade union agenda.

Earlier this month the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reported a 15 per cent increase in in zero hour contracts of employment across the UK in the last two years, directly affecting an estimated 56,000 Scots.

The fight against precarious work and the anti-union bill should be seen as one and the same because both are a direct attack on democracy and dignity at work,” said Unite community organiser Jamie Caldwell.

“A living wage, job security, guaranteed hours, personal development and the right to collective representation should be basic tenets of modern work but that’s not the case for tens of thousands of people across Scotland today,” he added.

“We need a radical re-think about how we are going to return economic prosperity and tackle the many inequalities across our labour market and society but we will never achieve that with a suppressive ‘race to the bottom’ agenda – that’s the road to ruin.

“Our youth activists will deliver hard-hitting testimony about what life is like on a zero hour contract, the physical and mental detriment caused by these insecurities of modern work and how a new wave of anti-trade union laws will only exacerbate the problem,” Caldwell went on to say.

“The remedy is a growing and organised trade union movement across Scotland and the rest of the UK, capturing young workers today across precarious work sectors like retail and hospitality as well as setting an example for future generations.”