Ban zero hours contracts call

While many had predicted that zero-hours contracts (ZHCs) would diminish as the economy picked up again following the financial crisis, successive annual figures show that these work arrangements are, in fact, becoming a permanent feature of the labour market.

 

The latest Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures out today (September 8) show that, far from abating, the use of ZHCs, a type of contract which offers no minimum guaranteed hours each week, is growing relentlessly – the number of people whose main job is on a zero-hours contract has jumped 20 per cent in the last year alone.

 

Now, nearly one million people – 903,000 – are on such contracts, up from 747,000 in the same period in 2015.

 

The total number of contracts stands at 1.7m contracts – far greater than the headline figure of 903,000 because so many people cobble together more than one contract to make ends meet.

Proponents of zero-hours contracts say that they offer workers flexibility and that they are mostly used temporarily by, for example, students who want to earn extra money.

 

But new research from the Resolution Foundation has found that more and more people are stuck in zero-hours contracts in the long-term – in fact, 70 per cent of those over 25 who are on ZHCs are on them for over a year.

 

“The fact that the use of zero-hours contracts has grown – and the prime minister has chosen to highlight the issue of job insecurity in her maiden speech – mean that they need far closer, and more measured, scrutiny,” said Resolution Foundation policy analyst Conor D’Arcy.

 

“Many workers who are on a zero-hours contract want more stability, reliable hours and greater protection. Helping them get this should be a priority of this government.”

 

Unite and other organisations are going further and calling on prime minister Theresa May to step up to the plate and use legislation to ban the contracts which are bringing nothing but a miserable existence of job insecurity to so many.

 

Sharp rise

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said that the sharp rise in the numbers of people reliant on zero hours work points to “an economy which is increasingly being built on precarious work with more and more workers not knowing from one week to the next whether they will be able to pay the bills.

 

“Since the Conservatives unleashed their austerity on working people in 2010, insecure, poorly rewarded work has risen three-fold,” he highlighted. “This is the real story of the Conservatives and their stewardship of the economy – growing numbers of people trapped in the daily worry of not knowing if they will have work or can keep a decent roof over their family’s head.

 

McCluskey hailed the government of New Zealand, which earlier this year moved to ban the contracts in an historic decision.

 

“As New Zealand has shown governments do not have to sit on the side-lines when it comes to tackling exploitation,” he said. “They can outlaw zero hours contracts.”

 

“Prime minister Theresa May now needs to prove true to her word about supporting working people by setting out her plan to rid working people of the twin curses of insecurity and low paid work,” McCluskey added.

 

“Let’s see the UK government follow the lead of their counterparts in New Zealand and ban the use of zero hours contracts as part of a plan to halt the tide of insecure low paid work.”

 

As working people wait for the government to take a stand against the exploitative contracts, trade unions, in particular Unite, have taken the lead on pilling on the pressure on employers to end them.

Most recently, after a concerted campaign from Unite, retail giant Sports Direct announced this week that it would end zero-hours contracts for shop staff.

 

Although much work still needs to be done to secure better working conditions for Sports Direct workers, particularly warehouse workers who must continue on zero-hours contracts, the campaign itself showed what can be accomplished – short of legislation – by using media and political pressure to cow bad bosses into changing their ways.

 

Unite members working for libraries in the local authority of Greenwich mounted an industrial campaign last year including several days of strike action, which eventually caused the social enterprise employing them to significantly cut back on their use of zero-hours contracts.

 

Celtic FC

The latest battle in the fight against zero-hours contracts is being waged right now against Celtic FC.

The Unite Youth Committee in Scotland has written to the football club, long known for its community spirit, to end its use of zero hour contracts.  Unite understands some Celtic employees are on ZHCs, particularly its retail staff. Celtic FC is also currently advertising roles on zero-hours contracts.

 

In response, the youth committee is seeking a meeting with Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell, outlined in a recent letter.

 

“The Unite Youth Committee is acutely aware of the proud history that Celtic FC has and its historical traditions,” the letter read.  “From its inception as a football club ‘formed for the maintenance of dinner tables for the children and the unemployed’, to its outstanding community outreach and social mobility programmes, Celtic FC has the proud reputation of being more than just a club.

 

“However, the use of exploitative zero hours contracts contradicts the proud tradition of Celtic FC of being a vehicle of social mobility and social justice,” the letter continued.

 

“Being trapped within a zero hours lifestyle; by not knowing when you will next get another wage; by not knowing if you have enough money to survive until the next shift is in complete opposition to the values ingrained within the traditions of Celtic FC.”

 

Unite’s campaigning against zero hours contracts is part of a wider campaign fighting for decent work for all, called Fight for Five, in which the union has identified the five things that all working people should expect from their jobs. These include a decent wage, a safe workplace, guaranteed hours of work each week, training and development opportunities as well as strong union representation.

 

Find out more here.