Trade unions are piling pressure on Sir Keir Starmer not to row back on Labour’s workers’ rights package in search of economic growth, warning that hundreds of thousands of zero-hours workers are stuck under current rules.
The Trades Union Congress, the voice of Britain’s unions, said one in 12 of the workers have been with their current employer for more than a decade, while almost half have been in the same job for more than two years.
And highlighting what it calls “a nightmare for families”, the TUC said Labour’s Employment Rights Bill, introduced to Parliament in October, was desperately needed.
The bill aims to crack down on insecure work and includes a ban on what it describes as exploitative zero-hours contracts, also known as casual contracts, under which employers do not guarantee a minimum number of hours for employees.
The prime minister is under pressure from Tory leader Kemi Badenoch over the union reform and workers’ rights package in the employment bill as she claimed it would undermine economic growth.
And Fire Brigades Union (FBU) general secretary Steve Wright has warned Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir not to water down the package of reforms as part of the government’s push to get the economy moving.
On Monday, the TUC said the employment rights bill will “deliver the economic reset working people desperately need”.
It pointed to previous polling showing that eight in 10 zero-hours contract workers wanted regular hours of work.
The study of official figures showed there were more than a million workers on zero-hours contracts, with the TUC warning of an “insecure work epidemic”. The trade union body warned that those arguing against change are ignoring the evidence and the impact that insecure work has on working people’s lives.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Zero-hours contracts give bosses almost total control of workers’ earning power and hours, making it a nightmare for families to plan budgets and childcare.
“As we have seen with recent scandals, these precarious contracts make it far too easy for managers to bully and harass staff frightened about losing shifts.
“I would challenge any boss to try and survive for a few months on a zero-hours contract, not knowing from week to week how much work they will have – let alone a decade.
“After 14 years of Conservative decline, the era of low rights, low pay and low productivity has been tested to destruction.”
The Conservatives overnight repeated their attacks on Labour’s employment rights bill, warning that “companies are being crushed under Labour’s huge increase of new regulations”.
“Unfortunately for millions of people up and down the country a vast amount of damage has now been done,” shadow chancellor Mel Stride said.
