date: Tuesday 20 April 2004 embargo: 00.01 Friday 23 April 2004

Attention: News, Industrial, Social Affairs, Forward Planning, Ethnic media

Jobs prospects for black workers get worse

Racism is still blighting the lives of Britain’s black workers, despite the success of government employment schemes like the New Deal, which have not benefited black workers as much as their white counterparts. The TUC is calling on the Government to introduce extra measures to reverse this trend, including legally requiring all employers in the private and voluntary sectors to promote good race relations in their organisations. Such a legal requirement already exists for public sector employers.

In a new report 'Moving on . . . How Britain’s unions are tackling racism' the TUC reveals that despite sustained, record low unemployment among the white population at 4.4 per cent, among black and Asian people unemployment is two and half times greater at 11.3 per cent. This position is worse than in 1990 and confirms the trend reported by the General Household Survey that unemployment rates have got worse for second generation British born descendents of immigrants. These figures hide the specific problems for some ethnic minorities such as Bangladeshis whose unemployment rate is currently one in five (20.4 per cent).

The report, which is launched on the opening day of the TUC’s Black Workers’ conference, argues that it is essential for the New Deal projects to benefit black and Asian workers as much as white workers. At present the New Deal for young people provides 10 per cent fewer sustained jobs for black and Asian than for white people.

Brendan Barber , TUC General Secretary, said: 'Black and Asian workers have not gained equally from Britain’s expanding economy compared to the white workers. To begin to reverse this trend the Government’s New Deal, welfare-to-work strategy, must become even more effective. Unions give a high priority to equality at work and we are working in partnership with many employers and the Government to establish fairness. But racism is still rife in too many of Britain’s workplaces.'

The TUC’s report reveals that the New Deal for Young People has a worse record in finding jobs for young bIack workers in London and the Midlands than in Britain’s other nine regions. This problem is particularly acute as a very high proportion of Britain’s ethnic minorities live in London and the Midlands. Nearly 150,000 black and minority ethnic young people passed through the New Deal by the end of September 2003. Of these nearly half (69,660) were from London. But just 31 per cent of New Deal leavers in London have left for sustained jobs - the worst performance of any region. The national average is 38.4 per cent. Black and minority ethnic young people would almost certainly benefit if overall New Deal performance could be improved in London and the West Midlands.

The TUC report 'Moving on . . . How Britain’s unions are tackling racism' also shows how five unions are coming up with solution to black workers’ problems. The case study of shop workers USDAW shows how they are promoting anti-racism through their 'Racism is no Joke' project in union education programmes. Film and television industry union, BECTU reports on 'Move on Up' - the biggest single equality and diversity event in their industry. The event was a practical example of the benefit of unions working in partnership with employers to tackle under-representation and inequality.

Public sector union, Unison, is among the first unions to endorse a race equality scheme based on the requirements of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. There is no legal requirement on trade unions to adopt such schemes, but the case study shows how the scheme will impact on the union.

The Nationwide Group Staff Union has taken steps to make sure that its own organisation is more reflective of its diverse membership. One of a series of equality advisory groups established by the union was for ethnic minority members. The case study shows the practical steps that can be taken to establish these structures. The case study from private sector union, Amicus, shows how the union is attempting to secure wider recognition for workplace equality reps.

The TUC Black Workers’ Conference takes place this week on Friday 23, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 April at the Riviera Centre in Torquay. Speakers include Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary; Roger Lyons, TUC President; Glyn Ford MEP; and Steve Silver from Searchlight.

Notes to Editors:

- Advance copies of the report are available on request from the TUC press office.

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pre-embargo releases and reports from the TUC. Visit www.tuc.org.uk/pressextranet

Contacts:

Media enquiries: Mike Power 020 7467 1287 or 07900 914 322 (mobile) or email mpower@tuc.org.uk Other enquiries: Roger McKenzie 020 7467 1259 or 07879 497 291 (mobile) or rmckenzie@tuc.org.uk

Press release (900 words) issued 23 Apr 2004