Labour can cure the zero hours plague, says Unite

The union Unite is pressing for decisive policies to halt the 'alarming rise' in insecure working. Making the call at Labour's summit on zero hours working this week, the union said a zero hours 'plague' is gripping workers across the UK. It says among the estimated one million people with no fixed income or fixed hours are 999 call handlers. With 80 per cent of central government cuts yet to be implemented, Unite says it fears that ever more people will be plunged into vulnerable working as publicly-run services are slash. Steve Turner, Unite director for executive policy and the union's delegate at the 20 August summit, said: 'The zero hours plague has mutated out-of-control under the Tories' policy of cuts and contracting out. With the right policies, Labour can show working people that it is on their side and determined to do better by them. One thing we would want to hear from all political parties is not a single penny of taxpayers' money is spent supporting employers who marginalise working people.' He added: 'This is the seventh richest nation on the planet, yet it has more than a million people not knowing what or if they will earn from week to week... Zero hours leads to debt, anxiety and insecurity and this practice is on the rise. Labour needs to act fast to formulate its policy and put secure working at the heart of our communities to make them stronger, more secure and better off.' Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said a future Labour government would not ban zero hours contracts but he was exploring ways of reducing their use, such as establishing a statutory code of practice or forcing employers to offer workers permanent contracts after a certain period. He said: 'The huge spike in the use of zero hours contracts has brought increased reports of abuses and bad practice. There should be zero tolerance of such abuse.'

Unite news release.

Chuka Umunna news release.

BBC News Online.

New Statesman.