BME workers have faced “triple whammy” of threats during pandemic, says TUC
Commenting on statistics published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today (Monday), which show the social impact of coronavirus on different ethnic groups in the UK, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:
“BME workers have faced a triple whammy of threats during the pandemic.
“Today’s figures show that BME workers were less likely to earning enough before the pandemic to avoid hardship during lockdown.
“BME workers are more likely be in low-paid, insecure jobs, where they have been more exposed to coronavirus and more likely to die.
“Today we learned that BME workers’ mental health has suffered the most during the Covid-19 outbreak.
“The pandemic has exposed the structural racism of the UK’s economy yet again. It is past time for the government to act.”
- The ONS stats are available at: www.ons.gov.uk/releases/coronavirusandtheimpactsondifferentethnicgroupsintheuk
- The TUC has convened an anti-racism task force that met for the first time last week. For more information please visit: www.tuc.org.uk/news/tuc-1-3-bme-workers-have-had-self-isolate-during-covid-19-pandemic
- Research published by the TUC in September revealed that BME workers have been over-represented in jobs with higher Covid-19 death rates: www.tuc.org.uk/news/bme-workers-have-been-asked-shoulder-more-risk-during-pandemic-says-tuc
- The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together more than 5.5 million working people who make up our 48 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living.
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