Labour’s New Deal urgently needed to tackle insecure work in North East – TUC

• Tory legacy means 1 in 8 workers in the North East are currently in ‘insecure’ employment that offers little or no security, says union body
• Union body says New Deal for Working People “urgently” needed to lift living standards for working families in the region
• Employment Rights Bill set to bring vital protections for tens of thousands in North East, says TUC

Labour’s New Deal, which will be delivered through the Employment Rights Bill announced in Wednesday’s King’s Speech, is vital to lifting living standards in the North East, says the TUC today (Monday).

New analysis by the union body shows that one in eight (12.6%) of workers in the region are now in insecure work, following years of failed Tory government.

The analysis of official statistics shows there are now around 152,600 people in the North East in precarious employment – such as zero-hours contracts, low-paid self-employment and casual/seasonal work.

Labour’s Employment Rights Bill – which the new government has committed to introduce within its first 100 days – will help these workers by banning zero-hours contracts and giving workers employment rights from day one of the job.

“Explosion” in insecure work

TUC analysis published last month found that across the country, the number of people in insecure work has reached a record high of 4.1 million.

The number of people in insecure work increased by nearly one million between 2011 and 2023, under Conservatives.

Over that period insecure work rose nearly three times faster than secure forms of employment. While the numbers in insecure work increased by 31%, those in secure employment increased by just 11%.

Insecure work pay penalty

Today’s TUC analysis also shows that people in insecure work face a severe pay penalty compared to other workers.

People on zero-hours contracts earn over a third (35%) less an hour, on average, than workers on median pay.

And the pay gap between workers in seasonal (-33%) and casual (-37%) work and median earners is also stark.

New Deal can be a “game changer”

The TUC says the huge rise in insecure and low-paid work under the Tories chaotic stewardship of the economy highlights the urgency of boosting workers’ rights and making work pay.

The union body says Labour’s New Deal for Working People can be a “game changer” - providing the biggest upgrade in workers’ rights in a generation.

And the TUC says the New Deal has the support of business.

In April the Chartered Management Institute polling of managers revealed strong support for key New Deal policies: 

• More than four in five (82%) managers said granting workers fundamental day one rights was important. 
• Around three in four (74%) managers said a ban on zero-hours contracts was important.
• Around three in four (74%) managers said the publication of ethnicity and disability pay gaps was important.

Vital protections on sick pay

TUC analysis also show that nearly 300,000 working people in the North East would benefit from making Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) available from day one of sickness – another New Deal policy.

The analysis shows that if the law was changed 287,000 employees in the region would be able to claim SSP from their first day of illness instead of having to wait until the fourth day of illness before getting any support.

This is over a quarter (26%) of all employees in the North East – and in some local authorities the proportion who will benefit is even higher.

TUC Regional Secretary Liz Blackshaw said:

“Everyone in the North East needs a decent job they can build a life on.

“But over the last 14 years of failed Tory government, we have seen an explosion in insecure, low-paid work.

“Often workers in these jobs are lower paid, have fewer workplace rights, and no guarantee of shifts so they can’t plan their budgets or childcare.

“Labour’s election victory is the chance to the turn the page and usher in a fresh start for hard-pressed families in the region.

“The new government’s plan to boost workers’ rights – and make work pay – can be a game changer for this region.

“This is a historic opportunity to set the North East on course for a better future. We must grab it.”

The government’s plan to make work pay includes commitments to: 

✓ Ban zero hours contracts
✓ End fire and rehire
✓ Strengthen sick pay
✓ Give workers employment rights from day one of the job
✓ Give workers stronger rights to flexible working
✓ End lower minimum wage rates for young people so they get the full rate
✓ Introduce ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting
✓ Grant workers new rights to unionise and win better pay