Yorkshire MPs must push No.10 to extend JRS and save jobs, says TUC

Commenting on the latest employment figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today (Tuesday), which show around 740,000 fewer paid employees in work in the UK than before the pandemic, and 60% drop in job vacancies in Yorkshire alone, TUC Regional Secretary Bill Adams said:   

“The alarm bells couldn’t be ringing any louder. Yorkshire MPs must push their government to act now to protect and create jobs.

“That means extending the job retention scheme for businesses with a viable future who can’t operate because of virus restrictions. It means investing in the jobs we need for the future in green industries, social care and across the public sector. And it means ensuring a decent safety net is in place to help those who lose their jobs get back on their feet. 

“Yorkshire’s recovery is hamstrung by a broken public transport system, lack of infrastructure, and top down Whitehall decision making that has led to empty promises of a green investment boom.

“The government needs to commit millions of pounds in more funding to support new mass transit networks for West and South Yorkshire; and to allow local authorities to take control of their bus services. Without this, it doesn’t matter where you create the jobs if workers can’t get to them.

“Investment in shovel ready projects for a green recovery needs to be more than just a soundbite. Local government needs more support from the Treasury to ensure these infrastructure projects, creating high quality, sustainable jobs and access to skills training, become a reality."

“The more people in work the faster our economy will recover from this crisis.”

Zero-hours contracts 

And commenting on ONS figures also published today that show the number of people on zero-hours contracts in Yorkshire has risen by 25 per cent to 89,000 (a rise of 18,000 on 2019 figures) TUC Regional Secretary Bill Adams said: 

“It’s shocking that we’re now approaching 100,000 people on zero-hours contracts in our region.

“We’ve got almost 20,000 more people who don’t how they are going to feed their kids tonight.

“Many of those on zero hour contracts are the key workers who worked through the pandemic but still face the uncertainty of not knowing when their next shift will be. 

“Government must ban zero-hours contracts now.” 

ENDS