- Conference
- 2014 National Black Members' Conference
- Date
- 1 October 2013
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference, since the coalition have taken power there has been mass redundancies, with many jobs being frozen and those who have survived are facing massive attacks on pay and conditions and threats of zero hour contracts. Black workers appear to be disproportionately affected by this.
Government figures suggest there are approximately 250,000 people on zero hour contracts. However the realistic figure suggested by The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development research is approximately a million people working on zero hour contracts.
Zero hour contracts offers no guaranteed hours of employment and employers can call upon workers at short notice and lay them off at any time without any warning. An employer has no obligation to the workers and operates a ‘one way traffic’ system. This allows workers to be exploited.
Those employed on Zero hour contacts in comparison to fixed contract employees receive lower gross weekly pay, can be called up for work at short notice which add strain on family life and disrupt care arrangements, are more susceptible to unfair treatment as they have no employment rights and are made to work in unsafe conditions with constant fear of been sacked. This can also affect certain benefits entitlement, such as working tax credits.
There is a disproportionately high impact on Black women workers, who are more likely to work in home care and other vulnerable employment, and who are likely to also have caring responsibilities that restrict their ability to be flexible, which therefore jeopardises their already unequal relationship with the employer.
Conference, the prevalence of zero hour contracts is higher amongst young Black people than any other groups with 37% of those employed on such contracts aged between 16 and 24; 41% of Black people who are employed in the Homecare Sector are believed to be affected by Zero hour contracts. People are being forced to work on zero hour contracts because they have no choice and due to the present economic climate.
Conference, therefore calls on the NBMC to work with UNISON to:
1)Have a strategy to promote an effective campaign to end zero hour contracts alongside other self-organised groups, service groups and Trade unions
2)Work with Labour link and the General Political Fund to lobby MPs for safeguards to be introduced to improve the rights of workers on zero hour contracts.
3)Raise awareness of the disproportionate impact on Black women workers in particular of the increased use of zero hours contracts.