NEW figures released on Wednesday show that at least 1.4 million workers in Britain are enduring the modern day form of slave labour exploitation known as ‘zero-hours contracts’.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a marked increase on estimates last year that ranged from between 250,000 and one million. In summary, the ONS report found: ‘There is no legal definition of “zero-hours contracts”.’
‘Consequently,’ the ONS continued, ‘different groups and bodies will not only measure the number of such contracts in different ways, they will also have different perceptions of what should be included as “zero-hours contracts”.
‘Significantly, the perceptions of employers and employees on what constitutes a particular type of contract will differ. Also, estimates from both employers and employees may be influenced by their level of awareness of such contracts.
‘However, as Section 2 of the Government’s consultation on zero-hours contracts sets out: “In general terms, a zero-hours contract is an employment contract in which an employer does not guarantee the individual any work and the individual is not obliged to accept any work offered”.
‘So although various bodies and surveys use slightly different definitions, there is the common factor of a lack of a guaranteed minimum number of hours of work.
‘In meeting its intention to produce an estimate of the number of “zero-hours contracts” from a business survey, ONS has concluded that the most useful definition to use is contracts that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours, rather than “zero-hours contracts” and that it should be designated in that way.
‘This includes, but is not exclusively, “zero-hours contracts” and will include some other contract types that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours.
‘The provisional estimate from the ONS survey of 5,000 businesses indicates that in January to February 2014 there were around 1.4 million employee contracts that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours, which provided work in the survey reference period of the fortnight beginning 20 January 2014. This is the official ONS estimate based on a survey of businesses.’
On Wednesday, the day the ONS released its survey, the trade union leaderships issued statements which were really just a pale reflection of their members’ anger over ‘Zero-Hours Slavery’.
Paul Kenny GMB General Secretary said: ‘The growing recognition of the extent of exploitation of workers on contracts that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours is welcome and must lead to action to tackle it.
‘What is yet not recognised is the extent to which people working on such contracts are blighted in terms of getting credit, entering into rental agreements etc. There has to be an end of exclusivity clauses, minimum hours should be specified in contracts and workers should have the right to claim deemed contractual hours on the basis of their average hours over any 12 week period.
‘The reason we have seen a growth in these precarious forms of employment contracts is that those at the top are getting more than their fair share of the income from employment. The share of income from labour in the UK going to the top 1% of earners has nearly doubled from 7% in 1970 to 13% in 2011.
‘Before the recession the top 1% of earners were raking in over 15% of all pay. This doubling of the share to the top 1% is leaving less money for the pay of the rest of the workforce. The lesson from history is that Government has to use the tax system to deter employers paying excessive pay.
‘If the marginal tax rate for earnings above £1m a year is raised to 80% there would be a dramatic drop in numbers getting paid that amount. That would leave more for the rest like those on zero hours.
‘This would help the economy get back to pre-recession levels as we have a very long way to go to climb out of the hole caused by the recession. Given the increase in population GDP per head is still 5.8% below 2007 levels. This is the root cause of average earnings being down 13.8% in real terms since then.’
The University and College Union (UCU) said zero-hours contracts deny staff the financial security or stability to operate on a month-to-month basis and deny students continuity with their teachers.
In September, UCU released a report that showed that over half of colleges and universities used zero-hours contracts.
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: ‘Without a guaranteed income, workers on zero-hours contracts are unable to make financial or employment plans on a year-to-year, or even month-to-month basis.
‘The use of zero-hours and other temporary contracts in education is far more prevalent than many people realise. These contracts deny staff full employee status and key employment rights, while students miss out on a lack of continuity and often receive reduced access to staff employed on minimal hours.’
UCU will be highlighting the issue of zero-hours and other forms of temporary contracts on its anti-casualisation day next Wednesday (7th May). PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘Despite the government and its supporters trumpeting a recovery, these shocking figures are further proof of the weakness of our economy.
‘Unemployment remains high and millions of people in work are being forced into insecure jobs for low pay. Instead of being complacent about a rise in zero hour contracts and bogus self employment, ministers must invest to create real, sustainable jobs and put money back into people’s pockets.’
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: ‘Zero hours contracts are trapping at least 1.4 million people in a world of insecure, low paid work, where your future income is dependent on the whim of your boss.
‘It is clear that that workers in the UK need stronger legal protection – not less as the government claims – to protect them against abuses. They need legal rights to challenge abuses and not be charged £1,200 to take a case to an employment tribunal.
‘It is time for ministers to take action and ensure that all goods and services that government departments procure should be from outside organisations and companies that don’t use zero hours contracts.
‘The national minimum wage (NMW) of £6.31 an hour needs to be raised by £1.50 an hour as some zero hours contract workers are not getting the NMW. Tough enforcement is also needed to ensure that the NMW is paid to all workers, whether they are on zero hours contracts or not.’
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: ‘Zero-hours contracts have always been around but they were once confined to tiny areas of the labour market, and seen as a way to keep staff on even when work dried up.
‘But casualised work is becoming more popular, even as the economy recovers. Companies like Sports Direct have put huge numbers of staff on zero hours contracts, even as they expand and pay bonuses to senior staff.
‘Employers like to argue that zero-hours contracts offer flexibility but for many workers they mean poverty pay and no way of knowing how often they’ll be working from one week to the next.
”Replacing vulnerable zero hours contracts with more secure employment will be a key test of whether this recovery is reaching hard-pressed workers. In the meantime, the government should legislate to prevent the abuse of zero-hours contracts by bad employers.’
Zero-hours contracts are indeed modern slave labour – Unite actually quotes estimates that, far from 1.4 million workers being forced onto them, up to five million workers in the UK may already be on them.
The TUC must take action to defeat them now – it is a disgrace for the TUC leader to claim that zero-hours contracts have ‘always existed’ and to appeal to the government to legislate against ‘bad employers’.
General strike action is required to defeat them and the TUC must be made to move from the policy of ‘investigating the practicalities of a general strike’, passed at Congress two years ago, forward to actually calling that General Strike to bring down this slave labour government now.
