This International Workers Day, our director of grants Klara Skrivankova outlines the harsh employment conditions faced by some of the UK's least protected workers. Workers propping up many of our essential services like health and social care. With a new Employments Rights Bill and Fair Work Agency under development, is hope for a better reality on the horizon?
A few years ago, I spent a night shift with workers in a large warehouse of a well-known brand just before Christmas. It was peak season and at 1am the workers were incredibly busy. I spoke with men and women from four different countries, all picking and packing goods through the night. When asked how the work was, they made no effort to hide the reality – no guaranteed hours (known as the zero hours contract), no sick pay and supervisors known for dismissing people on a whim. For many, I was the first person who had ever asked them about their working conditions.
The hourly pay was decent enough. That, and the promise of overtime, kept them going, even if the job came with deep insecurity. They were willing to put up with it, because they felt they had no right to complain.
I still hear stories like that today. What’s changed is that now there’s a real opportunity to do something about. A draft of the Employment Rights Bill is making its way through the Parliament. If done right, it could rebalance our labour market and protect some of the most...
Business The Managing Director of PWAN Plus Business Concerns Ltd, Prof. Julius Oyedemi has refuted allegations made by social media influencer, Scott Iguma, over the ownership and allocation of la...