McCluskey demands ban as use of zero hours contracts soars to nearly 1 million

Len McCluskey today demanded Tory minister stop “sitting on the sidelines” and take action to ban zero hours contracts as new figures showed a sharp rise in their use.

The Unite general secretary spoke out after official data showed the number of people working on zero hours contracts has leapt to nearly one million.

The rising tide of insecure work was demonstrated when the number of people on the controversial contracts rose to 903,000 between April and June, up by 156,000 on the same period last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The 21 per cent rise reignites debate about use of zero hours, which former Labour leader Ed Miliband put at the centre of his election manifesto last year with a pledge to ban “exploitative” contracts.

Today McCluskey blamed six years of Tory spending cuts for the spike in the use of zero hours contracts.

“This sharp rise in the numbers of people reliant on zero hours work points to an economy which is increasingly being built on precarious work with more and more workers not knowing from one week to the next whether they will be able to pay the bills,” said the leader of Britain’s biggest union.

“Since the Conservatives unleashed their austerity on working people in 2010, insecure, poorly rewarded work has risen three-fold. This is the real story of the Conservatives and their stewardship of the economy –  growing numbers of people trapped in the daily worry of not knowing if they will have work or can keep a decent roof over their family’s head.”

The issue is sure to come up – alongside the protection of workplace rights amid Brexit – when workers’ groups converge on Britain for Trades Union Congress next week.

McCluskey has also called on the Tories to learn from other advanced economies which have banned zero hours contracts.

“As New Zealand has shown governments do not have to sit on the sidelines when it comes to tackling exploitation. They can outlaw zero hours contracts,” he said.

“Prime minister Theresa May now needs to prove true to her word about supporting working people by setting out her plan to rid working people of the twin curses of insecurity and low paid work.

“Let’s see the UK government follow the lead of their counterparts in New Zealand and ban the use of zero hours contracts as part of a plan to halt the tide of insecure low paid work.”

Debbie Abrahams, shadow Work and Pensions secretary, said: “The scale of the crisis of insecure work under the Tories is getting worse with every passing year. 

“Before the 2015 election the Tories promised to act on zero-hours contracts, but these numbers show that was nothing more than words. A record 903,000 British workers cannot be certain of the number of hours they are going to work one week to another, with the numbers increasing by a fifth since last year and by five-fold since 2010.

“This is on the back of cuts to universal credit that will result in 2.5 million working families being an average of £2,100 worse off, hitting people in insecure low paid work the hardest. On top of this, there are worrying reports of people on zero-hours contracts reliant on social security support who are being subject to “in-work conditionality” and unfairly sanctioned.

“Only Labour will tackle the crisis of insecure work and provide the secure, high skilled, well paid jobs we need, and a social security system that is fit for purpose.”