Call to ban zero hour contracts as people across West Midlands left in insecure work
The Trades Union Congress has found two in three workers on these contracts have been with their current employer for over a year
There are fears the number of people across the West Midlands being left in insecure work has boomed, leading to a call to ban zero hour contracts.
The Trades Union Congress is warning that employers are parking workers in low paid jobs, with no guarantee of work for years.
Figures from statista.com show in 2023 there were 122,000 workers in the West Midlands on zero-hours contracts.
Rob Johnston is a Policy and Campaigns Officer and tells us about the wider issue: "The vast majority of this workers aren't in a temporary situation, they're stuck in work and that is their life of work, so we're getting this, sort of, two tier experience of work; those in secure work, with secure contracts, and holidays, and sick pay and those living at the beck and call of rogue employers.
"This is not your students, working a little bit to make a few quid. This is people doing full-time work in real insecurity with all the risk associated with that, put on their shoulders, as opposed to working in secure work with an employer. So this report has confirmed there's a structural problem in our workplaces."
Rob added what it's like for someone in this position: "You do not know how many hours you're going to work and then when you do work, you don't know when your shifts are like the mornings, afternoons or evenings - and they can be cancelled at short notice... and so it just eats away at your ability to live a life.
"Sadly this is also spreading right across the economy now too. Historically, it was in hospitality and social care but now it's spread across the economy. So, wherever you look, you'll find this insecure work."
The Trades Union Congress' study of official data found that two in three zero hours contract workers have been with their current employer for over a year, while one in eight have been with their employer for over 10 years.
Only 7% of zero hours workers have been with their current employer less than three months, said the TUC.
The latest data showed there are 1.15 million people on these contracts.
Black and minority ethnic women are nearly three times as likely to be on zero hours contracts as white men, said the report.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said people are "trapped": "Everyone should be treated fairly at work, but too many workers - especially black and ethnic minority women - are trapped in low-paid jobs on zero hours contracts, with few rights and protections and no guarantee of shifts.
"Bad employers are parking workers on zero hours contracts for years on end.
"These precarious contracts hand almost total control over workers' hours and earning power to managers, making it nigh on impossible to plan budgets and childcare.
"Insecure work has boomed on the Conservatives' watch over the past 14 years, with the number of workers on zero hours contracts hitting the one million mark.
"That's why a ban on zero hours contracts is long overdue. Working people should have a right to a contract that reflects their regular hours of work.
"It's time for a New Deal for Working People, like Labour is proposing - which includes a ban on zero hours contracts, ensuring workers get reasonable notice of shifts and an end to fire and rehire."
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “Zero-hour contracts offer flexibility for people who may need to balance work around personal commitments whilst helping employers with less demand for permanent staff.
“We continue to tackle unfair working practices through the Workers Act, giving workers the right to make a request to their employer for a more predictable working pattern, and boosting the National Living Wage for millions of workers to £11.44 an hour.”