Nearly half a million workers in the North West don’t have job security
Thousands of workers in and around Greater Manchester are in jobs that aren't secure- and many fear being replaced.
That's according to new stats published today by the TUC- they found nearly one in seven across the North West are in the same boat.
TUC Regional Secretary for the North West Lynn Collins said:
“Every worker deserves fair pay, decent rights, and a voice at work. But too many are stuck in jobs with bosses who treat them like disposable labour. We need a new deal for working people in the North West so that every worker gets respect, and every job is a good job.
“The government must crack down on shady business models that exploit workers. No more zero-hour contracts. No more bogus self-employment. And no more using agency workers to undercut permanent staff. As we seen last year, nearly half of all new jobs created in the region were in insecure work.
“Workers deserve so much better. That’s why working people from the North West will be travelling to London on Saturday for the TUC’s ‘A New Deal for Working People’ demonstration.”
Lucy is a mum that uses her zero-hour contract to be able to care for her young daughter, she said:
“It gives me a lot of flexibility for studying, for family life and I know I’m able to pick up extra shifts if I need a bit of extra money. It makes it very convenient for me but I do understand why some people struggle.”
“I have a little girl and in a normal job if you have to go to something at the school you would have to take time off. Whereas, if you are on a zero hour contract then you can just say ‘no I’m busy’. So, for my little girl and for family life, it is nice to have that flexibility.”
“I do have experience where people have gone through the struggle of not knowing how much money they’ve got coming in at the end of the month. We’ve had people who are off sick and if you’re off sick in a zero hour contract obviously you don’t get money, so I have seen the outcome."
The TUC’s national march and rally for ‘A New Deal for Working People’ takes place on Saturday 12 May.