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| Fed up with zero-hours contracts and temporary work? Here’s what to do Fed up with zero-hours contracts and temporary work? Here’s what to do | |
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| Ours is an age of casual labour. More than a fifth of workers in Britain, 7.1 million people, scrape by on temporary, casual or zero-hours contracts, or in what employers often euphemistically describe as “self-employment”. That number has risen by two million people in the past 10 years. It covers everyone from cleaners to carers, baristas to university teachers, and many others besides. Women, people of colour and immigrants are disproportionately represented in their ranks. They are among the lowest-paid people in the workforce. | Ours is an age of casual labour. More than a fifth of workers in Britain, 7.1 million people, scrape by on temporary, casual or zero-hours contracts, or in what employers often euphemistically describe as “self-employment”. That number has risen by two million people in the past 10 years. It covers everyone from cleaners to carers, baristas to university teachers, and many others besides. Women, people of colour and immigrants are disproportionately represented in their ranks. They are among the lowest-paid people in the workforce. |
| On their own, casual workers are powerless. Employers and recruitment agencies can simply get rid of those who speak out, or refuse to rehire them when their contracts end. The fear of benefit sanctions and Jobcentre Plus are potent tools to keep people in line. Pit one agency worker against the agency, and the agency will win every time. | On their own, casual workers are powerless. Employers and recruitment agencies can simply get rid of those who speak out, or refuse to rehire them when their contracts end. The fear of benefit sanctions and Jobcentre Plus are potent tools to keep people in line. Pit one agency worker against the agency, and the agency will win every time. |
| If these workers want to reverse the trend of temporary work and casual contracts they need to organise. In large numbers, casual workers can have some power, and some protection from their employers. Pit hundreds of agency workers against the agency, and they will have some chance of success. | If these workers want to reverse the trend of temporary work and casual contracts they need to organise. In large numbers, casual workers can have some power, and some protection from their employers. Pit hundreds of agency workers against the agency, and they will have some chance of success. |
| This is easier said than done. Unions have always struggled to organise people on temporary contracts. People enter and leave the industry before organisers can get hold of them. Even when casual staff do join a union they often leave the job and are replaced by someone without any knowledge of the union – and the whole process has to start anew. | This is easier said than done. Unions have always struggled to organise people on temporary contracts. People enter and leave the industry before organisers can get hold of them. Even when casual staff do join a union they often leave the job and are replaced by someone without any knowledge of the union – and the whole process has to start anew. |
| Nor are all unions of casual and temporary workers successful. When unemployment is high, and workers’ protections are low, there is always the risk that employers will drop a unionised workforce – however productive and skilled – in favour of what they see as more pliable, non-union replacements. | Nor are all unions of casual and temporary workers successful. When unemployment is high, and workers’ protections are low, there is always the risk that employers will drop a unionised workforce – however productive and skilled – in favour of what they see as more pliable, non-union replacements. |
| So how do casual staff organise in these conditions, when the threat of unemployment is very real and the prospects for success are uncertain? | So how do casual staff organise in these conditions, when the threat of unemployment is very real and the prospects for success are uncertain? |
| We need a double strategy. First, casual workers must get together, talk about their problems, and then think about solutions. If they do not feel that they have some control over how and what they fight for, they will not organise. | We need a double strategy. First, casual workers must get together, talk about their problems, and then think about solutions. If they do not feel that they have some control over how and what they fight for, they will not organise. |
| Second, unions must take an active role. Organising campaigns need to start in all the industries that employ precarious workers. We need leaflets, social media campaigns, articles and letters in newspapers across the political spectrum (like the recent ones in the Guardian), drawing attention to the plight of the casualised many. Full-timers and union members need to show solidarity with them. | Second, unions must take an active role. Organising campaigns need to start in all the industries that employ precarious workers. We need leaflets, social media campaigns, articles and letters in newspapers across the political spectrum (like the recent ones in the Guardian), drawing attention to the plight of the casualised many. Full-timers and union members need to show solidarity with them. |
| Both parts must work in tandem. Casual workers are often reluctant to speak out in case they lose their jobs. Unions can give them the legal and other protections that they need to do so, and would not have access to on their own. Unions need to listen to what casual workers want, and what they think is important, otherwise unions run the risk of treating them as charity cases and not as people who just need a little help to represent and fight for themselves. | Both parts must work in tandem. Casual workers are often reluctant to speak out in case they lose their jobs. Unions can give them the legal and other protections that they need to do so, and would not have access to on their own. Unions need to listen to what casual workers want, and what they think is important, otherwise unions run the risk of treating them as charity cases and not as people who just need a little help to represent and fight for themselves. |
| In some industries, casual workers can take the first step. University teachers, as I know from personal experience with colleagues at the University of Nottingham, can meet relatively easily. In other industries – think Sports Direct – there are immediate dangers for casual workers who want to band together. Unions need to play a proactive role in organising and defending them. | In some industries, casual workers can take the first step. University teachers, as I know from personal experience with colleagues at the University of Nottingham, can meet relatively easily. In other industries – think Sports Direct – there are immediate dangers for casual workers who want to band together. Unions need to play a proactive role in organising and defending them. |
| To do this we can learn from American examples. Part-time teachers at universities from Pennsylvania to Connecticut and Oregon have successfully organised themselves. Large unions, including the United Auto Workers and the United Steelworkers of America, have then stepped in to help. In some cases, this has led to pay increases, and to the recognition of postgraduate teachers as employees and not just as students. | To do this we can learn from American examples. Part-time teachers at universities from Pennsylvania to Connecticut and Oregon have successfully organised themselves. Large unions, including the United Auto Workers and the United Steelworkers of America, have then stepped in to help. In some cases, this has led to pay increases, and to the recognition of postgraduate teachers as employees and not just as students. |
| The Service Employees International Union and other groups helped fast-food workers in New York to go on strike in 2012 for higher pay, better conditions and union rights. Four years on, that strike has snowballed into the Fight for $15, a movement of low-paid workers across the country. Their campaign for a $15-an-hour minimum wage has won victory after victory. Cities such as Seattle and Pittsburgh, and states of the size of New York and California, have committed to a $15 minimum hourly wage over the next five years. | The Service Employees International Union and other groups helped fast-food workers in New York to go on strike in 2012 for higher pay, better conditions and union rights. Four years on, that strike has snowballed into the Fight for $15, a movement of low-paid workers across the country. Their campaign for a $15-an-hour minimum wage has won victory after victory. Cities such as Seattle and Pittsburgh, and states of the size of New York and California, have committed to a $15 minimum hourly wage over the next five years. |
| British unions are catching up. The University and College Union has stepped up its anti-casualisation campaign, with its latest day of national action last week. The Bakers’ Union leads a campaign for fast-food workers in the UK. Other unions are doing the same in other industries, such as Unite at Sports Direct. The double strategy that has worked in the USA can work here too. | British unions are catching up. The University and College Union has stepped up its anti-casualisation campaign, with its latest day of national action last week. The Bakers’ Union leads a campaign for fast-food workers in the UK. Other unions are doing the same in other industries, such as Unite at Sports Direct. The double strategy that has worked in the USA can work here too. |
| Balls are in motion. We need more of them, and we need them to go faster. Casual workers cannot wait for the next general election, the next Labour government, or some other political solution. We don’t need to wait either. We can organise now, agitate now, and with luck and hard work, we can win now too. | Balls are in motion. We need more of them, and we need them to go faster. Casual workers cannot wait for the next general election, the next Labour government, or some other political solution. We don’t need to wait either. We can organise now, agitate now, and with luck and hard work, we can win now too. |
| • Steven Parfitt is helping the Trades Union Congress Library to organise a public exhibition about the shared history of the British and American labour movements. It will tour US and UK institutions from 2017: contact TUC librarian Jeff Howarth via j.howarth@londonmet.ac.uk for more information | • Steven Parfitt is helping the Trades Union Congress Library to organise a public exhibition about the shared history of the British and American labour movements. It will tour US and UK institutions from 2017: contact TUC librarian Jeff Howarth via j.howarth@londonmet.ac.uk for more information |