Labour conference delegates have backed a Unite and GMB motion calling for the party to ban all zero-hour contracts, putting pressure on the government to restore its previous commitments on employment law reform.
The government has long been committed to a New Deal for Working People, billing it as the biggest upgrade to workers ‘ rights in a generation – with a promise to unveil legislation on some of the measures within the first 100 days.
The package includes wide-ranging reforms, but some have been revised in recent years– including a 2021 green paper pledge to end all zero-hour contracts.
Labour’s National Policy Forum and then election manifesto committed to scrapping “exploitative” zero-hours contracts only, promising to end one-sided flexibility by ensuring all workers had the right to a contract reflecting hours they regularly work based on a 12-week reference period. The Low Pay Commission and TUC have backed such an approach, and it has been used in other countries.
The party made clear shortly before the election this meant workers would be able to choose to continue on zero-hour contracts if they wished.
But Keir Starmer and his cabinet now face pressure to go further and revert to its former position of banning all zero-hours contracts entirely.
The motion, backed first by Labour’s women’s conference on Saturday and then the main conference on Wednesday, states that “zero-hours contracts are a nightmare for workers and a dream for bad bosses”.
“These arrangements hand total control over earning power to managers, making it impossible for workers to plan their budgets and their wider lives.
“Without legislative protection, insecure workers will not feel empowered to challenge their employer, especially as these workplaces will be those without union recognition.”
It notes women make up the majority of zero-hour workers, and ethnic minority workers are disproportionately also in such insecure employment.
The motion also demands the party include party pledges to end an employer’s “ability to use outsourcing to avoid paying equal pay, and the introduction of a regulatory and enforcement body, in its legislative agenda”.
Unite delegate and executive council member Angela Duerden spoke in favour of the motion, demanding “no loophole, no get out clauses”.
Labour and the government were not immediately available for comment.
Recap on all of the news and debate from party conference 2024 by LabourList here.
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