Many people face a worrying winter
Posted by Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, at 11:30, Fri 25 October 2013:
The government will be making the most of the latest figures on the economy.
But while we might be finally returning to growth, it won't feel like things are improving to ordinary households.
With prices continuing to outstrip wages, and the latest announcements from British Gas and n-Power that energy bills are going up again, many people face a worrying winter.
And it's pretty clear the boom is working fine if you're earning squillions or selling a house in London. But for those of us in the rest of the country, things certainly aren't so rosy.
Even people who are working tell me they're worried about job security. Many would like to increase their hours, but the work isn't available. Some are on the notorious zero hours contracts: their employer isn't required to guarantee them any work (or pay) at all.
It's often claimed that people prefer these contracts, they like the flexibility. But nobody wants to be flexible about whether they can afford the weekly shop. The truth is most people want and need the certainty of a secure job, and stable pay. The bills come in the same every month, so wages need to too.
That's why Labour has promised to crack down on exploitative zero hours contracts.
At our party conference, Ed Miliband said we'd stop employers from pretending people were on zero hours contracts when they did have regular work for them, but just didn't want to guarantee people's employment rights.
He said employees on zero hours contracts should not be forced to stay on standby, forbidden from taking any other work, if there was no guarantee their employer would make work available to them.
And he said Labour would introduce a code of practice on the use of zero hours contracts.
I'm keen to hear from you if you live or work in Trafford and are on a zero hours contract, or know someone who is. Meanwhile, I'll be asking Trafford Council how many council staff or contractors are on zero hours. And I'm writing to the local chamber of commerce to ask what information they hold about which of their members employ people on zero hours contracts too.
A constituent who came to see me recently told me zero hours contracts were in operation at his former workplace, but most employees were too afraid to complain. I know how hard it can be to speak out if you think you'll be on your own. So I hope to be working with trade unions locally too, so that collectively we can take action to end unfair zero hours work here.
If you'd like to help me do that, please get in touch.
Best wishes
Kate
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