Hat tip I “Late on Tuesday, Uber announced that it would pay the national minimum wage, pensions and holiday pay to drivers.
Now Uber drivers and trade unions are celebrating. A long legal battle and patient organising has paid off….Read more…
‘Taking the pee’?
Unite has demanded that takeaways and major fast food chains stop breaking the law and allow fast food couriers to use their toilets. Unite has been contacted by several self-employed couriers who…Read more…
Pulling out every lever
Up to 9m workers may lose out on statutory sick pay, including those in the gig economy, agency workers or on zero hours contracts, and over seven million workers may not be eligible for the job…Read more…
Evils of insecure work
Ken Loach’s new film Sorry We Missed You confronts the viewer with the depressing reality of being caught in the grinding poverty of low paid insecure work.
The post Evils of insecure work appeared…Read more…
Result for insecure workers
In a blow against precarious work, senior judges have ruled all workers are entitled to a minimum of 28 days paid annual leave, even if they do not get given work or are not paid for parts of the…Read more…
Gig economy doubles
The gig economy has more than doubled during the last three years, according to a new report that exposes Britain’s growing reliance on insecure work. Unite has led calls for reform to prevent…Read more…
‘Piecemeal approach’
Unite has raised questions over supposed government proposals briefed to the media this week that would strengthen ‘gig economy’ workers’ rights. The Guardian reported on Thursday (November 8)…Read more…
Bringing back fairness to work
Plans announced by the shadow chancellor John McDonnell to strengthen the rights of ‘gig economy’ workers and trade unions, show Labour has the determination to bring back fairness to working life,…Read more…
Gambling with workers’ livelihoods
Gig economy baron Mike Ashley has been told by Unite to stop gambling with workers’ livelihoods after he attempted to pin blame on landlords for any future job losses at House of Fraser stores….Read more…
Gig economy challenged
The gig economy has again come under the spotlight as Labour MP Frank Field announced an inquiry into pay and working conditions at controversial food delivery firm Deliveroo this week (June 18)….Read more…
Insecure work and low pay pain continue
British workers are set for more wage pain as figures published on Tuesday (June 12) showed earnings growth slowed in the three months to April. The data from the Office of National Statistics…Read more…
Blow to gig economy
Another blow was struck against the gig economy yesterday (March 26) when delivery firm DPD announced it will be offering its 5,000 self-employed drivers holiday and sick pay after one of its…Read more…
Turning it round
Nothing remains of the old Shirebrook colliery in north-east Derbyshire. The coal mine closed in 1993 and 12 years later the site became the central hub of leisurewear retailer Sports Direct. …Read more…
When the parcel’s worth more than you
Imagine a worker having his contract terminated for taking time off because his child was born prematurely, or a courier struggling in while sick, being told “the parcel is more important then you.”…Read more…
MPs quiz ‘gig’ firm chiefs
A courier working for Hermes was punished after having to leave work when his pregnant partner was rushed to hospital after suffering complications, MPs heard yesterday (October 10) in a select…Read more…
Bogus self-employed fight win
Taxi giant Addison Lee wrongly classified its drivers as self-employed and must pay them the minimum wage and holiday pay, an employment tribunal has ruled. Unite hailed the case, which was…Read more…
We voted in droves for hope
Leigh Drennan is the vice chair of Young Labour in Unite’s North West region. He believes the reason young people, who had become disengaged with politics, were suddenly inspired to get out and use…Read more…
The Taylor review: the yay, the meh, and the no way
The Taylor review is finally here, along with a pretty large sense of anti-climax. This isn’t the game changer those in insecure work were looking for. In assessing what it means, we’ve tried to keep in mind the people who told us about their experience of insecure work, of shifts being cancelled…Read more…
‘Failed spectacularly’
A much anticipated review into the gig economy has “spectacularly failed” to deliver protections for those in insecure work, Unite said today (July 11). The union said the review, by former…Read more…
The Taylor Review isn’t the ‘game-changer’ that gig economy workers need
I worry that many gig economy employers will be breathing a sigh of relief this morning. The Taylor Review into modern employment practices publishes today. And from what we’ve seen, it’s not the game-changer needed to end insecurity and exploitation at work. We’d welcome any nuggets of good news….Read more…