Within his report, Good Work: The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practises, Matthew Taylor applauds the ‘flexibility’ of the British Labour market.
Writing on the virtues of the British labour market, he argues:
Our study for the TUC, titled, ‘Living on the Edge: Experiencing Workplace Insecurity in the UK’ undertaken by researchers at the University of Sheffield and the University of Greenwich reveals the dark-side and the hidden costs associated with these celebrated flexible working patterns.
Our study included numerous in-depth interviews with workers on insecure ‘flexible’ contracts from three sectors across the UK notably retail, logistics and higher education (HE). Contrary to exclaiming the benefits of flexible working, these interviews revealed a pernicious set of interlocking pressures at work and home.
The one-sided benefits to the employer of insecure work and the resulting asymmetry of power this creates in the workplace was widely reported. In the absence of workplace security, workers across all sectors reported upon growing pressures at work and widely testified to feelings of worthlessness, vulnerability and fear in the face of unbridled employer power. The pressures at work included:
In too many instances the pressures at work are mirrored at home by rising personal and household debt, and material hardships engendered by low and unpredictable pay. The (in)ability to escape from the fear of insecure work and to have the capacity to sustain a reasonable existence was endemic in the three sectors studied.
All workers highlighted the day to day struggles they faced in the face of unpredictable levels of pay. One ZHC worker from a high street fast food outlet reported on colleagues taking shifts at several stores in the locality as they would be entitled to free food. Despite the clear hardships widely reported within our study, the Taylor Report offers little comfort to workers on ZHC and insecure contracts.
The timid attempt by Taylor to rectify the plight of millions of workers on insecure contracts by recommending they may have the right to request a guaranteed hours contract will do little to redress the imbalance of power in the workplace and provide ‘quality’ jobs.
Our research also highlights the central role that unions play in tackling the more pernicious aspects of insecure work. Our evidence reveals that workers in all the sectors are turning to unions to provide protection and to negotiate fairer terms and conditions of employment.
Self-employed workers are increasingly organizing with the support of union campaigns. All our respondents were able to highlight how unions had offered support and protection in the light of unbridled employer power, helping them overcome feelings of vulnerability and isolation.
It’s clear that this continued union organising coupled with the TUC’s “Great Jobs Agenda” is crucially important if we are achieve good work for everyone in the UK .
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