[IER] Young workers trapped on low pay and bosses accused of "corporate greed" - here's how we solve it

Fri Jun 8 17:59:45 BST 2018

IER News Brief 08/06/18Follow us on Twitter 
news brief
Friday 08th June 2018
The news this week has added to evidence of growing inequality in the UK. While the TUC reported that the generational pay gap between under and over-30s has grown to 20% and the proliferation of insecure work is making it difficult to unionise the most vulnerable, MPs have lambasted housebuilder Persimmon for what has been described as "a tale of corporate greed".

The TUC's Stuck at the Start report showed that workers under the age of 30 are now struggling to meet basic costs, such as food and energy bills. Most of those surveyed were overqualified for their current jobs, nearly a fifth had received no training, and over 20% had worked in a zero-hours contract in the last five years.

General Secretary of the TUC, Frances O'Grady, explained that it is difficult to unionise young workers, partly because so many are in precarious work and because employers often try to stand in the way.

Meanwhile, the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee quizzed corporations on executive pay this week, revealing that the boss of Persimmon took home a massive £45m last year (after being forced to accept a smaller bonus following a public outcry). Chair of the firm's remuneration committee, Marion Sears, could not say what the average worker earned. Chair of the BEIS Committee, Rachel Reeve, commented: "Executive pay at Persimmon is a tale of corporate greed and incompetent pay management, financed on the back of a tax-payer funded housing scheme".

In yet another example of the impact of privatisation, a new report from the National Audit Office into the government's response to the collapse of Carillion found that the crisis will cost the taxpayer an estimated £148 million. Unite called on the government to reverse its "failed" policy of outsourcing public services, with Assistant General Secretary Gail Cartmail demanding that it "stop playing Russian roulette with taxpayers' money".
How we can solve the problem
On providing fair pay and conditions, we recommend that the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage are replaced by the Real Living Wage – calculated according to actual living costs. Further, sectoral collective bargaining should be reinstated in order that trade unions and employers’ associations can negotiate fair wages and conditions at an industrial level. Every worker in that sector – whether or not they are a union member or a full-time employee – would then receive the minimum pay and conditions described in the collective agreement.

A strategy for training, apprenticeships and productivity should be agreed bilaterally by employers and unions in order that business needs and workers’ needs are met, with a view to both business growth and skills development. Further, a National Economic Forum should be established, at which key stakeholders from across society – including workers and employers – are able to scrutinise the impact of policy on the interests they represent, while also creating long-term strategies for national skills development and economic productivity.

All workers should have equal rights from day one. We propose that this is achieved by scrapping the three-tier system of employment status and replacing it with one universal status of ‘worker’ that covers all people in employment.
These are just some of the recommendations in our Manifesto for Labour. Click here to find out more
Subscribers receive all of our publications free and discount rates on our conferences. Subscribe now
 News and commentSupport the IER in its 30th Anniversary year
This year we are celebrating our forthcoming 30th Anniversary and we're appealing for your support. We hope to raise £30,000 to celebrate our 30 years and with these funds we will modernise our website and communications; promote our ideas through meetings, education packs, videos and animations; and establish a reserve to avoid repeat fundraising.
> click here to read full storyGet free access to music festivals by volunteering for the IER
The IER has teamed up with the Workers Beer Company to provide our supporters with free festival tickets to popular events across the UK in exchange for voluntary bar work. Volunteers will also receive free beer tokens! Every hour worked by our supporters triggers a donation to the IER, which will help us continue to develop and raise awareness of our Manifesto for Labour Law.
> click here to email our office and express your interestYoung workers now being paid over a fifth less than older peers, research shows
The generational pay gap – the difference in wages between younger and older workers – has grown to over 20%, new research has revealed. 
> click here to read full storyInsecure work and employers obstacles to unionisation, TUC Chief
It has become difficult to unionise younger workers, despite their particular vulnerability to wage stagnation, due to employers standing in the way and the challenges of organising those in insecure work.
> click here to read full storyGMB takes legal action against Amazon delivery firms
GMB has announced it is taking legal action against three Amazon delivery firms, which it believes are misclassifying couriers as independent contractors and thus depriving them of workers’ rights.
> click here to read full storyMPs call on govt to take equalities role more seriously
The Women and Equalities Committee has called on the government to start treating the Government Equalities Office (GEO) and the role of Minister for Women and Equalities more seriously.
> click here to read full storyRMT challenges Grayling to meet with rail staff
The General Secretary of RMT, Mick Cash, has called on Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to meet with the rail staff taking the brunt of customer anger over the failings of recent weeks.
> click here to read full storyGMB welcomes Labour pledge to end "poverty wages" in schools
Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner has told GMB conference that Labour will reinstate the School Support Staff Negotiating Body to put an end to "poverty wages" at schools.
> click here to read full storyMcDonnell endorses IER Manifesto for Labour Law
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell endorsed the Institute of Employment Rights' Manifesto for Labour Law at two conferences last weekend.
> click here to read full storyExecutive pay inquiry: Persimmon is "a tale of corporate greed"
The remuneration structure at house-builder Persimmon has been described as "a tale of corporate greed and incompetent pay management" by the Chair of a government inquiry into income inequality.
> click here to read full storyUnite calls on govt to "stop playing Russian roulette with people's money" after Carillion collapse
After the announcement that the collapse of Carillion will cost the taxpayer £148 million, Unite has called on the government to "stop playing Russian roulette with people's money" and keep public services in public hands.
> click here to read full storyUnite sets legal precedent against umbrella company in bogus self-employment case
Unite has set a legal precedent in its case on behalf of an agency worker, who suffered unfair deductions from his wages as the result of a bogus self-employment "scam".
> click here to read full storyUnion action wins pay rise for a million NHS staff
Negotiation by 14 unions led by Unison has resulted in at least a 6.5% pay rise for a million NHS staff across England, with a larger increase for workers on the lowest wages.
> click here to read full story
 Featured publication 
Following national crises over the Carillion collapse and the recent chaos on the railways, it's hardly surprising that renationalisation proposals are garnering mass public support.

In our Mythology of Business report, Professor David Whyte deconstructs the kinds of things that politicians now routinely say to justify policies such as privatisation. Yet the 10 myths covered in this book have very little foundation in reality and are rarely, if ever, accompanied with any concrete evidence to support them.

The aim of this pamphlet is to show how these zombie myths sustain a lifeless and inhuman politics.

Click here to read the publication (if you are a paid subscriber), or to purchase it for £6.   Events London: The Future of Labour Law: Progressive rights under a progressive government
14 June 2018 - 09:30 - 15:00
Unite the Union, London
At this conference, key authors from our Manifesto for Labour Law team will guide delegates through our proposed reforms, the evidence behind them, and the benefits for workers, employers and the economy of reform.
Speakers include Prof Nicola Countouris, Prof David Whyte, Dr Aristea Koukiadaki & John Hendy QC.
> click here to read more and book your place
  PublicationsLabour Law Highlights 2017: £8
Edited by Rebecca Tuck
Catch up with the most important case law developments in 2017 in the latest of our popular Labour Law Highlights series.

In this year’s Labour Law Highlights, a team of barristers from Old Square Chambers returns to assess how each of these events has impacted upon case law in the last 12 months, including clarification from the courts on the requirements of the Trade Union Act in practice, the flurry of tribunal hearings regarding ‘gig’ workers, and further decisions on the rights of workers required to take "sleep-in" shifts. In each case, they provide commentary on the potential wider implications of tribunal decisions.
> click here to read more and purchaseEurope, the EU and Britain: Workers' Rights and Economic Democracy: £8
Notes from a seminar by the Institute of Employment Rights and the Marx Memorial Library
On 01 July 2017, labour movement leaders from across Europe met at the Marx Memorial Library, London, to discuss how a progressive future for workers’ rights can be sought following the UK’s vote to leave the EU. This report documents the meeting, including the transcripts of each presentation, as well as notes on the discussion between panel and delegates on the day.
> click here to read more and purchaseThe Legacy of Thatcherism in European Labour Relations: The Impact of the Politics of Neo-Liberalism and Austerity on Collective Bargaining in a Fragmenting Europe: £8
By Miguel Martinez Lucio, Aristea Koukiadaki and Isabel Tavora
As the UK prepares to leave the European Union, this analysis – the 11th in our Comparative Notes series – shines a light on the deleterious effect of the nation's deregulatory influence on the bloc.
> click here to read more and purchase8 Good Reasons Why Adult Social Care Needs Sectoral Collective Bargaining: £8
By Dr Lydia Hayes
In this booklet, Dr Lydia Hayes sets out the lessons learned from her interdisciplinary research into the social care sector, and builds upon the recommendations made in the Institute of Employment Rights' Manifesto for Labour Law: a comprehensive revision of worker’s rights to propose a sectoral collective bargaining structure for the negotiation of wages and conditions.
> Click here to read more and buy your copy
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