[IER] "Unprecedented" day of action shows turning tide among casual workers

Fri Oct 5 18:41:21 BST 2018

IER News Brief 05/10/18
Follow us on Twitter 

news brief
Friday 05th October 2018

An "unprecedented" fight for workers' rights took to the streets up and down the UK yesterday, as staff from McDonalds, Wetherspoons, TGI Friday's, Uber Eats and Deliveroo went on strike.

Why the buzz over this particular day of action? Because it represents a turning point in the hospitality sector. This was the first time, for instance, that Wetherspoons workers have gone on strike in the entire history of the company. What's more, participants in yesterday's day of action were largely young people in casualised work, such as on zero-hour contracts - combining two demographics that are traditionally challenging to organise. Finally, this is yet more evidence that the oft-used justification to maintain a precarious workforce - that workers want zero-hours contracts - is rarely true.

The results of a new study of 20,000 workers on zero-hours contracts, conducted by a group of economists, underlines these facts. Nearly half wanted more hours than they could get, and almost a third said they had felt forced into precarious work due to a lack of alternative job opportunities.

Theresa May's newly announced right for workers to keep their tips is a drop in the ocean for these workers - dubbed McStrikers - protesting in major cities as far South as Brighton to as far North as Glasgow yesterday. Their demands were clear - a wage that covers their cost of living, an end to insecure work, a genuine choice to be represented by a trade union.

Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, was a surprise addition to the picketline at Leicester Square, where he promised a remedy based on the Institute of Employment Rights' (IER) new report Rolling out the Manifesto for Labour Law. He told a cheering crowd that the next Labour government will implement several of the IER's proposals - a living wage, equal rights for all workers from day one, trade union rights for all, and a new Department of Education with the responsibility to roll-out sectoral collective bargaining.

This comes after McDonnell was met with applause earlier this week when he thanked the IER for producing its influential report.

As September was conference season and our special weekly briefs were too jam-packed with Manifesto announcements to provide our usual news updates, this week we have some articles that summarise last month's employment law and trade union news that you may have missed (please see section below).

Don't forget that our popular annual Employment Law Update conferences are almost upon us. This event has now sold out in London, but we still have a few spaces left in Liverpool. Read more and book here. 

There is also an exciting opportunity to learn about the Manifesto for Labour Law in detail through the GFTU, but apply soon as the course will be held on the 07 and 08 of November.
Click here to read more about our Manifesto for Labour Law 
Subscribers receive all of our publications free and discount rates on our conferences. Subscribe now 

 Tweet your support

Support the Manifesto proposals by clicking any (or all!) of the below boxes to tweet out the message that suits you best.

 News and comment

Support 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 story 

Govt announces right to keep tips and duty to consider flexible working 
The government's relatively weak attempts to placate angry gig workers have been largely lost in the news. 
> click here to read full story 

Updates on the gig economy 
The success of McStrike, a large study showing zero-hours workers largely do not enjoy the "flexibility", rich bosses of Wetherspoons and Amazon continue to exploit their workers despite the protests, and a government-commissioned report makes a recommendation reminiscient of the Manifesto for Labour Law. 
> click here to read full story 

Public sector updates 
Despite the continuation of swingeing cuts - with councils warning the worst is yet to come - the deficit only widened in August. Find out why thousands of prison officers protested and police officers are taking legal action against the government. 
> click here to read full story 

Equalities updates 
A massive fifth of employers admit to discrimination against pregnant women and new mothers, male Ministers ignored their own female colleague's warnings that raising the state pension age would disproportionately impact on women, and Morrissons becomes the latest supermarket to face an equal pay for work of equal value claim. 
> click here to read full story 

  Events 

Liverpool: Employment Law Update 2018 
15 November 2018 - 09:30 - 15:00
Unite the Union, Liverpool 
At this popular annual conference, leading lawyers, academics and trade unionists will discuss how employment law has developed over the year so far, how it can be expected to change in the future, and how workers can best be protected.
Speakers include Ian Hodson, Paul Scholey, Prof Alan Bogg, Neill Todd, Prof David Whyte, Catherine Hobby 
> click here to read more and book your place 

  Publications

Labour 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 purchase 

Europe, 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 purchase 

The 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 purchase 

8 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 

To unsubscribe, please contact sarah at ier.org.uk. 

Produced by:
Institute of Employment Rights,
4th Floor, Jack Jones House
1 Islington
Liverpool L3 8EG
0151 207 5265
www.ier.org.uk 

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/pipermail/ier-elist/attachments/20181005/2e70f513/attachment-0001.html>