Zero Hours Contracts

 

"What are zero hours contracts?" asked someone at the Northampton Borough Council Diverse Communities Forum.

Despite the media storm over the past couple of days, it still seem that people don't necessarily notice how badly exploited those desperate for work can get.

Where I work zero hours contracts have been an issue to giving advice on discrimination for the past four years or so. In the past if a company offered work but said that they couldn't commit to how many hours they could give, applicants would perhaps take the role but look for something a lot better pretty quick. With little availability of fixed hours for people with little skills or little experience in particular in retail, service and logistics zero hours contracts are the only option for many. For those on benefits it presents a descent into revising and re-revising claims that can take weeks to process leaving a trail of debts and payday loans along the way. It offers no security and presents a situation where employees are hanging on a string.

My daughter worked for Sport Direct on a zero hours contract last year. Assigned a 6am to 10am shift, she was often asked to stay until 4pm or 6pm at in the evening. People feel obliged to say yes because they fear the work drying up. This will always place people with caring responsibilities or those disabled people who need more flexible working environments for them at a disadvantage.

Most crucially, zero hours contracts can hide a multitude of poor employer behaviour. A few weeks ago Magda and her husband Chris came into the office. Magda worked for a company that provided cleaner for local hotels. When Magda applied for and got her job, both she and Chris were pleased that it wasn't agency work and that it came with a written contract. Magda had a history of ill health and so had asked for lighter duties as reasonable adjustment which her manager agreed to. Every week Magda would get a call advising her of the shifts that she should undertake. Although lighter duties were given in the first few weeks, after a while Magda found herself being asked to do more and more heavy work, until one day she fell ill after her shift. She was taken to hospital where she was told that she had suffered a miscarriage. Although, she didn't know that she was pregnant this came as a big emotional blow to Magda and Chris. Chris called her manager and told him what had happened and re-stated his wife's need for light duties. It was agreed that Madga should be assigned to a different hotel where this was possible. She was working with a new team and after a few days another member of staff came into a room where she was cleaning and said that the rest of the team had noticed that she was only being given light duties and felt that she was being treated this way because she was Ukrainian. The woman that said this to Magda was White British and she said that the other team members would be setting up a campaign to get her out. Magda went into another room and called her manager who told her not to worry and that he would sort it out. Magda left her shift that day upset about what had happened. Then suddenly, she no longer received calls advising her of the hours to work. When Magda asked her manager about this he just advised that there was no more work for her. Magda and Chris came to Northamptonshire Rights and Equality Council for advice and brought in the Magda's contract. They read thorough the contract and said, that surely something could be done as it didn't state that it was a zero hours contract. However since it didn't state any hour in the contract there was not obligation for her employer to give her hours given that she was not given the same consistent number of hours over a period of time.

It's clear in this situation and in many others that we have seen that zero hours contracts is a key safeguard to employer who either wish to discriminate or support others who discriminate as happened with Magda.

Magda and Chris's names have been changed to protect their confidentiality.

Don't be too sure of the "No Chance"

Cynthia Spencer Hospice is not under threat despite having to find £1.5 to £2million year on year in the future.

So where's the money going to come from. That's easy - it comes from us.

Don't I already pay for that in my taxes I hear you say?  Well er ... yes. But the local public LOVE Cynthia Spencer and will give money because they won't want it to close.

The problem is that there's only a certain amount of money in people's pockets that they want to and can give. Every day local people find more and more appeals for their funds. Many of the national charities have high profile marketing for fundraising, celebrity endorsements etc. These and other good causes are well placed to pull in the pounds. Other smaller local charities like the ones i work with are less able to do this and money reduces and reduces. When Great Britain won the chance to put on the Olympics a £425million was spent on the Olympic infrastructure which otherwise have been given to good causes. Cynthia Spencer Hospice fundraising to maintain existing services as a result of Nene Clinical Commissioning Groups cut will mean less money for local charities.

The local newspaper's story runs as "No chance of Cynthia Spencer closing". Currently, on it's Facebook page it's positioned just above a headline about Favell House closing. Another facility where NHS budgets were changed and the local community were meant to get behind to make up the difference. Sound familiar?

It's been an interesting few days. Firstly the mass revulsion at the Jan Moir article in the Daily Mail. The writing had been based on hatred of Stephen Gately because of the way he chose to live his life and the way he used to love in his life. In many respects this terrible event and Jan Moir's choice to get a cheap headline out of his tragic death has propelled Boyzone into new found popularity in quarters they would never have found favour with.

Over the weekend a local Community Centre in the Northampton South constituency had their local BNP candidate introduce himself at their open day. The recent press reports of the stand that the Royal British Legion has taken in respect of offers of support from the BNP, highlights how charitable and community organisations can and will be aware of the damage association with extremist parties can do. Increasingly with the run up to the general election this are the kind of new choices and conflicts many will have to face.

On the issue of the question time appearance of Nick Griffin, we have to wait and see the impact of this level of exposure for the BNP. For the record allowing a holocaust denyer and the figure head of a racist organisation on mainstream television can never be the right thing to do.

Frank Lilley comes out supporting the campaign

Frank Lilley, former Duston Parish Councillor dropped me a line the other day. He offered me a rather the lengthy endorsement. I’ve sent out an abridged version to members. Frank is the epitome of the “good Labour man” in Northampton. A union man, Frank is active in his local community and is Chair of Governors at St. James Primary. He’s also active in his local Anglican ministry in Duston. It’s really great to get Frank’s support particularly when he’s so connected to his local community.

He’s said,
“As a Bakers and Food Allied Workers Union branch secretary and Pastoral Assistant to Duston Anglican Team Ministry, I offer my unreserved endorsement to Anjona Roy in this campaign. As a churchman, socialist and family man, I know Anjona will be the best representative to really deliver for Northampton South. Anjona has that natural empathy with people. Something that is really important in serving those living in Northampton South”.

Thanks Frank. With people like you supporting my campaign, I know we’re fighting on the side of the angels.

Confidence in Anjona from a Dallington Resident

It was just such an honour to get an endorsement from Suzanne Moen. Partly because it always gives you a buzz when someone you’ve served supports you. A real objective judgment as to whether you really are worthy. It’s not something that you get just because you’re mate with someone. It’s something you get when you’ve made it on the ground where it counts.

Suzanne works with community groups in Northamptonshire. She's got three kids and works in a field that she's really committed to ... and she shows it when she works day after day, hour after hour ... supporting the community.

She has said,

“I have known Anjona as a councillor and community activist over the last few years and know that she has the knowledge, drive and determination to win Northampton South.”

Selection at Last

So at last the selection process for the Prospective Parliamentary candidate for Northampton South is up and running. A lot of people have been telling me that it's been a long time coming. After an eternal desert of communication from the Labour Party Regional office, members in Northampton South have been faced with a veritable flurrie of letters about parliamentary and County selections. So if the question is "Anjona are you going for it?" the answer is "Yes!".

I hope to share with you my thoughts and ideas about the needs of the constituency over the next few weeks.

However, another cruical issue that has come to a head are the County selections. With the County selection process going forward it is really important that anyone wanting to stand puts in their forms as soon as possible. I was talking to a member today who was considering putting his name forward (Aziz Rahman). It just struck me that no matter how hard we work as a Labour Party to make processes fair and inclusive, there is still the opportunity to go the extra mile to ensure everyone has a fair crack at the whip. As a Party we can only go forward by rebuilding the movement that is the Labour Movement. This is not about the triangulation of a coalition of people who do not want Tories and Liberals making decisions. It is a coalition of people who genuinely want a fairer town to live in and want to ensure that all of us have the necessities of life and the opportunities to fulfill our dreams.

Ashes to ashes ... and ambition

It's been a hectic time with those younger around me going through exam season.

Over the last few days I've heard of the death of Steve Winder. I worked closely with Steve until he left for the Liberal Democrats, but did come into contact with him as a Director of the organisation I work for. Steve worked hard and didn't take a break. Although he had aspirations (to fight for his community, to fight crime in his area, to become a Councillor) sometimes he was far to accepting of poor treatment he received. In a variety of political enviroments he was just far too accepting not having a position as "one of the favoured few". It always confused me when he clearly had the right skills to challenge - consistency and persistence. This seemed to happen which ever political party he found himself in. In the Labour Party, I and others tried to make it as inclusive as possible ... not quite sure who did in the Liberal Democrats.

His close friend Chris Swinn called me to check that I had details of the funeral and then spent the time asking if I was standing for the County elections. I told him that at this stage I wasn't sure. He then talked about the scenario if I stood for the Northampton South parliamentary seat. It seemed like a big jump from being uncertain about standing for the County Council and I told him so. "Well", he said, "you're ambitious ... and you're missed". I did quiz him a little more about what he meant but it was hard to uncover.