ABOLISH ZERO HOUR CONTRACTS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: june 2014 :: RMTnews 8 The impact on rail safety and employment rights of zero hours contracts in the rail industry and offshore has been severely criticised by a House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee report. Committee chairman Ian Davidson MP said that the “overwhelming majority of zero hours contracts are abusive and exploitative and should be abolished”. He called on both Westminster and Holyrood to use “every lever at their disposal to affect a cultural change” against exploitative contracts. In his evidence to the select committee acting RMT general secretary Mick Cash left MPs in no doubt as to the threat to workers’ safety, pay rates and employment rights posed by zero hours, especially in industries like rail. “Zero hours only help the employer to cut costs – they offer no real benefits to workers, especially in safety critical industries in the transport sector,” he said. In a number of hard hitting recommendations the committee welcomed Network Rail’s acknowledgement of the risks of using zero hour contracts in safety-critical roles. “Zero hours contracts have been shown to be incompatible with running a safe railway and Network Rail must demonstrably reduce their dependence on them, both in its role as a direct employer and indirectly through its use of contractors,” the committee found. Office for Rail Regulation Safety Director Ian Prosser stated in a letter in May 2013, responding to RMT’s concerns over zero hours, that these hyper-exploitative contracts ‘are not conducive to the development of a safe railway’. This has strengthened RMT arguments that a five-year budget negates the need for short term flexibility. The committee’s recommendation makes clear: “we believe that the stability of work and funding offered by a five-year control period means that Network Rail does not have a business need for the flexibility that zero hours contracts provide. “Its only justification in using them must therefore be to reduce costs. “This is not sufficient reason to put the safety of workers in jeopardy and to deny them the opportunity to be an employee and receive the employment rights that go with that status. Network Rail should take more work in- house and make greater use of fixed-term and part-time contracts,” it said. RMT offshore regional organiser Jake Molloy also gave evidence to the committee describing how the offshore industry recently “came very, very close to a major, major incident West of Shetland”. The incident had the potential to capsize a link putting 150 people at risk. “The workforce tried to stop the job but management pushed on. “Where you have a culture of fear and concern, especially among a group of agency or zero hours people, they are more likely to go ahead and do the job under that instruction whereas permanent, well-trained staff are more likely to try to stop a job,” he said. In a major victory for the union the committee found “zero hours workers have a right to work in a safe environment and must be able to raise concerns without fear of losing their job. “Despite a number of reports detailing the risks of zero hours contracts in safety-critical industries, the government’s consultation on zero hours proposes nothing to protect workers who speak out. “In response to this report, the government must set out the steps it will take to ensure that individuals who question the conditions in which they are expected to work and the quality of service they are able to provide, are protected from the actions of unscrupulous employers,” it said. In a final hard hitting conclusion it states: “The problems with zero hours contracts, as well as other forms of casual labour, are clear, yet it does not have to be this way. “Many organisations are able to manage without using zero hours contracts: local authorities have moved away from using them directly and most major supermarkets are able to respond to fluctuations in their sectors without them. “The use of zero hours contracts is out of all proportion to what is required and is creating a two-tier workforce. “Employers should make much greater use of permanent, part-time, fixed- term or variable hours contracts which guarantee minimum hours and provide workers with a degree of certainty. “Zero hours contracts must only be used where the employer can objectively justify their use,” it said. Commenting on the report Mick Cash re-iterated that with over one million people enduring the misery of zero hour work, these contracts put workers in a vulnerable position and many feel unable even to assert their rights to the meagre benefits the contracts offer. “They are also used to massively undermine terms and conditions of other workers and the RMT won’t give up on fighting them in every way we can,” he said. ABOLISH ZERO HOUR CONTRACTS Zero hours contracts severely criticised by House of Commons report