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BME women ‘more likely to be exploited by zero-hour contracts,’ report finds

BOSSES are using zero-hours contracts to exploit black and minority ethnic (BME) workers even more than they exploit white workers, the TUC has revealed.

And female BME workers are hit the worst, according to the report produced jointly by the TUC and the Race On The Agenda group (Rota).

The report, published today, found that racism in the labour market leaves BME workers trapped on low pay and in insecure work, leaving them struggling to pay bills.

The two organisations are calling for zero-hours contracts to be outlawed.

About one in six zero-hours contract workers are BME although they constitute just one in nine workers overall, according to the report, with BME women  the most disproportionately affected group, followed by BME men.

BME women are almost twice as likely to be on zero-hours contracts (4.5 per cent) as white men (2.5 per cent). And they are almost one-and-a-half times more likely to be on zero-hours contracts compared with white women.

The TUC and Rota said that zero-hours contracts are “the most egregious example of one-sided flexibility at work,” handing the employer total control over their workers’ hours and earning power.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “No matter your race or background, everyone deserves to be treated fairly at work.

“But the pandemic has exposed beyond any doubt the huge inequalities BME people face at work.

“Enough is enough. Ministers must challenge the systemic discrimination that holds BME workers back by banning zero-hours contracts and ending the scourge of insecure work. And they must introduce ethnicity pay gap reporting without delay.”

Rota chief executive Maurice Mcleod said: “If we want an economy that everyone can engage in, we need to enshrine workers’ rights in our legislation and protect workers from precarious one-sided working arrangements.”

Black Activists Rising Against Cuts (Barac) co-founder and national chairwoman Zita Holbourne told the Star: “We at Barac UK have been highlighting this issue for many years.

“The impacts of zero-hours contracts on black and minority ethnic workers are cross-generational.

“It is because of racism in the labour market that black and minority people are disproportionately forced to take up zero-hours contracts.”

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