New figures released by the TUC have discovered three million employees working on the frontline of our public services are actually “insecure” workers.
A heavy reliance on temporary staff, has led the GMB to call this station “shocking” and has criticised the government for not addressing the problem.
This is an 25% increase since 2011 overall and a large 42% rise in insecure working within education and a 133% increase in social care. The government has already come under fire for lacklustre social care across the UK, due to budget cuts.
Theresa May responded by allowing local authorities to increase Council Tax, to fill the black hole in social care, left by the cuts in public funding.
There are major concerns these “insecure workers” are denied basic rights, including sick pay and set hours, leading to financial insecurity.
Rehana Azam, GMB National Secretary, said:
“These figures show what work in Tory Britain looks like, but they’re much more than numbers on a page.
“Behind these figures are millions of working people who are doing their best to get by and get on in life who don’t have basic rights such as sick pay and dignity at work.
“They don’t know what hours they’ll have next week or how much their wages will be.
“Increasingly, the stories behind these stats are from the people who care for our parents when they’re old and who look after our kids at school.
“People can’t live like that and they shouldn’t have to.
“GMB has long fought the scourge of insecure work in the private sector and gig economy.
“Now we see the extent to which the government is presiding over such an increase in insecure work in our public services – it’s a disgrace on all fronts and something ministers could address tomorrow if they wanted to.
“If we are going to rebuild Britain post-Brexit, the Government needs to start by investing in public services and public sector workers.”