It’s Time To Report The Pay Gap by Les May

WHEN I first became interested in left wing politics in the early 1960s the people I met were primarily interested reducing inequalities of income, wealth, power and influence. Times change; being ‘of the left’ today frequently means an obsession with identity politics. Inequalities between groups which can be attributed to differences of race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, you name it, are all seen as grist to the mill. Inequalities of income, wealth, power and influence within these different groups are largely ignored.

Today the BBC reported; ‘Three quarters of employers want large firms to be forced to release data on the pay gap between staff of different ethnicities, a leaked report shows. The findings, seen by the BBC, came from a consultation exercise on ethnicity pay gap reporting launched by Theresa May in October 2018. The then PM promised to 'help employers identify the actions needed to create a fairer and more diverse workforce'. But two years later, the government has yet to respond’.

The news report included an interview with someone who was described as a ‘consultant’, which presumably means they were being paid quite a lot of money for doing this very important job. Now it happens that the interviewee was a woman and she was black. But the question which occurs to me is should I get more excited that in some big company someone who happens to be black and/or a woman is being paid a paltry £110,000 when her white male counterpart is being paid £120,000, or should I be more concerned that the same company has a proportion of it’s staff on zero hours contracts being paid minimum wage.

If we are going to have big companies forced to report the pay gap between staff of different ethnicities and sexes, then by the same token companies should be forced to report the differences in remuneration between executives, managers, shop floor workers and toilet cleaners.

One of the ways I shall judge Keir Starmer is whether he shows any sign of a commitment to reducing income and wealth inequalities. Signposting his willingness to support mandatory reporting of the pay gap within companies would be a good start.

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Crummy Jobs: Park Cake Bakeries have their cake and eat it!

Park Cake Bakeries

Anyone who has had the misfortune to be pressed ganged by the Jobcentre onto a so-called government training scheme in Greater Manchester, will have heard of John Hill Biscuits in Ashton-under-Lyne and Park Cake Bakeries in Oldham. For donkey's years, both firms have relied on seasonal casual workers and temps to meet their production needs particularly in the run up to Christmas and other festive periods.

In 2011, employees at Park Cakes in Bolton and Oldham threatened industrial action following the introduction of new employment contracts, which were described as tantamount to 'slave labour'.  Park Cake were accused by the 'Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union' (BFAWU), of seeking to circumvent the EU 'Temporary Agency Workers Directive' which came into effect in October 2011. This directive (which Conservative leader David Cameron tried to block), entitles agency staff who work for twelve consecutive weeks, with the same employer, to equal rates of pay and basic working conditions with permanent  employees. The cake and dessert maker was accused by the union of creating a "two-tier workforce" by introducing about 30 new permanent staff on minimum wage contracts to drive down terms and conditions, in order to bring in cheap agency labour and zero-hour contracts. 

This afternoon I spoke to a young woman outside Ashton Jobcentre who told us about her experience of working at Park Cake Bakeries in Oldham on a wonderful zero-hour contracts. She explained that there are two agencies now based in Park Cake Bakeries who recruit staff on zero-hour contracts. Having been recruited initially via the Jobcentre, she receives text messages from the agency calling on her to attend the bakery for possible work. She then explained that she was told to sit and wait for two-hours, in the expectation that there might be work, but she would be paid for the second hour. If nothing was available, she is sent home. According to this young woman, around 90% of the staff at the bakery are agency staff. When I asked how she could know this, she said because she could tell agency staff by the colour of the hairnets - red and purple for agencies workers and white for those directly employed by Park Cake.

When  I asked this young woman how she managed to live when she was not getting temporary work, she said she relied on the goodwill and generosity of friends and neighbours. This is the world of work that many now face daily in Tory England. Data provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in March of this year, shows that the number of UK workers in zero-hour employment has rocketed to reach a staggering 905,000 people, an increase of 101,000 over the past year alone. Recent research undertaken by Middlesex University found that one-in-20 workers do not get statutory holiday pay and on-in-12 does not get a payslip. Around £1.2bn in wages are unpaid annually. 

As Britain prepares to leave the EU, expect more of this race to the bottom and precarious employment. This country will sold on the basis of low-taxes for the bosses and little or no rights or regulation for the workers. This, we will  be told, is all in the national interest. 

Letter from Andrew Wastling

08/08/2016
DEAR Northern Voices,

'Bad for Britain, bad for workers, bad for you'.

The rise of zero hours contracts in the workplace is the latest attack on workers’ rights and dignity. Put simply, zero hours contracts cover a range of arrangements that mean workers have no guaranteed weekly hours or income, and are only being paid for the hours that they do work. Unite wants to challenge employers to end the exploitation.   

Employers use zero hours contracts to cut wages, avoid holiday pay, pensions, and other benefits enjoyed by employees and agency staff. Workers are also unable to take on other work, as they are obliged to be available for work at the whim of the employer. And with the high level of insecurity comes the risk of bullying, harassment and stress. It’s time to end the exploitation.

Zero hours contracts are on the rise having almost doubled in the last five years. The latest data shows some 1.8 million jobs are zero hours contracts, and these figures underestimate the reality as many people do not know they are on them. The real figure may be even higher.

It’s time to end the exploitation of British workers once and for all .
They are Bad for Britain, bad for workers, and bad for you.
Please contact your MP and tell them to oppose the rise of zero hours contracts. clear recommendations for progress have been made by the union Unite  which we know would help end exploitation for many zero hours workers. These include recommendations to :

• Drop the steep charge for employment tribunals (one of the only ways workers can pursue justice);
• Define zero hours workers as employees with all the legal protections that accompany this;
• Require government to use its purchasing power to wipe out insecure employment from all state contracts.

Many local workers are on Zero Hours contracts . If you are could I ask you to add your voice to the campaign and contact your MP at : http://www.unitetheunion.org/campaigning/saynotozerohourscontracts/
Thank you.

Yours faithfully

Andrew Wastling

UNITE member ( NW /1045 Branch)

Support for 'Hard Working' Rochdale MP

IN January, at a full meeting of Rochdale Council, Richard Farnell, the leader of the Council, said:

'MR. Danczuk (the MP for Rochdale) has a lot on his plate at the moment!' and 'I support any member of Parliament who works hard for this Borough.  I remember working with Geoffery Dickens (a former local Tory MP for Littleborough & Saddleworth)...  Simon Danczuk trounced Councillor Kelly... (at the General Election'.

He  was answering a question from Councillor Andy Kelly, Liberal Democrat, about his own support for the member of Parliament and dismissing Councillor Kelly's question as 'irrelevant'.  At that time the notorious Mr. Danczuk MP had just been suspended by the Labour Party for sexting a 17-year-old girl.

Hard working indeed; yesterday the Zelo-Street Blog reported on Mr Danczuk's recent conduct: 

'Take the issue of MP surgeries, a vital part of any Parliamentarian’s work, and one where Danczuk’s priorities have suddenly slipped. Last week, constituents who expected their MP to hold his surgery on the usual day - Friday - were disappointed to see him Tweeting “Busy weekly surgery today with @elsiewraighte: immigration; tenancy issues; housing benefit; Crown Prosecution Service decision; & more”, but on Thursday.

'Why would he hold his weekly surgery a day early? We had to wait until Saturday for the answer, when he again took to Twitter to tell “Really enjoyed watching @englandcricket yesterday & well done to @jbairstow21 & @jimmy9”.  Yes, when his constituents might have expected Simon Danczuk to be in Rochdale, listening to their problems and addressing their concerns, he was at Headingley watching the cricket.'

That's what you call flexible working conditions, a bit different from Zero Hours contracts. 

Councillor Cleavage Comes a Cropper!

WHAT began with a Selfie of Councilor Karen Danczuk, wife of Rochdale Labour MP Simon Danczuk, on Twitter aping Ed Miliband eating a bacon butty almost a year ago, has ended up in a seemingly self-destructive family drama of catastrophic proportions.  In between times, Karen cottoned-on to the idea of posting revealing images of her cleavage for public inspection on Twitter, and in so doing gained 46,000 followers.  Some weeks ago sources close to the Rochdale Labour Party told Northern Voices that Karen had been chastised by Richard Farnell, the Labour Party's Council leader, for among other things failing in her duties as a loyal Labour Party councillor: she had been widely criticised for her laziness as a Councillor for Kingsway, for her conduct at Council meetings such as fiddling around on Twitter, and for recently challenging the local Party decision to oppose Zero Hours Contracts.    

Councillor Danczuk has alleged that someone abused her hundreds of times in the 1990s .  The police arrested a  36-year old man who was bailed to appear on the 30^th, April, but did not name him.  Since then Karen's brother, Michael Burke, has identified himself as the man accused, and has vigorously denied his sister's allegations.  Michael told the Daily Mail last week:

'The allegations are false.  This is just another part of the media circus that she has created around herself.  She is trying to make a better story each time.' 

A spokesperson for the Greater Manchester Police has said that other family members will be contacted over the allegations, adding:

'The investigation is progressing.  We currently have a brief account of what happened and we are trying to secure a video interview with her (Karen).  She has not committed to anything yet.'

A spokesman for Simon Danczuk MP has since said that Karen has made a full video statement to the Greater Manchester Police about her allegations.

 

 

Rochdale Green Backs Blacklist Campaign!

Yet, Councillor Cleavage Supports Zero Hour Contracts!

MARK Hollinrake the Green Party candidate for Rochdale, in a letter in tomorrow's Rochdale Observer, backed the case for an 'ethical approach to employment and the rights of workers' and argued that councils should 'pay their workers a living wage; not using companies which operate a blacklist (where people are not employed due to being involved with a trade union).'  

Mr. Hollinrake in his letter stated:
'An ethical approach to employment and the rights of workers is being put forward by the Green Party as the way forward.'

He went on to claim that the Greens as being 'the only party against austerity and cuts' and in believing 'that fair treatment is the basis of a better politics' and called on 'all parties to agree to promoting a fair campaign both in the local and general elections taking place in May.'

His call follows a series of dirty smears and negative campaigning against his political opponents, issued by the sitting M.P. for Rochdale, Mr.  Simon Danczuk and his political cronies in the Rochdale Labour Party.  Nor has it helped that Mr. Danczuk's wife, at present a Labour councillor in the Kingsway ward, has just gone on record as to defend the practice of zero hours contracts.  Something which at last month's full council meeting the leader of Rochdale M.B.C., Richard Farnell and the local Labour Party denounced.  Perhaps Simon Danczuk will now make his own position clear with regard to 'zero hour hour contracts' and blacklisting by companies awarded building and other contracts by the Rochdale MBC. 

His he in bed with his wife politically as well as literally?

Last year, Danczuk was seen playing footsie with Nigel Farage when the two politicians spent an hour chatting to each other in the Anchor Tap pub near Tower Bridge in London.  Farage drank three pints of Samuel Smith's Old Brewery bitter while Danczuk was on lager during the meeting.  Last year, a mate of mine had a drink in the House of Commons with Danczuk, and watched him get giddily drunk while he talked about making money out of a book on Cyril Smith. 

One hopes now that Simon danczuk will make a principled stand on 'zero hours' and blacklisting.

HOVIS workers strike against zero hours contracts. Three arrested on picket line!

We are publishing below a statement we have received about the strike at Hovis in Wigan:

"Strikers who work for Wigan Hovis,  have called for a mass protest at 2 to 2.30 am tonight ( on the night of Sunday into Monday ) as the lorries leave the depot at Cale Lane, Wigan. WN2 1HB.

The strike by members of  the Bakers, Food and Allied workers Union (BFAWU)  is
against the use of zero hours contracts and for security of employment.

We attach pictures from Saturday's excellent march and rally in the town.

We call on all trade unionists to support these workers in there struggle against no hours contracts. Three of them were arrested on the picket line at 4am this morning two of them women. One of these was

assaulted by the police protecting scab labour.

They need your physical and financial support, but most of all they
request every body to boycott all HOVIS products and pass this on to
all contacts across the UK."