The London Assembly today called on Mayor Boris Johnson to take action against the inappropriate use of zero hours contracts and end a ‘race to the bottom’ on pay and working conditions.
The Assembly called for the Mayor to lead by example and end the use of zero hours contracts by contractors and subcontractors employed by the Greater London Authority (GLA) and its functional bodies.
Fiona Twycross AM, who proposed the motion, said:
“The flexibility of zero hours contracts falls on the employee and not the employer, which encourages a race to the bottom for employee rights.
“16 per cent of employees in London on a zero hours contract have said that their employers often failed to provide sufficient hours.
“People are entitled to a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work and the Mayor should support this by not only ending zero hours contracts at the GLA but taking a stand on this in London.”
The full text of the motion agreed at today’s meeting reads as follows:
“This Assembly calls on the Mayor to take a strong stand against the inappropriate use of zero hours contracts in London and to lead by example by ending the use of zero hours contracts by contractors and subcontractors employed by the GLA and its functional bodies.
This Assembly believes the Mayor is wrong to praise zero hours contracts and rejects his view that their use prevents “rigidity in the labour market”. In reality, the use of zero hours contracts represents a ‘race to the bottom’ on pay and working conditions. For example, by eroding employee rights to sick leave and annual leave and by tying increasing numbers of low paid employees to places of employment, but without guaranteed hours and therefore a guaranteed income from one week to the next. This erosion of employment rights comes at a time when more people in London are now paid less than the London Living Wage compared to when the Mayor took office in 2008, despite significant increases in costs of living over this period.
That 40 members of staff at City Hall have been employed on zero hours is an embarrassment for the GLA and the Office of Mayor of London and fundamentally undermines the GLA’s status as a London Living Wage employer. To reassure Londoners of the GLA’s belief in a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, we call on the Mayor to root out the unjustifiable use of zero hours contracts at the GLA and to draw up a code of practice on the use of zero hours contracts within the GLA Group.”
Notes to editors:
- The motion was agreed 13 votes for and 6 against at a meeting of the full Assembly today. Watch the webcast.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.