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TORIES have been failing black and ethnic minority (BME) women as new TUC analysis reveals they are now nearly three times more likely to be on zero-hours contracts than white men.
Campaigners blasted politicians today for not doing more to prevent BME women suffering the double pay gap resulting from racism and sexism.
The union body said nearly 150,000 more people were on zero-hours contracts over the last 12 months – but “structural racism in the jobs market” led to the biggest proportional increase being among BME women, with the rate now 6.8 per cent compared to 4.8 per cent of BME men, 4 per cent for white women and 2.5 per cent for white men.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “The significant and disproportionate concentration of BME workers on zero-hours contracts points firmly to the structural racism in our jobs market.
“It’s time to tackle the discrimination that holds BME workers back once and for all – and ensure that everyone has access to a decent, secure job.”
One in three of the 155,000 BME women on zero-hours contracts work in health and social work, particularly in residential care, and are suffering a staffing crisis partly due to its median hourly pay of £12.01, the TUC found.
Black Activists Rising Against Cuts national chair Zita Holbourne told the Morning Star: “The impact of over 10 years of austerity, then the global pandemic and now a cost-of-living crisis and the financial situation we are in have all contributed to this.
“The reason why it’s black women that are so disproportionately impacted is because they already faced racism and sexism; the combined impacts in the labour market and those things which have occurred over the last 13 or 14 years have amplified that experience.
“There’s not enough being done by government to address precarious work and the impacts – they have allowed employers to get away with effectively abusing employees.
“Zero-hours contracts shouldn’t be allowed, there should be permanent, regularised, contracted work for all workers so they are not put in this position.
“The government, institutions and employers need to root out sexism and racism so all sectors are accessible to black women who want to go to work to build their careers.
“It’s an inhumane way of living — as well as sexist and racist.”
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