Work isn’t just the place where you earn your pay. Work is also the place that takes up many hours of your day; it affects your well-being and your happiness. It can even affect your health. It is a place that helps shape your life and that of your family. What happens at work to each of us at work should matter to us all. That’s what ‘Decent Jobs Week’ has been about. It’s a chance for people from across the country to talk about why we need better workplaces. Labour MPs and councillors have been involved in dozens of events. What happens at work affects each of us, and the whole economy. When families’ incomes fall behind it hurts the whole economy: £43 billion in lost tax and national insurance receipts according to the independent Office of Budget Responsibility. A decent job is part of the recovery we want. Two-thirds of people moving into work are paid less than the living wage. The Tories seem to think it does not matter if the recovery is for everyone or just a few. All of this means we must have a different economic strategy building a higher wage, higher skill economy, not the low wage, low skill economy we have. If we win the election in May next year, a Labour government will get young people back to work so they have decent jobs and so we can cut the social security bill. Raising the minimum wage will do the same. So will dealing with the scandal of exploitation zero-hours contracts. Our plans for people to have decent jobs will make a difference for people who are being forgotten by the Tories -- and it is central to a competitive economy that is not about racing to the bottom. In my own constituency last week I met with BT and the Communications Workers Union who have worked to move Doncaster call centre workers from agency work and onto permanent contracts. It is a practical example of how we can get more security and a better working life. So, congratulations to the TUC for making Decent Jobs Week possible and for playing its part in the discussion about what a future workplace should be about.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 11:57:43 +0000
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