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Zero-working hour contracts are ‘exploitative’ and create uncertainty, Manchester MP Kate Green claims

By David Aspinall

Zero-hour working contracts have been attacked by Stretford and Urmston’s MP Kate Green who has branded them as ‘exploitative’.

The Labour MP has demanded an end to the contracts after recent estimates show that nationally 20% of workplaces now employ up to one million people on these contracts.

Ms Green said: “I recognise that employers and employees need some flexibility but I’m not in favour of people in Stretford & Urmston lacking job security and having to be flexible about whether or not they can afford the weekly shop.

“Hard-working people should feel confident and secure in their jobs and that’s why I will campaign to put an end to the exploitative use of zero-hours contracts.”

Last month Labour leader Ed Miliband announced plans to enforce a code of practice for zero-hours contracts including banning their misuse where employees are on regular hours or are forced to exclusively work for one company.

Philip Duval, a 48-year-old Stretford resident who has previously been dismissed from a job where zero-hour contracts were used, said: “Life on these contracts is insecure and feels like something out of the nineteenth century. People deserve better than this.”

Image courtesy of Labour Party, with thanks.

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