Unite conference hears how zero-hours were beaten

Unite women’s conference hears how zero-hours were beaten

Unite Women’s Conference heard about the potential power of women in the workplace when Socialist Party member Sara Kasab moved the motion on zero-hour contracts.

Sara had led Greenwich Library workers, the majority of who are women, in a victorious battle against employer Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL), a company who employ three quarters of its workers on zero hour contracts!

This so called “social enterprise”, which claims to be worker run, took over libraries in the borough in 2012 and moved quickly to cut posts and deny pay rises, while at the same time increasingly employing zero-hour contract workers.

Sara told the conference how strike action led to victory, with the employers forced to increase pay, reduce zero-hour contracts and employ 22 new permanent staff.

The conference agreed to take on employers, GLL in particular, who exploit workers while claiming to be the soft option to privatisation.

This Socialist Party led victory made clear to delegates that the fight for equality, if it is to lead to real, lasting gains, is a fight to be conducted industrially, not by lawyers but by workers.