Workers under threat

Zero hour contracts (Irish Examiner, Aug 13) are nothing more than the latest cynical use of the recession to further undermine working conditions and wages.

They are an attack on the dignity and rights of workers. Workers on these contracts are not guaranteed employment from one week to the next, have no guaranteed weekly hours or weekly income and are unable to take on other work as they have to be on constant call from employers. Workers on zero hour contracts are unable to get mortgages, plan family life and many have worries about putting food on the table. Employers use these contracts to keep staff in a permanent state of insecurity, cut wages and avoid paying pensions and holiday pay.

Over 1 million workers in Britain are contracted to this insecure form of employment and a recent study suggested that the practice is far more widespread than official figures estimate. In Ireland, workers have at least some protection under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. There is evidence, however, that despite legislation, many companies in Ireland are using zero hour contracts, predominantly in non-unionised workplaces in the service industries. This practice is said to have accelerated since the removal of the protection of the Joint Labour Committee.