Productivity

Thangam Debbonaire Excerpts

Wednesday 17th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) (Lab)]

I congratulate you, Madam Deputy Speaker, on your recent election. I also congratulate the hon. Member for Hertsmere (Oliver Dowden) and my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough (Harry Harpham) on their excellent maiden speeches.

Across my constituency, young people are struggling to manage in working conditions that reduce their productivity and blight their futures, as well as costing the economy and the taxpayer. Low-wage, insecure and zero-hours contracts, under which an employer binds a worker to them but without offering a guarantee of work, are a negative force working against productivity. I will tell the House what life is like for a young man I met recently in Bristol West. On Monday, he gets up to a text message telling him to turn up for work, but when he gets there, he finds there is no work. He has spent money on the bus fare, so he walks home to save the £2 and so that he can spend something on food. By Friday, this pattern has continued, so he has only had two days’ work and has had to walk home every day.

This young man is tired, he is anxious, he cannot save and he does not contribute to his local economy, beyond paying rent and buying the bare minimum of food. He dare not speak up, and he does not have a trade union to represent him, because his employer has warned him against joining one. His employer regularly pays late and less than he was expecting. He does not get training and does not develop his skills, and therefore he feels no loyalty to his employer and has no motivation to increase his output. His health, both mental and physical, suffers. He contributes little to the local economy, and he barely manages to get by. And we the taxpayers are subsidising these poor employment practices because we have to top up low wages. We the nation suffer, as economic growth remains stagnant, insecure or unstable.

In Bristol West, we have employers who understand that, and there are some who invest in training and skills and do not employ staff in such low-wage, poor and insecure conditions. If the Government wish productivity to increase, they could start by encouraging, enabling or, if necessary, requiring employers to treat their workforces with respect, to pay them properly and invest in them. They could also invest in the infrastructure that we all need to ensure that employees can arrive at work on time, healthy, educated and decently housed. If the economy is picking up, as the Government claim, no business should need to resort to zero-hours contracts.

If the Government do their part and invest in transport, health, housing and education, businesses should do theirs. They should not rely on the taxpayer to pick up the tab, or on exploited workers to accept such poor conditions. That would help businesses as well, as was pointed out earlier by my hon. Friends the Members for Newcastle upon Tyne Central (Chi Onwurah) and for Croydon North (Mr Reed), as well as other Labour Members. I urge the Government to invest in that infrastructure, and also to draw attention to the excellent businesses—in Bristol West and beyond—which treat their workers properly, and do not use zero-hours contracts. They must encourage businesses who fail to treat their workers with humanity to change their employment practices, and help them to recognise the business benefits to their own output of doing so. That will increase worker productivity, which in turn will lead to sustainable economic growth throughout the country.

Worker productivity is directly affected by conditions of employment. I urge all businesses, and the Government, to take seriously what Labour Members know is true. Many of us have spent our lives campaigning for better conditions in workplaces. I urge the Government to end the scourge of exploitative employment practices, particularly zero-hours contracts and insecure pay.