Plaid Cymru - Ban Zero Hour Contracts

All eyes will be on the Labour party this week as Plaid Cymru acts once again to ban the use of zero hour contracts in Wales. The Party of Wales has tabled amendments to the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care Bill in a bid to outlaw the use of zero hour contacts in the social care sector.

This is the fifth time that Plaid Cymru has tried to outlaw the use of exploitative contracts in Wales. However, despite claiming that it is against zero hour contracts and despite the election of a leader that pledged to ban zero hour contracts, Labour has voted against Plaid Cymru’s proposals to ban them every single time.

Plaid Cymru’s Jocelyn Davies explained that zero hour contracts are exploitative and disproportionately affect women. They are used heavily in the social care sector and cause uncertainty, job insecurity and personal stress.

Plaid Cymru’s Jocelyn Davies said:

“Plaid Cymru is completely opposed to the exploitative use of zero hour contracts and we have acted on several occasions to outlaw their use. However despite claiming that they are against the use of zero hour contracts, the Labour government in Wales has failed to support Plaid Cymru on four occasions to ban the use of these exploitative contracts in various sectors.

“Today we have a new opportunity to ban them after Plaid Cymru tabled amendments to stop the use of zero hour contracts in the social care sector. The question is will Labour support our efforts, or will it vote with the Tories once again?

 “The Labour First Minister has previously tried to divert attention away from his party’s unwillingness to act by diverting attention to phantom legal pitfalls, but the Presiding Officer herself has confirmed that the government could ban zero hour contracts in certain sectors.

“Zero hour contracts are often exploitative. They are unpredictable and workers have no guarantee of their income from week to week, no protection from unfair dismissal, no maternity rights or redundancy rights, and no sick pay or pensions.

“It is Plaid Cymru’s aspiration that exploitative zero hour contracts will be outlawed. I hope that we gain support from those who claim to share our vision this week and that they will support our amendments.”