GMB members talk Gig Economy in Parliament
- Neil Foster
- Nov 2, 2017
- 2 min read
As part of our mission to be a 21st Century trade union, GMB knows we have to tackle the growing epidemic of insecure work (you can see Tim's blog on the gig economy by clicking here). We took a ground breaking case against Uber and are currently taking legal action against the courier firm Hermes, we're organising agency workers to try and get them better rights and we're taking the voices of insecure workers to Parliament so that MPs know they need to take action too.
Late last month, GMB members gave evidence in person to the House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee.
This high profile Select Committee met in October to hear of the real world experiences from people working in 'the gig economy'. Our members working for Hermes, Amazon and Uber were able to speak openly and honestly about the reality of working for these companies and take questions from MPs.
Because of the very nature of insecure work - if you speak out you risk not getting any hours next week - it was incredibly important to make sure our members could speak in confidence to get their point across. We worked with the committee to ensure complete anonymity to avoid any repercussions for those bravely speaking out.
Speaking alongside our members was GMB National Officer Mick Rix who was able to give a strategic overview of insecure work facing many of our members. Many of the MPs were shocked by what they heard including the account o
f how a driver at Hermes lost his job because he had to go to hospital when his wife went into premature labour.
Following the personal evidence from GMB members, the cross-party group of MPs who make up the Select Committee then grilled the representatives of the companies about their responsibilities and armed with facts and some harrowing tales in the glare of the media. The following day the same Select Committee interviewed Matthew Taylor who recently led a Review of Modern Working Practices for the government. The powerful testimony from our members again hit home along with additional research we produced showing how other countries have already taken strong action against insecure work.
As well as our members showing MPs what working for many of these companies is really like, we made some headlines too (you can see some of the coverage below). We will continue to work to ensure that any future legislation improves the world of work for GMB's members and that bosses can't wriggle out of their legal and moral responsibilities.
You can read the transcript of the workers' evidence here and watch the interview of the companies:
See some of the media coverage here:
Electronic copy of GMB's report on tackling insecure work around the world (hard copies available free on request):
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