Labour’s Shadow Chancellor has told The Linc that students could still access “flexible” working hours if the party came into power – despite its policy to abolish zero-hours contracts.
John McDonnell visited Lincoln today to support the re-election of Karen Lee as the city’s MP, with just a week now left until voters head to the ballot box.
A zero-hours contract is a casual agreement between an employer and a worker where the employer is not obliged to provide any minimum amount of work per week.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 18% of people working on a zero-hours contract are in full-time education.
The body says that this pattern shows the advantage to students of being able to “combine flexible working with their studies.”
But the Labour Party says in its latest manifesto that it will abolish the contracts if it wins the upcoming election.
When questioned on this by The Linc, John McDonnell said: “My dad used to be on the docks and my granddad used to be on the Liverpool docks as well.
“When they went to work in the morning they’d stand at the side of the road and they’d be chosen by a ganger – and if they weren’t chosen they got no work.
“Zero-hour contracts are a re-invention of that kind of exploitation.”
But despite the party’s policy to abolish zero-hours contracts, Mr McDonnell added that students who may find them beneficial would still have an “element of flexibility” in their working hours.
He said: “We need to structurally change the economy so that people get a real living wage and the restoration of union rights.
“But we also need to make sure that people have secure work with a proper contract and the knowledge of how long they’re going to be working each week.
“But there will still be an element of flexibility.”
You can find all of the candidates standing in the contest to be Lincoln’s next MP here.
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