From preventing redundancies to getting workers furloughed, unions have often done the government’s job in this crisis
How has the pandemic affected people’s working lives? It depends who you ask. Covid-19 has exposed how the UK economy effectively functions as two distinct worlds: one where there is a decent safety net, good terms and conditions for workers, flexible working and protection from disease; and another, where precarious workers are paid poverty wages and forced to chose between putting food on the table or catching a deadly virus. While the pandemic has accelerated the problems for those in this second reality, it has also created the conditions for people to get organised and start making demands of their employers. One unexpected consequence of the pandemic could be a new dawn for British trade unionism.
The thinktank I run, the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) has been examining this more closely. We’ve released our findings in a new report, published this week. Our research shows the economy is heavily weighted against people of colour and young people, and protects and advances the interests of some groups while hanging others out to dry. If you are both black and under 25, for instance, you are nine times less likely to find work than white adults.
