The recent Fabian Society Report highlights the importance of unions organising, representing and supporting self-workers rights.
Trade Unions need to better represent the UK’s 4 million self-employed workers detailed in the ‘Getting Organised’ report.
Getting Organised calls on unions to respond to the rising number of self-employed workers - 49% of whom are low paid - by adopting a 3-part plan which includes campaigning for a statutory definition of self-employment. Trade Unions are also called upon to make use of digital organising, develop union services for the low-paid self-employed and campaign for legal change.
In the decade since the 2008 global financial crisis, the number of self-employed workers has risen dramatically and the number of self-employed workers experiencing low-pay and poor terms and conditions has also risen. It is estimated that some 460,000 workers are falsely categorised as self-employed by employers looking to cut costs but only 7% of self-employed workers are currently members of a trade union.