6 May 2015

Parliamentary caterers freed from zero hours contracts

The union representing caterers has congratulated the Labour Party, the Speaker of the House and Spotless Group for ending zero hours contracts for Parliamentary Service staff.

Spotless Group, the company contracted to provide catering and cleaning services for Parliamentary Services and many other public and private organisations, will take immediate steps to ensure their Parliamentary Service staff have some guaranteed hours. This comes after Labour Leader Andrew Little raised the issue with Speaker David Carter.

Service and Food Workers Union Public Services Industry Leader Jill Ovens said this was great news and showed that Mr Little was a true advocate for workers’ rights.

“Mr Little has managed to secure this victory for these workers. We look forward to him leading a government where workers’ rights are taken seriously,” Ms Ovens said.

“Parliamentary Service caterers and cleaners work tirelessly for very little pay. It’s a travesty that until now some of them haven’t even had any guaranteed hours,” she said.

SFWU National Secretary John Ryall said that while this was a great victory, Spotless needed to make the same commitment to end zero hours contracts for all their workers.

“The rejection of zero hours contracts is gaining momentum nationwide. We call on Spotless to set the industry standard by getting rid of zero hours contracts for everyone,” Mr Ryall said.

“Other organisations need to follow the lead of Parliamentary Services and ensure that all workers having guaranteed hours is a condition for firms tendering for service contracts,” he said.

ENDS

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