Communication Workers Union general secretary Dave Ward has backed a call for a single worker status in the parcel delivery sector, saying it could help tackle poor conditions and bogus self-employment.
Responding to a Citizens Advice report on parcel drivers’ working and payment conditions, Ward said the way workers are employed affects both their wellbeing and the service customers receive.
He argued that bogus self-employment has placed delivery workers under pressure and stress, and supported the report’s call for a status that can be enforced in practice.
The CWU’s intervention puts a test to Labour’s wider programme of employment reform. Ward’s argument is that clearer rights alone will not be enough if parcel workers cannot establish their status and exercise those rights when disputes arise.
