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Home / BME people still face racism and discrimination at work, says TUC

BME people still face racism and discrimination at work, says TUC

By agency reporter
March 18, 2018

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is highlighting some of the many ways Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BME) people still face discrimination at work.

There are currently 3.2 million BME employees in the UK, but they still encounter many problems at work. These include:

  1. Employment pay gap: black workers get paid 8.3 per cent less than white workers – costing them an average of £1.15 an hour.
  2. Qualifications pay gap: black workers whose highest qualifications are A-levels earn 10 per cent less than their white peers – missing out on an average £1.20 per hour.
  3. Type of employment: BME workers are over a third more likely than white workers to be stuck in temporary or zero-hours work.
  4. Abuse at work: more than a third (37 per cent) of BME workers have been bullied, abused or singled out at work.
  5. Effects of racism : TUC polling shows that over half (57 per cent) of BME women affected by bullying and harassment have suffered mental health problems.  

 Thousands of people took to the streets of London on 17 March 2018 to join the Stand Up To Racism march. The TUC says the demonstration will make an important statement that trade unions and other organisations are opposed to the increasing levels of racism and xenophobia in Britain today.

The march took place ahead of the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Wednesday 21 March.

Speakers at Saturday’s event included Diane Abbott MP on migrants and refugees, journalist Gary Younge on Trump and the rise of the far-right, and Emma Dent Coad MP on why Grenfell survivors needs housing and justice.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Racism has no place in the modern workplace – or wider society. Bullying, harassment and victimisation is undermining, humiliating, and can have a huge effect on mental health.

“Employers must take a zero-tolerance attitude to racism and treat every complaint seriously. It’s a scandal that so few black and Asian workers feel their bosses are not dealing with racism properly.

“Anyone who has faced discrimination at work should talk to their union rep or join a trade union. We all have a responsibility to call out racism wherever we see it.”

* TUC https://www.tuc.org.uk/

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