WIREDGOV

On a visit to the Spen Valley recently (Friday), the TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak will warn that workers in Yorkshire are at the sharp end of insecure work, and call on all parties to support increased employment rights.   

• NEW ANALYSIS shows insecure work is rife in Yorkshire, with 1 in 8 in insecure work – well above the national average 
• Reform and Conservative MPs have voted to keep workers on exploitative zero hours contracts, prevent low-paid workers from accessing sick pay and allow employers to fire and rehire staff. 

Insecure work is rife in West Yorkshire. According to TUC analysis, one in eight workers in Yorkshire and the Humber is in insecure work – well above the national average and amounting to approximately 330,000 workers.  

Meanwhile cost of living pressures are hitting hard. In November 2025, two thirds of households across the country reported an increase in their cost of living compared to the previous month, with low income households hardest hit.   

The Employment Rights Act will have major benefits to workers in West Yorkshire, ensuring more secure, better-quality work and predictable incomes through sick pay from day one, banning exploitative zero hours contracts, and protecting workers from harassment among many other measures.  

These changes are overwhelmingly popular in the Spen Valley. According to a recent TUC MRP poll, three in four voters (72%) in Spen Valley support sick pay from day one. Seven in ten (70%) support a ban on zero-hours contracts – both key measures in the Employment Rights Act. 

The TUC is calling on all parties to support these changes, including Reform, who voted against increased protections at every stage of the Employment Rights Act.  

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak recently said:  

“Places like West Yorkshire are being hit hard by insecure work and the soaring cost of living. People are fed up with work not paying the bills, but Reform MPs voted to keep workers trapped in exploitative zero-hours contracts and to deny sick pay to the lowest paid.  

“Rather than boosting workers’ rights and incomes, Reform seems focused on lining the pockets of their wealthy donors, and dragging Britain into a race to the bottom, repeating the same failed experiment we’ve had for the 14 years under the Tories, which has seen the cost of living soar and workers lose out. 

“Workers in the Spen Valley can’t afford Reform’s reckless economics.”

Editors note’s

• TUC analysis of Labour Force Survey and Family Resources Survey shows 12.5 per cent of adults over the age of 16 in Yorkshire are in insecure jobs: https://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/insecureworkbriefing2025.pdf
• Data from the ONS shows in November 2025, 61% of adults in Great Britain reported an increase in their cost of living compared with the previous month: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/bulletins/publicopinionsandsocialtrendsgreatbritain/latest
• MRP data on support for measures in the Employment Rights Act by constituency: https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/new-mega-poll-shows-employment-rights-bills-critics-are-world-away-british-public
• About the TUC: The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together the 5.3 million working people who make up our 47 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living. 

Contacts: 

TUC press office  
media@tuc.org.uk   
020 7467 1248