TUC: Night workers in the North West deserve better pay and conditions

Saturday, 24 October 2020 06:00

As the clocks go back tonight (Saturday) to mark the beginning of winter, the TUC is calling for better pay and conditions for night-workers – including the 231,000 key workers who regularly work nights in the North West.

New analysis published by the union body reveals that 1 in 3 (35%) night-workers in the UK earn less than £10 an hour. This is despite the heightened health risks that come with night work and the disruption it causes to workers’ lives.

Key workers

The analysis also shows that key workers (231,000) account for more than half of the North West’s 424,000 night-workers.

Key workers are twice as likely to work overnight than other workers.

Low-paid and insecure

The TUC says that many key workers who keep vital services going overnight are undervalued and often employed on low pay and insecure contracts.

Care workers are more likely to work night shifts than other profession. But many earn less than £10 an hour and are on zero-hours contracts.

The union body says the government must use its long-awaited employment bill to “level up” conditions for workers in this sector starting with banning zero-hours contracts.

Health impact of night work

As well as being bad for family life, the health risks of regular night work include cardiovascular disease, diabetes and depression.

The TUC is calling for a number of measures to protect and compensate night workers. These include:

Pay to properly reflect the likely additional costs of childcare and inconvenience that night shifts can entail.
New legislation to ensure that workers always have sufficient notice of their shift patterns so they can make arrangements well in advance.
Compensation for shift changes at short notice.

TUC Regional Secretary Lynn Collins said: “Working through the night is tough – especially in the middle of a global pandemic.

“We all owe night workers in our region a huge debt for keeping services running while we are asleep.

“It is not right that so many of those who work overnight – especially in key sectors like care – are on low pay and insecure contracts.

“The government must ensure that all night workers are treated with dignity at work. That means levelling up working conditions and pay and ensuring people are given proper notice of their shifts.

“And it means honouring the promise to increase the minimum wage that would benefit over two million key workers.”

Top 10 occupations for night workers

Profession	Number
Caring Personal Services	406,000
Nursing and Midwifery Professionals	245,000
Protective Service Occupations	194,000
Road Transport Drivers	186,000
Other Elementary Services Occupations	162,000
Health Professionals	116,000
Elementary Security Occupations	89,000
Sales Assistants and Retail Cashiers	88,000
Artistic, Literary and Media Occupations	81,000
Elementary Storage Occupations	76,000
Managers and Proprietors in Hospitality and Leisure Services	74,000

Source: ONS Labour Force Survey, Apr-Jun 20, Usual to work at night

Night workers by UK region/nation

	Region/nation		Number of night workers		Number of key workers doing night shifts		% of night workers who are key workers
North East		201,000		100,000		50%
North West		424,000		231,000		54%
Yorkshire and Humberside		306,000		183,000		60%
East Midlands		267,000		133,000		50%
West Midlands		285,000		136,000		48%
East of England		293,000		150,000		51%
London		415,000		180,000		44%
South East		417,000		218,000		52%
South West		259,000		137,000		53%
Wales		169,000		97,000		57%
UK		3,410,000		1,764,000		52%

Source: Source: ONS Labour Force Survey, Apr-Jun 20, Usual to work at night

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