Unemployment And Low Pay In Derbyshire

EDM number 641 in 1996-97, proposed by Harry Barnes on 11/03/1997.

That this House warmly welcomes and endorses two recent research surveys conducted by Derbyshire County Council into mineworkers unnecessarily made redundant by the closures of three of Derbyshire's last pits at Shirebrook, Bolsover and Markham and into jobcentre vacancies in Derbyshire; is shocked to discover that 32 per cent. of those made redundant were still out of work in June 1995 and that this rose to 55 per cent. for those over 45 years of age and that many of these jobs were insecure, non-unionised, deskilled and low paid; notes that the 1996 jobcentre survey indicates that there are, in reality, some 56 job seekers chasing every vacancy in Derbyshire and that many of the available vacancies are temporary or part-time, involve zero hour contracts, more than 40 hours a week, unsociable hours and low pay; further notes that the survey finds that 47 per cent. of vacancies previously covered by wages councils offered rates below recommended wage levels and that 24 per cent. offered less than the income support level for a couple with a young child; strongly believes that a decent Government would do much more to assist the creation of high-skill and well-paid jobs to create a virtuous cycle of benefits savings, increased tax takes, higher consumer demand, the elevation of self-esteem and stemming alienation, crime and drugs; and further believes that Labour's commitment to using the proceeds of a windfall tax on the excess profits of privatised utilities to create work for young unemployed people is a major contribution to this.

This motion has been signed by a total of 25 MPs.