'New Deal' has failed black workers, claims TUC

Racism is still blighting the lives of Britain’s black workers, and employment schemes like the New Deal have not benefited black workers as much as their white counterparts, according to the Trades Union congress (TUC).

The congress has today called on the government to introduce extra measures to reverse this trend, including creating legislation to require all employers in the private and voluntary sectors to promote good race relations in their organisations. Such a legal requirement already exists for public sector employers.

In its report, 'Moving on… How Britain’s unions are tackling racism', the TUC found that employment rates for black and Asian people (11.3%) trailed the record levels achieved by their white counterparts (4.4%). Problems within some ethnic minorities are more pronounced; for example, the unemployment rate for Bangladeshis stands at 20.4%.

The report stated that the disparity was worse than in 1990 and "confirms the trend reported by the General Household Survey" that unemployment rates have got worse for second generation British born descendents of immigrants.

Launched on the opening day of the TUC’s Black Workers’ conference, the report, said that was "essential" for the New Deal projects to benefit black and Asian workers as much as white workers.

Brendan Barber , TUC General Secretary, said: "Black and Asian workers have not gained equally from Britain’s expanding economy compared to the white workers. To begin to reverse this trend the government’s New Deal, welfare-to-work strategy, must become even more effective. Unions give a high priority to equality at work and we are working in partnership with many employers and the government to establish fairness. But racism is still rife in too many of Britain’s workplaces."

The TUC Black Workers’ Conference runs from today until Sunday April 25 at the Riviera Centre in Torquay.

(gmcg)