One of the UK’s largest Union body’s has released a damning report on racism in the workplace.
On 31 August the Trade Union Congress (TUC), released a report ‘Still Rigged: Racism in the UK Labour Market 2022’ exposing the harsh realities of racism faced by people from minority groups in the UK.
The report suggested that 2 in 5 workers from minority groups have had to face racism while they work. Most of the workers were either made a target of racist jokes or were made to feel uncomfortable through stereotypes.
The report further listed down the impact of facing racism, revealing that almost 26% of those who have faced harassment wanted to leave their jobs, but continued purely due to financial factors.
Moreover, it is revealed that just 19% of those who have faced racism reported it to their employers. The major reason of racism not being reported as mentioned by the TUC report was of the fear that complaints would not be taken seriously.
A British-Indian woman from London recalled her experience to the TUC saying, “ I remember going to a job interview and not getting the job, and later being told the company didn’t want front facing staff wearing “funny clothes”. I’ve never reported a racist incident because I have always been afraid that I would lose my job.”
The company didn’t want front facing staff wearing “funny clothes”.
Another person from the north-west, a British-Bangladeshi, said “I was on the receiving end of systematic racism from group of managers at my job in a supermarket. They made my life difficult by giving me unrealistic tasks without providing any support. They had unrealistic expectations of me compared to my other colleagues and did not appreciate the hard work I did.”
The report quotes another person saying, “[My manager] would just treat me differently compared to the other people because I was Asian, so her behaviour was different. And every time I was doing well at my job, she would just decrease my salary, so I was earning less.”
The TUC has called on the Government to improve workers’ rights and to ensure that the employers have a duty to act against racism.
NASUWT General Secretary and chair of the TUC’s anti-racism taskforce Patrick Roach said, “We want to see urgent action from the government to create a level playing field for all workers, backed up with stronger workplace rights and robust enforcement measures. And a positive statutory duty on all employers to identify and root out racial disparities at work.”
Suki Sandhu OBE, CEO and founder of INvolve and Audeliss, reacting to the report said, “. We know that the findings of the TUC report reflects the reality of workplaces, and that many still have work to do to eradicate racism. While many commitments were made in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in June 2020, the fact that 40% of employees still experience racism at work demonstrates there has been a failure to translate initiatives to conclusive action.”
Dr Halima Begum, CEO, Runnymede trust said, “Clearly missing across the board are accountable structures supporting employees to report racist incidents, and thorough responses from employers when these allegations are made. Without adequate action from employers the pervasiveness of racism mounts, and it’s this lack of accountability which tips any single accusation within a workplace from an individual ‘bad apple’ to an institutional problem. The Runnymede Trust’s own research highlights the pervasive levels of racism at work which, in 2022, is unacceptable.”