British opposition leader Ed Miliband today promised a clampdown on "zero-hours contracts" and greater job security -- a hot-button election issue despite the country's strong economic recovery.
The centre-left Labour Party leader was speaking at an engineering equipment factory in Huddersfield on a campaign stop ahead of next month's general election.
"I think there's no greater symbol for an economy that doesn't work for many people than zero hours contracts," Miliband told the factory workers.
Under these contracts, the employer can vary the employee's working hours, usually anywhere from full-time to "zero hours".
Miliband promised that Labour would pass a law in its first year of government granting employees regular contracts after 12 weeks of working regular hours.
The ruling Conservative Party said that only one in 50 jobs in Britain are under this type of contract and that the government has already tackled abuses.
Prime Minister David Cameron has made economic achievements a cornerstone of his campaign, touting healthy growth and tumbling unemployment, but Labour said the recovery has benefited the rich while many Britons are stuck in a "cost of living crisis".
Zero-hours contracts existed in the past but have been far more frequently used under Cameron's Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.
Official statistics show that almost 700,000 people in Britain have a zero hours contracts as their main source of revenue -- four times more than in 2010 when Conservative leader Cameron came to power.
Miliband said there had been a 20 per cent increase in zero-hours contracts in the past year alone.
His proposal immediately raised hackles at the Confederation of British Industry business lobby.
"Of course action should be taken to tackle abuses but demonising flexible contracts is playing with the jobs that many firms and many workers value and need," said CBI director general John Cridland.
But Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said: "Zero-hours workers are often too afraid to speak up for their rights for fear of losing work."
Miliband's promise came as over 100 leaders of British companies weighed in on the tight-fought election race with an open letter on the front page of the Daily Telegraph backing the Conservatives.
Signatories included Bob Dudley, chief executive of energy giant BP, as well as leaders of well-known brands such as betting firm Ladbrokes, fashion business Ted Baker and restaurant chain Pizza Express.
