On Tuesday 23rd January, SNP MSP for Cunninghame South, Ruth Maguire, joined with MSPs from across the Chamber – with the exception of some Scottish Tories – to condemn exploitative unpaid trial shifts and support calls for a ban at Westminster.
The SNP’s Stewart McDonald has introduced a Private Members Bill at Westminster to ban the exploitative practice, which overwhelmingly affects young people.
Speaking in the debate, Ruth said:
“It is particularly appropriate that this debate is taking place during the Year of Young People, because as the motion points out, it is our young people who are most likely to be exploited in this way.
“At the very beginning of their working life, young people who are ready and willing to work are being treated with contempt and disrespect and left disillusioned and disappointed about the world of employment.
“This exploitation is indefensible –it takes advantage of young people’s desire and need for employment to manipulate them into working for free. Working for no reward is the very definition of slave labour – and it has no place in modern Scotland.”
You can watch Ruth’s speech in full here.
Ruth Maguire MSP 