Introduction

In interrupting the supply and demand necessary for global capitalism to function, COVID-19 has significantly impacted upon our working lives. It has exposed the existing inequalities present within our labour framework and drawn attention to the working conditions of ‘front-line workers’ who have been consistently undervalued and underpaid by UK governments and businesses. The government's response, such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (‘CJRS’), further exemplifies the problematic and hierarchical nature of employment status which privileges certain groups over others. Coupled with a reduction in union representation and cuts to regulatory ‘red-tape’ for employers, the balance between workers’ rights and business interests has been tilted in favour of the latter for decades.

This chapter begins by exploring the ways in which lockdown impacted on the workforce and the position of front-line workers. It then interrogates the existing labour framework on employment status which continues to create precarious classes of workers in the name of ‘flexibility’. Finally, the chapter addresses the situation of undocumented workers who, absent the criminal law, remain abandoned by the state. Undoubtedly, the insecure immigration status of those who are undocumented creates a form of hyperprecarity which distinguishes them from our traditional understanding of the precariat. What we see then, is that a hierarchy of rights and entitlements remains prevalent under the COVID-19 labour packages which privileges those with greater security (and often income) over those who are perhaps most in need.

Locking down the labour force

Front-line workers

Lockdown meant that the majority of British businesses were told to close their premises, save for those deemed ‘essential’ in industries such as childcare, education, health, social care, transport, refuse, cleaning and supermarkets. Women, the working class and non-White populations are disproportionately represented among essential workers. The TUC report that structural racism within these sectors means that people of colour are more exposed to the virus while at work, due to being forced to undertake riskier front-line tasks that ‘White colleagues had refused to do’, and through the denial of access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and appropriate risk assessments. That over-representation of BAME communities, coupled with instances of structural racism and discrimination at work, are a contributing factor to the higher death rate among this group.

Occupation is a significant factor in terms of exposure to the virus and risk of death.