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Zero Hour Contracts - Legalised Slavery?

Zero Hour Contracts are the most exploitative practice to ever come about in society. 

You have no say in what hours you work
You work as and when your boss tells you to
You could be days or weeks without an hour of work
Some employers can insist you don't work for anyone else

I don't know about you but I firmly believe this is the closest thing to legalised slavery that society has ever been tricked into accepting.
If you're unemployed and refuse to accept a zero-hour contract you could face losing your benefits, doesn't sound very fair to me. 

How can someone live with that uncertainty, thinking when will I get my next pay check to feed the kids, to pay the electric, to pay the rent. How can a government allow employers to to treat people with such disrespect? 

SO, I hear that the current government is doing well in reducing the unemployment rate in the country. Maybe this zero-hour contract has something to do with that?

In 2010, when the Conservative led government came into power, their were 168 thousand people in employment on a zero-hours contract. 
The most recent figures from June 2014 state that their were 622 thousand people in employment on one of these contracts. That's and increase of over 450 thousand people under the leadership of this conservative led government. Now comparing June to August with March to May, the number of people in employment increased by 46 thousand. I wonder how many of these people were forced to accept a zero-hours contract?

It's nice to know what this government is relying on to fix the economy - I hope that action will be taken to tackle this problem. Options:

  • Abolish Zero Hour Contract

These contracts may be the best thing that every happened to businesses, but its the worst thing that has every happened to employees. This is not a representation of the fair Britain that I grew up to know. Plus, the figures might look good now but in a few more months their will be a black hole in the budget and these contracts could very well have a a part to play in that.
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