On 31 March 2021, the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities published its report into racial and ethnic disparities in the UK.
In our response to the report, NAHT has been clear that "the report does not reflect the reality of many people’s lived experiences" and "to many, the findings will come as an insult."
As such, NAHT has added its name to a TUC letter to the Prime Minister that expresses our concern and disappointment at the Sewell report from the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, which we feel understated both the challenge and the scale of change required.
The letter outlines the challenges and inequalities that black, Asian and minority ethnic workers experience across the labour market, and which have been exacerbated during the pandemic, with black, Asian, and minority ethnic workers far more likely to be in frontline roles.
Institutional and structural racism exists in the UK, in both the labour market and wider society. We do not believe that the Commission recognised its extent and impact.
We hoped that the report would recommend action to stamp out insecure work and make employers act to close their ethnicity pay gaps. Instead, the Commission has chosen to deny the experiences of black, Asian and minority ethnic workers and be complacent about the UK’s progress towards being an anti-racist society.
The UK’s trade union movement repudiates this report.
We, therefore, hope that ministers will reflect on the inadequacies of the report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, recognise the insult it has offered to black, Asian and minority ethnic workers and pick a different path.
You can access the full letter here.
First published 19 April 2021