A LOCAL MSP has backed a move to safeguard the rights of workers in  Dumbarton and beyond.

Labour announced last week that the party would move to ban zero-hours contracts.

It came as figures revealed more than 100,000 Scots’ workers are now on this type of contract.

Jackie Baillie MSP said: "I am clear that imposing a ban on zero-hour contracts is the right thing to do.

“Too many workers, including those in my own constituency, are at the mercy of zero-hour contracts, which sees them removed from the government’s unemployment statistics and denies them any certainty in their employment.

“It is hard, especially in today’s economy, to plan life or pay your bills when you can’t rely on money coming in from one month to the next.

“It is clear that the increasing burden of the cost-of-living means something needs to be done to offer security to those in work."

The MSP wants to see residents in Dumbarton, the Vale, Helensburgh and Lomond, offered secure working conditions.

She added: “The SNP has failed to offer workers in my constituency - and across Scotland - the security they need and has turned its back on the pledge to deliver a crackdown on zero-hour contracts.

"The Tories in Westminster have done likewise, but a Labour government will offer the security these workers need by banning zero-hour contracts."

Labour has pledged to Make Work Pay under its New Deal for Working People – strengthening the protection afforded to the workforce.

Zero-hour contracts increased by 47 per cent within the last year alone, involving an additional 35,000 more workers between April and June 2023, compared to the same time period in 2022.

There are 109,000 workers in Scotland who are now on a zero-hour contract.