Bosses’ zero-hours contracts obsession has sent workers’ rights back to an age where miners’ pay was decided by the price of coal, industrial experts have claimed.

A Wales TUC paper launched at the Welsh Assembly last night warns the assault on workers’ rights could result in the re-emergence of “sliding scale” pay.

Zero-hours contracts are making working people a “dispensable commodity” for bosses, authors Dr Karen Williams and Dr Jean Jenkins argue.