BLACK workers demanded today that ethnic pay gap reporting be made mandatory and that the TUC sign up to the commitments of the Race at Work Charter.

Daniel Ay Leb from the Community union highlighted a TUC survey showing that one in six black workers are likely to be trapped in insecure work as evidence that greater protection is needed.

Mr Leb welcomed the government’s commitment to make ethnicity pay gap reporting mandatory for employers with more than 250 staff, but he said that much more needed to be done to tackle inequality and discrimination in the workplace.

Unite’s Everton Morrison warned that there is a lack of cultural awareness, including within trade unions, and called for reps’ training to be improved.

Ameen Hadi from Unison said: “Ethnicity pay gap monitoring needs to be introduced.

“But legislation on its own will not be enough. We need to make sure more black workers are involved in our unions.”

Dapo Ladimeji of the National Union of Journalists said: “We forget about how some academic institutions attack white anti-racist students.

“We must insist that white anti-racist students are also supported.”