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The end of furlough spells disaster for our young workers
Construction apprentices have seen some of the worst employment abuses you could ever come across — but only apprenticeships can solve the coming youth unemployment crisis, writes TAM KIRBY

I AM currently working with apprentices who were put on furlough but received no wages for two months and those who were informed they were no longer required via a text message or email — and then told they were not due any payments.

The current situation with the furlough scheme coming to an end will result in a larger number of apprentices losing their jobs by these very same tactics. The CITB have just issued figures that show 37 per cent of their apprentices are still sitting on furlough.

Unite has launched a campaign to lobby both governments to extend the furlough scheme for apprentices who are still awaiting a return to work, or worse — a notification of redundancy when their employers have to start contributing.

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