Stay at home and shut construction sites

Following the Chancellor's announcement of a package for self-employed workers, TSSA is calling on anybody not considered a Key Worker to stay at home and not travel on public transport. The union is also calling for construction sites to be shut at this critical time.

Self-employed workers – essentially the majority of workers not employed by a company or organisation – were not covered by the government’s earlier package of support for business and their staff, meaning many of them felt they had to go to work in order to pay the bills. Around 80% of workers are now covered by compensation packages, including the vast majority of self-employed workers.

Manuel Cortes, TSSA general secretary, said: 

"Following the Chancellor’s announcement last night, I urge all workers not classified as Key Workers to stay at home. Please don’t travel on public transport at this time.

"And to transport workers – who are classed as key workers – we say that only those essential for the safe running of the networks should be physically turning up to work. Anyone who can work from home should be doing so to protect themselves and the wider population.

"We also call for construction sites to be shut down during this critical period. The government should have done this already as thousands of construction workers are travelling by public transport when the priority should be reducing contact to beat the coronavirus.

"The situation is too serious for half measures – all non-key workers need to stay at home. We need to protect our NHS and save lives."