The TUC has revealed that black and Asian male workers earn on average £97 per week less than their white counterparts. There are also large differences in pay within black and Asian communities. Pakistani and Bangladeshi men earn £150 per week less than white men, while the negative differential for Caribbean men is £115 and for Africans £116 per week. Black and Asian women fare better, and on average earn £7 per week more than white women – this is largely because they are more likely to be in full time jobs. However, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women remain, like their men, at the bottom earning on average £34 per week less than white women.

The TUC wants all employers in the private and voluntary sectors to be legally required to promote good race relations in their organisations. This is a legal duty at present placed only on the public sector. A further change in the law would allow trade unions and the Commission for Racial Equality to take collective cases on behalf of individuals or groups of members.