You’re fired because of what you look like -- then hit with a £1,200 bill to speak out. It’s happening to people right now. 

The government slapped huge fees on people going to employment tribunals, and now 73% fewer fired unfairly come forward. By putting a price-tag on calling out nasty companies, the government are letting sexist, racist or just plain bad bosses carry on without fear.

At this moment Theresa May and her chancellor Philip Hammond have got their heads together, agreeing what’s in the ‘autumn statement’ this week. It sets out their priorities for 2017, so they could quickly junk these callous fees. But we need to get our voices into those meetings right now, and put this on their agenda. 

Imagine working on the minimum wage and being fired because of your sex, race or disability. Then being asked to cough up an extra £1,200 to even raise the problem. It’s no surprise employment tribunal cases have nosedived. 

We’re all supposed to be equal before the law, but these fees make businesses more equal than people. If you’re disadvantaged, discriminated against and on low wages, you’re locked out from your rights. 

But the government’s already under pressure. Its review is already a year late, and an important committee of MPs from different parties recently attacked the fees. Theresa May and Philip Hammond might decide they want this mess they’ve inherited from David Cameron to go away and scrap the fees -- if enough of us pile in. 

When all of us work together we can influence government ministers. Over 130,000 of us worked with trade unionists and others to gut a planned law attacking workers’ rights last year. So we know we’re strong enough to do this.  

Thanks for all you do,

Sondhya, Hanna and the team at SumOfUs