About the campaign
In May 2008 the Government, TUC and CBI agreed an historic deal to allow agency workers to receive equal treatment after 12 weeks employment.
In October 2008, the European Parliament passed a Directive which enabled the British Government to implement the May agreement. Soon after, the Prime Minister promised legislation in this Parliament.
Both sides of industry, the Government and Europe now all agree that agency workers should have fair and equal treatment after the minimum 12 weeks employment.
These steps forward followed a widely-praised campaign by the labour and trade union movement on behalf of the growing numbers of agency workers.
Some claim that agency working offers both employer and worker much needed ‘flexibility.’ But it is often at a price.
On average, agency workers earn a third less than permanent employees. Research shows that here in the North West agency workers are kept on the minimum wage for sometimes years, while their permanent colleagues earn thousands of pounds more for doing exactly the same jobs.
This is exploitation.
Our concerns are threefold. Firstly, that as the recession bites, unscrupulous employers will dispose of agency workers as the easiest and most convenient option. Secondly, that agency working will become more commonplace as employers opt for the cheapest way to maintain shareholder profits. Thirdly, that agency working will be used to undercut and undermine existing terms and conditions for permanent employees.
That is why equal treatment for agency workers should be introduced now. It is high time agency workers were treated fairly.
We have commissioned a Labour Research report to highlight good practice in the workplace. It shows that through collective bargaining, agency workers can gain better treatment as well as easier access to union membership and representation. Sadly, such good practice is increasingly rare.
There is no excuse any longer for employers to pay agency workers any less. Or for their terms and conditions of work to be inferior.
We are calling on employers in both the public and private sectors to be fair to agency workers. Responsible employers already see the sense of equality in the workplace.
We urge you to support our campaign.
