Labour needs to rebuild its electoral coalition by showing it is touch with the real concerns of voters says Community.
Community is today launching a report produced for the TUC’s Commission on Vulnerable Employment – Insecure Britain: The Real Impact of Agency and Temporary Work in the UK – which is also published today. Andrew Miller MP’s Private Members Bill on Equal Treatment for Temporary and Agency Workers also has it is first Bill Committee hearing today.
Commenting on the Report, Michael Leahy, General Secretary of Community, said:
‘Community has surveyed workplaces were over 8,000 of our members work in order to answer two key questions:
Are temporary and agency workers being exploited?
Are temporary and agency workers being used by unscrupulous employers to undermine the pay and conditions of permanent employees?
‘Sadly, the answer to both of them is a resounding yes.
‘The exploitation of temporary and agency workers revealed in the report is clear:
56% of temporary and agency workers receive less pay than permanent employees and;
Over 60% of temporary and agency workers are not entitled to the same holidays as permanent employees.
‘The undermining of terms and conditions is also clear from the report:
In 40% of workplaces temporary and agency workers are replacing what would normally be overtime for permanent employees and;
In over a third of workplaces permanent employees are always or often replaced by temporary and agency workers when they leave.
‘Is it any surprise that, when a growing number of hard-working people have seen a real drop in income – at a time when fuel and food prices have risen sharply – and who have seen employers threaten that they will bring in more agency and temporary workers and take away their ability to argue for decent pay for a job well-done, they did not come out and vote Labour in last week’s elections?
‘Labour has to rebuild its electoral coalition if it hopes to retain power nationally and win it back at a regional and local level. In order to do so it needs to convince people that it can combine economic competence with a strong moral and social compass.
‘Taking action to end the scandal of the exploitation of temporary and agency workers and the downward pressure on permanent employees’ terms and conditions should be one of the Government’s first steps towards regaining the trust and confidence of the British people.’