CWU submits proposal to DTI over vulnerable workers

The Communication Workers Union today has made a submission in response to the DTIís Success at Work document especially around the issue of agency workers.

CWU currently views the situation in the UK regarding the employment rights of agency workers as one of confusion, inconsistency and unfairness. CWU are disappointed with the current level of employment protection to agency workers with a heavy reliance on employment tribunal cases to set employment standards rather than the domestic framework of the law itself.

The CWU welcomes the terms of the DTIís Success at Work document and the measures therein as well as endorsing the Governmentís recognition that agency workers are vulnerable to abuse by unscrupulous employers.

The CWU would like to see the introduction of legislation that includes domestic legislation based on the fundamentals of the draft Temporary Agency Workers Directive which would give equal treatment for agency workers on basic terms and conditions. This should cover entitlement to equal pay, working time rules, holiday entitlement, working conditions for pregnant women and nursing mothers, protection of children and young people at work and protection against discrimination on the grounds of sex, race or ethnic origin, disability, age, religion, belief or sexual orientation.

CWU General Secretary Billy Hayes says ìWe welcome the opportunity to highlight to the government the plight of agency workers, many of whom are being exploited on a day to day basis. These are not the extreme cases of abuse which the government quite rightly wishes to tackle, but thousands and thousands of agency workers who are being used to work quite legitimately on inferior pay and terms and conditionsí

ìWe have based our submission on the main stream exploitation of agency workers and have added case studies of individuals and their experiences in the workplace; we urge the government to take note of the changes required to secure equal rights and better treatment of agency workersî

CWU also welcomes the announcement today of the new commission for vulnerable employment by the TUC.