Representing agency workers in Parliament
- Neil Foster
- May 1, 2018
- 3 min read
Increasing levels of insecure work in the UK have left more and more working people not knowing if they will have a job or enough hours in the weeks and months ahead. GMB knows only too well it damages people’s mental health, contributes to financial hardship and all in the name of maximising corporate profit.
Now the Labour MP for Barnsley East Steph Peacock is leading the charge in parliament for better rights at work and fairer pay for agency workers. Steph is also a former GMB political officer for Birmingham and West Midlands region and has been using her experience in preparing a Private Members Bill that will make a difference for agency workers throughout the UK.
GMB’s political team has worked closely with Steph with this bill and drawing on the experiences of our members. Last year GMB asked members about their experiences of how casual and agency workers are treated. We received over two thousand responses. The following names have been changed to protect workers’ identities. These shock examples were typical:
‘Agency workers are walking a thin line in the workplace, because they have tremendous pressure hanging above them. They are always threatened by dismissal/release if they don't do their jobs right (or even if they do it), thus being the most physically and psychologically exploited workers.’
[Karl, ASOS/XPO worker, Barnsley]
‘The ability to instantly cut the amount of hours an employee can be given leads to abuse as the employee cannot stand up to employer as they fear cut hours.’ [Julian, public sector worker, Portsmouth]
‘They are often undermined by the employer and have so much uncertainty. They fear turning work down but are stressed with the amount of work they are being given. There is no way of knowing how many hours they actually are putting in as some have more than one employer.’ [Linda, Tameside]
‘They get little or no rights at work. I have seen them not get sick pay, little notice of work being available or not and penalized when they can’t pick up the hours at short notice due to child care or other similar reasons.’ [Shelagh, local government worker, South Yorkshire]
‘I have had to defend agency workers who have been called in to disciplinary hearing for going to the toilet and on one occasion for sustaining an injury.’ [Vaughan, GMB workplace rep, West Sussex]
Steph Peacock’s Barnsley East constituency also includes the ASOS and XPO warehouse which has previously used the controversial Transline recruitment agency which was used by Sports Direct until it collapsed. It is great news that Steph is using her position in parliament to champion fair workplace treatment and stronger rights at work as a Labour MP.
Steph’s Employment and Workers Rights Bill proposes a number practical steps to improve the experiences of agency workers including:
- ending the controversial Swedish Derogation loophole which can be used to cynically deny agency workers hard-won rights to equal pay
- providing additional rights for agency workers to challenge the organisation they are effectively working for on the grounds of unfair dismissal
- preventing employers from using agency workers as permanent staff while denying them rights that should come with it
- force employers who require work on an ongoing basis to offer permanent contracts
GMB believes it is vital that the government starts to provide decent and secure jobs and stop the exploitation of workers on insecure contracts. It is vital we stamp out this exploitation and provide people with greater job security and dignity at work.
Private Members’ Bills don’t traditionally have a high rate of success without government support, but with this being such an important issue affecting so many people, ministers will increasingly have no place to hide. You can read more about Steph’s Bill here https://www.stephaniepeacock.org.uk/my_private_members_bill
GMB continues to campaign and organise for union recognition, secure jobs and improved pay and conditions across workplaces with the support of many MPs in Parliament.
