International Relations

UNI tells UK government

UNI demands the UK government withdraw its proposal to remove the ban on temporary agency workers replacing striking workers and stop the introduction of anti-union laws.

UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings  and UNI Europa Regional Secretary  Oliver Roethig have written a joint letter to the UK Secretary of State for Business, Sajid Javid, calling for the proposal to be withdrawn.

Jennings said, “This proposal contradicts the efforts being made to create ethical corporate standards and will encourage poor corporate behaviour. From an industrial relations perspective, this draconian proposal will upset the balance of power at work and diminish workers’ ability to defend their rights and collective demands.”

“The majority of EU member states explicitly prohibit the hiring-out of agency workers to enterprises that are affected by strike action or lockout, and agency workers are not required to continue work at strikebound companies,” Roethig added.

The letter states, among other points, that:

• UNI and Ciett (International Confederation of Private Employment Agencies) have been involved in social dialogue for temporary agency work (TAW) at EU level since its establishment in 2000. UNI was one of the key actors in the process to legislate the Temporary Agency Work Directive in 2008.
• The majority of EU member states explicitly prohibit the hiring-out of agency workers to enterprises that are affected by strike action or lockout, and agency workers are not required to continue work at strikebound companies. The UK government proposal also goes against the ILO’s Recommendation 188 which states that private employment agencies should not make workers available to replace striking workers at a company. Every joint declaration agreed by the social partners at the EU categorically states that agency workers should not be used to substitute for striking employees.
• In 2008, Ciett Corporate members signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UNI Global Union in order to achieve fair conditions for the temporary agency work industry and temporary agency workers through global social dialogue. Amongst other issues, it was agreed that a regulatory framework on temporary agency work must include and promote the prohibition of the replacement of striking workers by temporary agency workers without prejudice to national legislation or practices.

The letter concludes that the proposed change would transform the agency industry into a weapon for employers during industrial disputes, making agency relationships more conflictual and controversial.

UNI Global Union and UNI Europa stand with their UK affiliates and the TUC in calling for the government to withdraw this proposal as well as the other anti-trade union legislation its seeking to push through.