The Socialist 1 February 2012 Fight this profit-mad system  Bankers bonus scandal - Fight this profit-mad system Trade unionists and socialists prepare for May elections What is the point of Labour MPs? Don't let the racist EDL divide us Disabled protesters demand scrapping of 'welfare' bill Haringey takes action against academies Coventry: Re-elect Dave Nellist NUS: name the day for student walkout Save Derbyshire youth services! Only one in six 'vacancies' real Tough conditions for agency workers South East Wales youth plan new campaigns EU summit - no capitalist solutions to the spiralling eurozone crisis Interview: the Tunisian revolution one year on Pensions battle: Unions must campaign for coordinated strike action in March London Docklands transport workers win Olympics deal Remploy workers fight privatisation Jet tanker drivers continue strike action Debate: Should socialists support the HS2 rail line? Are the Greens a real alternative? PDFs for this issue |
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Home | The Socialist 1 February 2012 | Join the Socialist Party Tough conditions for agency workersI am 23 and have been unemployed for four months. Prior to this, I was working in an unskilled job as a temporary worker for a higher education institution. Recruitment agencies employing temporary workers have increasingly become a fact of life. It is estimated that only around 5% of current vacancies are for full-time permanent positions. Agencies are used to undercut the terms, conditions and wages of permanent staff. It can provoke a 'divide and rule' tension among workers, as temps start to resent the permanent staff, who are usually better paid and may be in more responsible positions. Some unions seem reluctant to represent agency workers. When I talked to colleagues about being involved in a union, most did not believe that the union could do anything, and some did not even think they were allowed to join. Agencies are often appallingly run. For people who chose to work bank holidays, they would receive only the usual rate. At my workplace, a fourth shift was added, for a derisory extra 50p an hour, despite the fact that those working it would be doing, in some cases, a 60-hour week. I could barely manage a 45-hour week because I had a one and a half hour commute, as I could find no jobs in my local area! Nonetheless it was not uncommon for the agency to ring me up and ask me to come in for a shift which was due to start in half an hour. Yet people who could not attend a shift could face dismissal if they did not inform them the previous day! Wages of £6 or £7 an hour are barely enough to get by on, especially when shifts are so erratic, making it difficult to plan the week. Many of my colleagues had families which made an already impossible situation even worse. In this issue Socialist Party news and analysis
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Socialist Party youth and students
International socialist news and analysis
Socialist Party workplace news
The Socialist - readers' comments
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