09 September 2005
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber has challenged the government to make good its pledge to improve employment terms and conditions for hundreds of thousands of public sector agency staff.
Barber claimed that ministers have stymied a proposed European Union directive that would commit member states to standardised employment conditions for all agency workers.
He was speaking on the eve of the TUC's annual conference in Brighton – which is expected to initiate months of heated public debates with the government over pay and pensions reforms.
Barber said the directive formed a key part of the Warwick agreement reached between the Labour Party and trades unions in 2004, which included the commitment to eradicate two-tier pay structures across the public sector.
He warned that the TUC was 'frustrated' by the government's approach to some agreements made at Warwick. Asked if he thought the government would stick to its pledges, Barber said: 'Broadly, I'm confident that they will deliver. [But] I do have some concerns. There are one or two issues where the terms of the agreement are not entirely conclusive and where I don't think we've seen the action that is necessary.'
He added that one issue was the agency workers directive. 'At the moment,' he said, 'it is perfectly normal to treat agency workers as second-class citizens, pay them less and give them inferior terms and conditions right across the board. It is therefore lawful for unscrupulous employers to use agency staff to undermine established terms and conditions. That needs to be tackled.'
Thousands of key public sector jobs are filled by agency staff, including difficult and low-paid health, social services and education tasks. Some provisional agreements to cover the terms and conditions of such staff exist, but they are not enshrined in EU law.
Chidi King, employment rights officer at the TUC, told Public Finance: 'The proposed EU directive would have a major impact in terms of improving public sector pay, terms and conditions. But it has been stuck at the [European] Commission stage for years and the UK government has made no progress whatsoever against its Warwick commitment.
'Britain holds the presidency of the EU but is one of the member states actively blocking progress.'
Britain has objected to the EU's proposal that guaranteed terms and conditions should apply to agency staff after they have held a post for six weeks.
The Treasury and Department of Trade and Industry fear that would hinder the development of a 'flexible labour economy' and have supported CBI calls for an alternative six-month qualification period.
Barber said ministers should also expect continuing opposition to proposals for public sector pension reforms when TUC delegates convene on September 11.
He remains in negotiations with Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson, who chairs the government-union Public Services Forum pensions panel, to attempt to agree principles underlying moves to raise the pension age to 65.
PFsep2005
