16 September 2005
Senior trade unionists have called on Chancellor Gordon Brown to make good his commitment to the 2004 Warwick accord, amid concerns that public employers are using a loophole in the two-tier workforce agreement to cut costs.
Brown this week assured TUC delegates in Brighton that he and Prime Minister Tony Blair would 'put into place this year and next, the legislation honouring in full the Warwick agreement'.
This includes commitments to stop variations in terms and conditions offered to outsourced staff the two-tier workforce agreement and a continuing national childcare strategy.
But he made no mention of the proposed European Union Agency Workers' Directive, which would guarantee thousands of public services agency staff terms and conditions similar to their in-house colleagues.
One senior trade union negotiator told Public Finance there was 'increasing evidence' that unscrupulous employers were using agency personnel 'to reduce costs, because they must pay higher wage bills under the two-tier agreement for full time staff'.
Large parts of the public sector, including social services, education and health, rely on agency staff to complete routine and skilled tasks. But the government has blocked progress on the European directive by insisting on a long qualification period before agency staff receive guaranteed terms and conditions.
Yet trade unions believe that ministers committed themselves to progress on the directive at Warwick, which was billed as a new dawn in Whitehall-union relations.
Damien McBride, Brown's senior policy adviser, told Public Finance that the Treasury was aware that the EU directive was a 'sticking point' and acknowledged that there were differing interpretations over what ministers were committed to under the Warwick agreement.
Hannah Reed, senior employment rights officer at the TUC, said: 'We hope that the government will stick to the spirit of the Warwick agreement and commit to the directive to ensure that low-paid agency workers receive a fair deal.'
Union leaders were, however, receptive to Brown's words on eradicating the two-tier workforce across the entire public sector the agreement has so far only been applied across local government. Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: 'Gordon's commitment to ending that injustice is welcome.'
But not all ministerial messages in Brighton were warm. Brown promised 'no retreat' from Labour's search for public sector efficiencies and warned there would be no return to the 'inflationary pay deals of the past'.
Ethnic education help fund 'needs overhaul'
A flagship education fund set up to improve ethnic minority attainment is failing and must be overhauled, experts have warned.
The Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant is intended to counter educational disadvantage across minority groups. But, according to research by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers and the Institute for Public Policy Research think-tank, it has had a limited impact.
'We all need to ensure that pupils' life chances are not restricted by ethnic or immigrant background. Emag was trying to achieve that, but has failed on some levels,' report author and IPPR researcher Sarah Kyambi told Public Finance.
Senior teachers and academics believe the Emag system, set up by the Department for Education and Skills in 1999, is not responsive enough to different needs across Britain's school population.
'An improved Emag would need to start recognising different levels of diversity& such as pupils' language variations rather than just headcounts,' Kyambi said.
The study, Diverse futures, equal chances, published at a TUC fringe event on September 12, also says the grant does not help the problem of pupils moving schools. It is claimed that disproportionate rates of mobility among black and ethnic minority groups contribute towards underachievement at GCSE and A-level.
Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ATL union, said: 'This is especially pertinent because Britain is seeking to address community cohesion issues. Schools with high levels of inward pupil mobility are not receiving the levels of funding they need.'
NHS staff 'should go to top' of waiting lists
A spirit of solidarity appeared to be in short supply among unionists from the Society of Radiographers, who want NHS staff to receive fast-tracked medical treatment.
Senior radiographers want the government to put health service staff including their own members to the top of NHS waiting lists 'so that they can get back on the job as fast as possible'.
Some delegates reacted with disdain, saying that public sector staff should be subject to the same waiting times as any other patients.
But the SoR believes that making employees wait for specialist help loses NHS resources and causes bottlenecks for treatments for other patients.
Warren Town, the society's director of industrial relations, said: 'Because of significant shortages of qualified personnel, it is vital that staff such as radiographers return to work as quickly as possible.'
A SoR spokesman told Public Finance: 'I can understand the initial reaction of some people& but this is a serious issue and one that will help to reduce overall waiting lists.'
Delegates accepted the argument the SoR's motion was carried unanimously.
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