Leaders back equal rights
TEES business leaders have given qualified backing to Government proposals for a commission to look into equal rights for agency workers.
Last week, MPs voted overwhelmingly to back Labour member Andrew Miller's bill, which would give nearly 6,000 agency workers in the Tees Valley the same rights as permanent staff. But in a meeting on Monday, prime minister Gordon Brown urged union leaders instead to sign up to the commission - described by the Association of Labour Suppliers as “kicking it into the long grass”.
Tees business leaders said a commission needed to address both the increased cost that equal rights would force upon businesses and availability of staff.
Gary Watson, managing director of Newcastle-based NEWgroup - one of the main suppliers of temporary workers to Teesport - said: “There are many seasonal businesses that can’t afford to take on permanent staff.
“If there were no agency workers unemployment would increase, although most people who are offered a permanent contract after working on a temporary basis would take it.”
The CBI said it would, in principle, serve on a commission if it was deemed “a sensible way forward”.
Sarah Green, regional director, CBI North East, said: “A commission with the right terms of reference could help to agree on measures that would satisfy European pressure for legislation on the issue, without damaging Britain's flexible labour market.”
But she warned that the CBI would not sit on a body to rubber-stamp union demands. “We're not in the business of just signing up to a commission where all we've got to do is implement the fine detail”, she added.
Last week, the CBI warned if legislation went ahead, 250,000 jobs would be put at risk and employers would be faced with extra costs and a confusing system of matching pay to that of permanent staff.
Unions say the government is using delaying tactics to renege on previous agreements.
According to a recent report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), a quarter of employers said agency workers should not get the same rights as full time staff.
