SPEAKING at a press conference in Brighton on the eve of the TUC Congress, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: ‘Today I launch a major new TUC campaign, One-in-Five, to end the exploitation of Britain’s most vulnerable workers.
‘Most people at work today enjoy their jobs. They may have problems – such as pensions, work/life balance and lack of a real voice – but today we put a relentless focus on the significant minority who face insecurity, poverty pay and rank bad treatment.
‘They are the people who pick our food, clean our offices and serve our meals.
‘They care for our elderly and do any number of vital but unappreciated jobs.
‘Their working conditions would be recognised by the great Victorian social reformers.
‘Of course many are also hidden from official statistics, but in the report we publish today, written by the respected and independent Policy Studies Institute, we estimate that around one in five of the workforce – five million people – can accurately be described as vulnerable workers.
‘Many – though by no means all – are migrant workers. Some are home workers. Some work through employment agencies. Some work in the grey economy for cash in hand.
‘Many vulnerable workers are not getting their legal rights.
‘Last year the government recovered more than £3 million from criminal employers not paying the minimum wage.
‘We estimate that at least 150,000 people – and possibly a lot more – are not getting the minimum wage.
‘Even more are not getting their proper paid holiday rights.
‘Even the official Labour Force Survey shows that more than a million people do not get their legal minimum of four weeks paid holiday, including bank holidays – and the most vulnerable will not be counted in those figures.
‘But many employers know how to exploit their staff but stay within the law:
• Shifts just short of six hours so there is no requirement for a rest break.
• The threat of the sack as there is no protection from unfair dismissal until 12 months in a job.
• Sacking you just before 12 months so that you do not get this right.
‘So what do we want done about it? It is going to take action on a number of fronts.
‘We want to see government get tough with criminal employers.
‘I am pleased to say that the DTI’s latest strategy document clearly recognises that there are vulnerable workers who do not enjoy their legal rights.
‘Today they are announcing some pilot projects, including one with the TUC, to help tackle exploitation.
‘I welcome that. But we need to see tougher enforcement of rights such as the minimum wage across the country.
‘But today I challenge government to go further and accept that there are some gaping loopholes in our employment law:
• People working through agencies who can be paid far less than the permanent staff doing the same job.
• Paying a lower rate for the minimum wage even when you are 21.
• Unfair sackings just to keep staff in fear.
‘Yet changing the law is not enough on its own.
‘Unions also have a role to play. Recruiting and organising vulnerable workers is not easy, indeed that’s one of their attractions to the bad boss.
‘But across the country – as is shown in the PSI report – unions are working with, and winning for, migrant workers, agency workers and home workers. Our campaign will see them stepping up and co-ordinating their work.
‘I also have a challenge to employers. Of course the majority of UK bosses are not guilty of the kind of rank exploitation we describe today – and we recognise that there are responsible employers in the agency and lower paid sectors too.
‘But are you sure that you can say the same about everyone in your supply chain? Or the jobs you have outsourced?
‘Next time the board meets to sign off its Corporate Social Responsibility report, directors should ask whether it covers those who serve their lunch and polish the table on which it’s signed, as well as their core staff.
‘And our campaign will encourage consumers to ask hard questions, just as they increasingly do about company activities in the developing world.
‘But there is also a wrong response to exploitation.
‘Today we publish a General Council statement on migrant workers. We make clear that we are opposed to restricting Bulgarian and Romanian workers when their countries join the EU.
‘We do this both on grounds of principle and for practical reasons.
‘We do not deny that recent arrivals from new EU members have had an impact, but this is because the UK’s lax employment rights regime allows employers to exploit migrant workers and use this to undermine terms and conditions.
‘The solution is to end the exploitation, not put up the shutters.
‘Some parts of our social infrastructure have been under strain.
‘But often these are in parts of the country most in need of migrant workers. To ban them would simply cause economic collapse in these towns.
‘Young healthy migrant workers make a net contribution to the economy and to the public finances through their tax.
‘The solution therefore is to invest in proper social infrastructure.
‘In any case putting up the barriers is not practical. You cannot stop Romanians and Bulgarians coming to the UK, nor can you stop them working if they are self-employed.
‘If you ban direct employment, all you will do is drive down wages and conditions even more by encouraging bogus self-employment.
‘We therefore challenge the UK government to do a Dublin.
‘Ireland has welcomed an even bigger proportion of migrants to their workforce.
‘As here, it has caused some strain. But their response was to set up social partner talks between government, employers and unions on how best to respond.
‘And now they have recognised that this means that they need to step up employment protection and enforcement – flexibility without exploitation.
‘I am disappointed that the CBI are urging caution. It is almost as if they would rather put up barriers than face the need for better worker rights.
‘Yet many big responsible companies agree with us on free movement. I challenge them today to work with us and accept that better protection must go with the arrival of new potentially vulnerable workers.
‘The UK is a prosperous country with a strong economy, that has proved remarkably resilient to economic shocks.
‘We do not need to do this on the back of an invisible army of exploited workers.
‘We can have the right kind of flexibility-skilled staff, high investment and adaptable organisations. The many companies that provide competitive goods and services without building fear and exploitation into their business plans prove this.
‘This is not just a TUC campaign, it deserves to be a national crusade.’
