Agency exploitation laid bare in Fair Pay Fortnight

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The CWU campaign to address a scandalous and ever-widening pay gap between different groups of employees carrying out identical work for BT is gathering pace - and the scale of the problem has been highlighted during the TUC's Fair Pay Fortnight by the plight of agency workers in Doncaster who are paid £500 less every month than those they work alongside.

At present the union's campaigning about the unequal treatment of agency workers on so-called 'Pay Between Assignment' (PBA) contracts is focused firmly on the European elections - with existing Labour MEPs and fellow Labour candidates coming out in force to support the CWU's 'Closing the Loopholes' campaign.

Had the will of Brussels' lawmakers been properly implemented in the UK, agency workers would now universally be benefitting from pay equal to that of the directly employed staff they work alongside as a direct consequence of the EU's Temporary Agency Workers Directive (TAWD) of 2010.

The reality, however, could not be more different. Three years on from the implementation of the UK Agency Regulations, the vast majority of Manpower employees on the BT contract are now on pay rates that can be as much as £9.48 an hour lower than those enjoyed by their longer-serving agency counterparts and directly employed staff.

A full explanation of the way in which this extraordinary perversion of the TAWD's 'equal treatment' aims has developed can be viewed on the CWU's agency campaign webpage. In short, however, an injustice that EU lawmakers thought they had outlawed has effectively been reinvented in the UK through employers seizing upon a legal loophole in the UK Agency Regulations and introducing PBA contracts - a form of employment that had previously been virtually unheard of in Britain.

That injustice is felt acutely amongst the CWU's Manpower membership working on the BT contract, the majority of whom are based at the huge BT call centres in Doncaster, Warrington, Gosforth and Glasgow.

In addition to the CWU's political campaigning, the union is currently in the midst of a series of site visits that are being organised to update members on what the union is doing on their behalf.

Shock and disgust in Doncaster

Appropriately enough, the first site visit took place last Friday (March 28) - precisely mid-way through the TUC's Fair Pay Fortnight. Telecoms Executive members Tracey Fussey and Stephen Albon were on hand to explain where the union's campaign is heading, and to explain what exactly being on a PBA contract means to newer members of staff who are not always aware of the full extent to which they are being discriminated against.

Tracey, who is already well known at the site in her capacity as vice chair of the Lincolnshire & South Yorks branch, was struck by the level of anger and disgust expressed by a significant number of relatively new recruits who had not previously been aware of the extent of the pay discrepancy they are experiencing.


Tracey explains: "During the course of the day we had a steady stream of visitors to the CWU stand, and many of those we met were comparatively new joiners who were appalled to find out what being on a PBA contracts means in practice.

"At the most recent count, 310 of the 436 Manpower agency employees in Doncaster are on PBA contracts - a three to one ratio that is rising all the time - and they are paid just £7 an hour. That's £3.12 less an hour than their longer-serving Manpower colleagues and directly employed BT staff conducting exactly the same work.

"It was clear that those working on PBA contracts feel completely exploited and used - and significantly we recruited quite new members on the day as individuals were made aware of quite how hard the CWU is campaigning on their behalf.

"Every PBA member I spoke to did not believe they were made sufficiently aware of the impact their contract has upon their pay when they joined Manpower. This is clearly an issue we need to address."

PBA contract member James Cooper spoke for many when he said: "I was never told what a PBA contract actually means - and only learnt through word of mouth and through the union. 'Unfair' is a strong word - but that's precisely what it is. We're employed to do the same job but don't get equal rewards - and that doesn't make you feel secure or valued.

"I'm really impressed with the CWU's campaign, however, and I'm hopeful that the outcome will be positive."

Manpower adviser Carley May agrees: "The CWU is doing the right thing, and all I can say is 'keep on campaigning!' People need to be made aware as this issue affects so many people - yet Manpower don't explain it enough when you take the job on. When I found out how unfair PBA contracts are I felt as if I'd been mugged! It's hard to feel valued when others are paid so much more for doing the same job. You feel angry, disappointed and let down."

Fellow Manpower member Mike Pitman continued: "It's terrible that you can do the same job and get paid so much less for adding the same value to the business. There's no pay rises - not even cost of living - and everything goes up except your pay. It limits what you can do as we don't get paid an awful lot.

"I'm thankful the CWU is campaigning for change but still feel disheartened at the situation we're facing. Diplomacy doesn't seem to work."

PBA contract holder Paul Glossop was even more outspoken: "It's unfair and I feel ripped off and used! People are earning less money for no good reason. This is the lowest paid job I've ever had; don't know how people with families could survive on such low pay. It restricts living!

Danielle Sladek stressed she was grateful at the "fantastic" campaigning being conducted by the union, but her disgust at the situation PBA members are facing was palpable.

"In three years the price of a loaf of bread has increased but my wages haven't. How can I not have had a pay rise in 3 years? I can't really believe I haven't," she said.

"I'm here because I need a job, but I feel belittled and discriminated against - somehow 'less worthy' than others doing the same job.

"I was never informed about the contract when I joined, but I have to stop talking about it because otherwise I'll get angry!

"People are now leaving to go elsewhere for better pay and conditions - somewhere where they feel valued. They are not leaving through choice, just the need for decent pay."

Manpower member Richard Rogers added: "The pay gap widens every year and resentment is growing.

"These contracts have created a two-tier structure. That leads to resentment and creates a feeling and belief that some are valued more than others. There shouldn't be discrimination like this - it's an equal pay issue!"

Longer serving Manpower member Roy Reynolds, who became a CWU rep as a result his close involvement in the CWU's predecessor 'Euro-trashed' campaign, spoke of his frustration that a new generation of agency workers are suffering the same unequal treatment from which he and others on the predecessor contracts had finally escaped.

"Members are disgusted at how they are being treated," he said. "They feel undervalued and exploited by their employer and let down by BT who allow this to happen. It's impossible for many to survive on such a low rate of pay and I feel that the local economy is being exploited as well as individuals, as the use of this legal loophole is suppressing earnings in South Yorkshire."

Roy's message to those the new generation of workers suffering agency exploitation is that the best way to fight the injustice is to become actively involved in the CWU's campaigning on the issue.

"Rest assured the CWU never give in," he stresses.


CWU national officer Sally Bridge concludes: "The understandable anger felt by our PBA contract members in Doncaster is a powerful reminder of the unethical moral ground both Manpower and BT are occupying.

"Both companies need to be aware that the CWU's political campaigning around the misuse of PBA contracts is gathering pace and will become a force to reckon with as our message goes public."

For more information visit Closing the Loopholes. http://www.cwu.org/agency-loopholes.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;