Labour sells out agency workers - again!

This article from the BBC has Labour again dressing up depriving Britain's 1.3 million agency workers of basic rights as something positive.

The rest of the EU's employment ministers have agreed to provide full sick pay and holiday rights to agency staff as permanent staff get. The British Labour Government has however, in its eternal wisdom, vetoed this in the interests of "flexibility" (i.e. keeping costs down for business). As an agency worker myself, I am not particularly keen on such illusory "flexibility" when I am off sick, rather I am more concerned if I am going be able to afford the rent.

Labour also rejected original EU proposals to grant equal rights from the first day of an agency contract, suggesting temps should have at least one year's service to "qualify". Under the deal, Britain's agency workers will get the same pay and conditions as permanent staff after being employed for 12 weeks, as announced last month after negotiations (or more accurately "capitulation") by the TUC, and a clear victory by the CBI. This honeymoon period of exploitation will simply result in a higher turnover of temps, and makes some of our most vulnerable workers even more vulnerable. Nevertheless, "Business Secretary John Hutton described the 12-hour meeting's outcome as "a very good deal for Britain"". What planet is he on?

Further to this, in defence of opposing a 48 hour maximum working week (who really wants sleep-deprived lorry drivers on the roads*? Or an overworked junior doctor treating patients?), Hutton exclaimed: "Flexibility has been critical to our ability to create an extra three million jobs over the past decade. That flexibility has been preserved by ensuring workers can continue to have choice over their working hours in future years." Many workers are pressured into signing the opt-out as a condition of joining their company, whether they want to or not. This is particularly common for agency workers. Of course, the maximum working week could actually create jobs by sharing around excess work rather than allowing it to be consumed by a smaller pool of workers.

The reality is that Hutton isn't concerned about job creation at all, but rather limiting the on-costs for business by pooling work amongst individuals already in jobs, rather than sharing wealth around and in turn incurring the wrath of New Labour's capitalist organ grinders.

* Lorry drivers are currently permitted to drive for up to 56 hours a week or 90 hours a fortnight.