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18 September, 2006
Belgian ICEM affiliate La Centrale Générale / de Algemene Centrale, together with its national centre FGTB/ABVV organised a series of actions on 13 September in Belgium at the occasion of its second “Day on the Rights of Temporary Agency Workers.”
About 300.000 copies of the ‘Interim Times,’ a special free “newspaper” dedicated to the issue of agency labour, were distributed at train stations throughout the country. The Francophone version of newspaper is available online on the union’s site here. For the Flemish (Dutch language) version, click here.
Among other things, the paper contains a series of personal stories, revealing a large number of problems related to agency labour. These include obvious insecure job situations and the often all too vague promises for permanent work “later on.” Possibly less obvious, but equally omnipresent, are several other problems, such as the difficulty to fight for one’s rights, which opens the door for abuse, or simply not being able to get a loan from a bank.
The “Interim Times” paper was also available on many shop floors, where meetings were held by health and safety committees or company councils to discuss the issue of agency labour. The FGTB wanted all relevant bodies to talk to their managements about the problems connected to agency labour.
The FGTB warns that temporary agency work tends to replace more and more permanent jobs. The union also observes many legal violations in the sector. Under Belgian law, temporary agency labour can only be used in three circumstances: when a worker with a permanent contract needs to be replaced temporarily; in case of a temporary increase of the work volume at a company; or when extraordinary work needs to be performed.
However, there is an ongoing discussion on the subject of a “fourth category,” which would allow employers to also use temporary agency workers as an “in-flow” method. The FGTB’s position is clear in this: there is to be no agreement as long as there are no guarantees towards permanent employment and towards solid trade union verification. The FGTB also rejects the idea of temporary agency work in the public sector.
On the occasion of the day of action, the FGTB encouraged all its members to consider a few key questions: does the company inform the workers’ representatives and/or company councils adequately on its use of agency labour? Does management stick to the rules in those cases where it needs to have an agreement from the workers representatives on agency labour? Is agency labour only used for temporary work, as required by law?