13 May, 2010
The International Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF) has conducted a survey of how Contract and Agency Labour (CAL) is affecting workers and unions, and what steps are being taken to deal with the issue. Forty-eight ITGLWF affiliates completed the online survey, which was conducted with the assistance of the ICEM’s CAL project.
The results of the survey overwhelmingly indicate that CAL is an increasing problem in the textile, garment, and leather sectors, with 69% of affiliates who responded saying that the share of short-term and agency labour work in their sector and country increasing over the past year. A full 37% said that CAL had increased by 16% or more. Some 26% of respondents said that the share of CAL has decreased.
In parallel with affiliates of the Global Union Federations ICEM and the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF), who conducted similar surveys earlier in the year, ITGLWF affiliates indicate that CAL workers receive significantly lower wages than permanent, direct-employed workers. Over 66% of those who replied said that wages paid to CAL workers are less than those paid to permanent workers, and 21% said that CAL workers’ wages are less than half those of regular workers. Some 41% of those who responded indicated that the wages and benefits gap between permanent, direct- employed workers and CAL workers had increased as a direct result of the global economic crisis.
The survey results make clear that employers evade their obligations to CAL workers in various ways with non-payment of overtime, denial of maternity and family leave, and denial of vacation and holiday leave being the most common forms of abuse. Some 18% of the total responding said that CAL workers are denied access to social security and pensions, and 15% said that the biggest way employers evade their obligations centres on occupational health and safety.
There is a substantial difference in the number of CAL workers that ITGLWF affiliates represent. Fifty-two percent of affiliates indicated that CAL workers make up between 0 and 5% of their membership, while 19% say that CAL workers made up more that 31% of their membership. Almost one quarter of affiliates said that they had organised more CAL workers in the last year, while 17% said they had lost CAL members. The survey asked affiliates what were the obstacles to organising more CAL workers, and the results clearly demonstrate that the biggest obstacle to CAL workers joining a trade union is fear of dismissal or discrimination. Twenty-three percent of affiliates responding say that government legislation was a barrier to organising CAL workers in their country.
ITGLWF affiliates are including CAL issues in their collective bargaining agendas. The four most common CAL-related bargaining objectives were to guarantee equal pay for similar work, to ensure non discrimination and realisation of trade union rights, and to convert precarious jobs into permanent jobs.
In response to the fact that there is an increasing trend towards indirect and insecure forms of employment, 43% of affiliates indicated that they are currently taking action to ensure that new jobs created in the sector are filled by permanent workers with direct employment relationships.
More details on the results of the ITGLWF CAL Survey are available here.