UK’s TUC Congress Calls on Government to Adopt EU Directive

Calling the work-lives of temporary and agency workers in the UK the “dark underbelly” of British society, Trades Union Congress (TUC) General Secretary Brendan Barber gave the issue of contract and agency labour prominence on the opening day of the TUC Congress, 9 September, in Brighton.

Setting out specific instances of temporary or contract worker abuse in the UK, Barber called for new labour rights to be given to such workers in Britain. And in his keynote address to Congress, just prior to Prime Minister Gordon Brown speaking, Barber called on his government to quit the stalling, and endorse the EU Directive on Temporary and Agency Workers.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber

“Since we launched the commission on vulnerable employment,” Barber said, “I’ve met so many victims of unfair, systematic exploitation.

“There are so many issues to tackle in this dark underbelly of British life,” stated Barber. “I urge the government to deliver the promised European directive to give agency workers justice and dignity,” he said.

In 2004, the Warwick agreement was made in the UK, which was aimed at providing equal employment rights for temporary and agency workers, and to support the EU Directive. Even though the Blair government pledged to do so, it never did. The TUC has now called on the Brown government to not only support the directive, but also to pass UK laws giving temporary and agency workers full employment rights.