08 October 2009
Bring the whole workforce within collective agreements.
By organising precariously employed workers, unions can build solidarity between them and regular workers and bring the whole workforce within collective bargaining agreements.
But it also works the other way: by using collective bargaining to protect them, unions can give precariously employed workers a reason to join.
Precarious employment affects all workers, whether or not they are precariously employed. If employers are allowed to use temporary contracts when circumstances don't justify it, the security of permanent employees is undermined.
By negotiating the circumstances in which non-permanent or outsourced employment is justified, unions can ensure that agreed terms and conditions are set. Collective agreements must define the reasons for irregular employment and set clear limits.
Collective agreements must also ensure equal treatment for all workers, whatever their legal status, both to protect them and to prevent employers from using worse pay and conditions to undermine regular employment. The aim should be to ensure that precariously employed workers, including agency staff, enjoy the same pay and benefits as regular employees, so that employers have no incentive to use them as cheap labour.
Agreements should insist on direct employment, rather than indirect hiring through agencies, which enables employers to evade their responsibilities by passing them on to other companies not covered by collective bargaining. Temporary employees should also be entitled to join the permanent workforce once an agreed time limit on temporary contracts have been reached, if their work is still required. Employers must not be allowed to use tricks such as continually extending or renewing temporary contracts without ever offering permanent employment.
What we bargain for
- Collective bargaining should ensure that precariously employed workers are covered by:
- protection of union rights
- disciplinary and dismissal procedures
- equal pay for similar work
- non-discrimination and equal opportunities
- training and skills upgrading
- Reaching collective agreements at industry level offers the best prospects for ensuring protection for precarious workers.
Equalising wages in Argentina
The trade union AOMA of Argentina signed a National Framework Agreement for the cement sector, following an organising drive in which union organisers worked systematically around 15 plants.
The union stated, "Organisers took the industry on, going from plant to plant talking about the idea of including third-party service providers under the company-wide permanent contract, including janitors and security guards."
The agreement does away with the distinction between "first class" and "second class" categories of work and equalises wages and benefits for workers doing essentially the same work.
As a result, says the union, "workers felt more protected by the union and were then interested in joining the union ranks". In addition, because the agreement covers the whole sector, it overcomes the problem of one employer refusing to improve terms because it would lose business to a competitor.
All electoral matter is authorised by Paul Howes, National Secretary