East End Poverty Wages for Vulnerable Agency staff

Trade union activists in an East End local authority invited me to interview permanent and agency employees about their comparative terms and conditions.

I have sent this information to UNISON Labour Link, which I hope they can use in their lobbying of the Government over support for the Temporary and Agency Workers (Equal Treatment) Bill on 22 February 2008. Check out the TULO and TUC websites on this key trade union issue. Identities have obviously been changed to protect sources.

I believe that the average London wage is now £45,000 per year?

Permanent Staff:
Worker 1: "Ron”
“Ron” has been directly employed by the local authority for the last 5 years. His grade is on JNC National Terms and conditions including London Weighting. He works 35 hours per week. He is paid Gross £9.92 per hour, £18,051 per year (£347 per week). If Ron is sick he can receive up to 6 months full pay and another 6 months at ½ pay. Ron is a member of the local government pension scheme. His employer also pays the equivalent of 14% of his salary on his behalf into the scheme. Ron has 32 days annual leave per year (not including Bank holidays).

Agency Staff:
Worker 2: “David”“
David” works alongside Ron and carries out exactly the same duties as the other permanent staff. They even wear the same uniform. David works also 35 hours a week. However, he is paid the National Minimum Wage Gross £5.52 per hour, £10, 046 per year (£193.20 per week). He gets no company sick pay, the basic statutory annual leave and no pension. David was born overseas. David sends money back home to his family who are dependant on his earnings. He has worked continually as an agency caretaker for the same local authority in East London for over 4 years. It is hard and difficult work cleaning housing estates. He rents a room in a shared house for £280 per month (£64 per week).

Worker 3: “Trevor”
"Trevor" has worked for the authority for over 3 years. He is on the same terms and conditions as David. Trevor suffers from cancer and has to have regular treatment. If he does not work he does not get paid. So he has to come into work even if he feels unwell or is suffering from the side effects of this treatment. He has to pay £350 per month rent for a room with shared facilities. He has noticed that agency staff can be sacked without notice or for no apparent reason. Also some people have not been paid for work after being told not to come back to a job. Caretaking is a difficult and demanding job; he has come across people taking drugs and been sworn and threatened by them. When he was in hospital due to his illness he did not even receive statutory sick pay.

Conclusion (aka "the bleeding obvious")
Ron gets paid substantially more (£8,005 pa) than his colleagues David and Trevor. He also has a decent pension and paid sick leave if he is ill. He has significantly more annual leave as well as other “big company” benefits.

Ron, David and Trevor have all done exactly the same job for the same “employer” for at least the last 3 years.

How can we tackle poverty in East London unless we make sure that all vulnerable staff are paid a “living wage”?

(Picture is of top Housing East London Caretaker and UNISON member “Rab” who was on NJC terms until he recently changed jobs. His previous employer was not part of this sample)