An agency workers union

[Futility Personified]

I'm not sure where this idea transplanted into my mind from, but if there was a way to unite individuals on a low pay no security agreement with agencies then that would perhaps mitigate some of the issues that these workers face.

Two issues come to mind though:

Firstly, it would be very difficult to get the names of agency workers or spread awareness of such a union. Given that the amount of workers on agency must be up and down quite a lot, retaining membership would be an issue.

Second, i've heard that agencies fulfill the allocation of scab labour in the event of organised workers downing tools. Would this unionisation be in conflict with other organisations?

Anyone who is in the know about this have anything to contribute?

[Futility Personified]

I'd like to bump this.

Having read http://www.unison.org.uk/knowledge/pay/agency-and-temporary-workers/overview/, i'm wondering what additional rights would seem feasible to be secured that are possible as an agency worker.

Hopefully some CWI folks in my area will be able to tell me some more, but in the meantime, any revleft advice / perspectives?

[Rudolf]

I very much doubt the TUC is capable of organising agency workers tbh or even that they're willing to do so. As a general rule if you're not in a unionised workplace the TUC's not gonna do much for you if at all, maybe get you some legal aid if you need it.

I do think there is a possibility for organising amongst agency workers but it has the added difficulty due to the non-static nature of agency work. I'd imagine a solidarity network model could be pretty effective to start with but it would need to eventually be linked up with non-agency workers.


As for the mention of scabbing. Most agency workers haven't and most likely won't even face the prospect of crossing picketlines in the UK as not many days are lost due to strike action. Having said that though, suppose a context of more strikes then there is the possibility of agency workers facing picketlines.

One thing i have to point out is that in the UK a union cannot discipline a member for scabbing. This also applies to unions that aren't legally registered but are considered by the registrar as engaging in union activity and thus they'd get put on the list of scheduled bodies and could face legal challenges. You'd have to do what non-agency workers on strike would do, you use social pressure to keep scabs at bay (that is if you're keeping within the law, i've no qualms about physically stopping scabs).