an updated introduction to the icem cal campaign

An updated introduction to the ICEM CAL CAMPAIGN

April 2010

• The issue of contract and agency work was established as a key priority for the ICEM at the ICEM’s World

Congress in 2003

• At the 2007 ICEM World Congress in Bangkok, virtually all participants mentioned the continuous growth of the phenomenon - and talked about the problems that are the result of it. Time and again, reference was made to a clear

need for continued action on this issue.

What is CAL?

• Many different words exist to describe what essentially is a precarious “work relationship”.

• The “new ways of employment” do away with what used to be “standard”, meaning a permanent full-time job, directly employed by a single company, with a regular working week and benefits, and the protection, including against dismissal, that comes from a legal status as an employee.

• ICEM concentrates on contract and agency labour, but there are also other forms of precarious employment (informal work, simply badly paid jobs)

What is CAL?Some of the ‘precarious job’ terms used

• Contract labour• Agency labour• Precarious work• Atypical work• Flexible work• Casual work or contingent work• Outsourcing• Temporary labour contracts• Direct hire• Dispatched workers• Irregular or non-regular workers• Individual contracts• Labour brokers• Specialist Consultancy

• Seasonal workers• Zero hours contracts• Industrial trainees• Probationers• Off site or on-site contracting• Personal labour contracts (usually bogus self-employment)• On call / daily hire• Day labourers• Home workers• Personnel leasing• Loan workers• Body Shop

Contract labourThe word “contract” is used in two ways. First in the

sense of temporary, short-term or part-time contracts (sometimes through an agency).

Secondly, as in “contracting out”, which is when a company “contracts out” work to another employer. In some cases, this can also be an individual. The work may or may not be done at the same location. The new employer may take on none, some, or all of the staff members of the existing workforce.

Whereas the first usually entails an employment relationship, the second usually brings about a commercial relationship.

Agency labourAgency labour is where a company needs workers and,

rather than employing them directly, asks an agency to send the required number of workers.

Who does it affect?• Contracting out, slowly but surely, has become a problem

for many, if not most, workers in the world, affecting workers everywhere, in different regions, different sectors and different lines of work.

• It spread from a relatively limited number of sectors - it always was a problem for migrants in the construction sector, for example - to all industries, affecting jobs that were considered “safe”. A leading example are the textile companies, who outsource everything, except “branding”.

• Inside the ICEM sectors, some sectors appear to be more concerned than others. The mining and diamond sectors, are dealing with huge numbers of contract workers. In the mining sector, there are countless examples where the contracted workforce outnumbers the permanent workforce.

• However, it also seriously affects the chemical, paper, materials or energy industries

• CAL used to be a problem affecting only certain types of jobs : cleaning, catering, security, transport, maintenance or repair

• Later, others jobs were outsourced : sorting, packing, loading or unloading, engineering, warehousing and administration or clerical work

• Now, almost everything can be contracted out, including, for example, “core” production, extraction or sales jobs.

• The result: two categories of employees: core workers, who commonly receive relatively good employment conditions, on the one hand, and contract or agency workers, or workers in other precarious jobs, on the other, with the latter usually getting the inferior deal.

Who does it affect?

Main problems caused• CAL is the result of a deliberate employer’s decision to

lastingly limit or reduce the permanent workforce. Arguments used to do this include the need to “maximise flexibility” (read: make it easier to dismiss workers from one day to the other) or the search for “cheaper alternatives” because of “market pressures”.

• The end result of the outsourcing effort commonly is a shift of the risk onto the workers, with jobs typically becoming non-permanent, or temporary, casual and insecure. Workers in these jobs are usually not (well) covered by labour law, nor by social security protections.

• Identifying the real employer, and establishing under whose responsibility such issues as working conditions and benefits fall, is a often a huge problem.

• A well-defined “work relationship” between an employer and an employee does often not exist.

Among the main problems for CAL workers

• Job insecurity and an uncertain future. • Uncertain working hours• Low(er) wages, or irregular wages• No annual pay rise or bonus, fewer benefits overall• The right to sick leave often does not exist• Limited or no access to social benefits, including

• pension rights• health insurance• maternity/paternity rights• holiday rights and payments

• Increased risk to health and safety problems• Poor, or no training - same for career development• Lack - or denial - of rights at work, including the right to

join, or form, a union and the right to collective bargaining

Among the main problems for unions

CAL is a threat for trade unions as the phenomenon is often simply misused as a tool to put pressure on workers not

to join a union

• Many contractors/agencies to negotiate with• Unclear which employer is responsible• Permanent workers can be hostile to contract workers.

Sometimes, 2 separate workforces are created with different interests.

• Contract and agency labour workers are legally, or practically, not allowed to join the union, or a union.

• Contract and agency workers don’t see an immediate value in joining the union

• Contract workers are scared of loosing their jobs• Unions are losing members• Collective bargaining is more difficult as there is less

bargaining power

Tricks and abuses

Keeping workers on a series of consecutive short-term contracts - typically a few months (sometimes 3, sometimes 6, depending on what the law, or CBA, says) and have them re-apply time and time again (often a loophole in the law).(Thai Linde example: Dismiss workers after 17 months as they would get CBA benefits after 18 months)

Or ask them to re-enter under another company name – or even under another name

Creating fake agencies, catering to only one company

Using “seasonal workers” in every season

Ask CAL workers to sign blank resignation papers – no date filled in.

In many countries, as agency or subcontracted workers are not regarded as employees of the user enterprise, CAL workers are often prevented to participate in strikes as this is considered illegal “secondary action”.

The Polish Ministry of Labour estimated (in 2009) that half of agency workers do not have employment contracts, but, instead, service or commission contracts for a specific task or project (fake self-employed).

In Serbia, Coca-Cola sells its trucks to its drivers, who become “self-employment” (no rights, no paid leave, no benefits, no…)

In some cases, agencies themselves are allowed by law to directly employ workers through a contract of unlimited duration.

Even though the worker is “guaranteed” a permanent salary, this often leads to situations where there is no longer is any link between the salary of a worker and the salary of a comparable worker at the user-enterprise, opening the door for further misuse.

In too many countries (e.g. South Africa), employers start hiring workers through agencies once “independent contracting” becomes illegal. Or they switch from using agencies to using subcontractors once that becomes regulated.

In some countries or situations, it’s the other way around.

Employers’ “views”“The new "Generation X" and "Generation Y" are no

longer willing to commit to long-term employment in the hands of a single employer, and favour self-managed development plans and career paths that suit their individual aspirations.”

“Permanent and especially unionized workforces tend to possess a "sheltered employment" syndrome, which reduces productivity and installs a "I just need to show up" mentality.”

“More than 32% of these (temporary, part-time and contract) employees secured traditional, permanent jobs within 12 months - and 47% did so within 3 years”.

Source: CAPES reaction to COSATU, South Africa, 2009

“Agency workers are the first laid off when business turns bad”.

“The flexible component of a company’s workforce thus serves as a buffer in times of crisis, softening the impact on permanent staff.”

“Agency workers are the first hired when business recovers”

“The agency work industry will be among the first to create jobs as soon as the economy recovers, as companies first hire agency workers to meet an increase in orders, before recruiting permanent staff when the situation stabilises.”

Source: Ciett, 2010

A few statisticsTemporary employment advanced economies –

1991 – 2006

(source: IILS - ILO)

Temporary employment transition economies – 1998 – 2006


From the 2010 annual report of Ciett (the International Confederation of Private Employment Agencies)

• Across the world, 9.5 million agency workers (full-time equivalent) were employed daily in 2007 (up from 8.9

million in 2006). This decreased by 1% in 2008.31% of them are in the USA.

• The number of agency workers has more than doubled from 1997 to 2007.

(Ireland x 8.75, Japan and Sweden x 4, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark and Norway x 3)

• The average European agency work penetration was 1.7% in 2008, down from 2% in 2007.

(“notably due to the early impact of the economic crisis on the UK”)

• In Japan, this figure still grew (from 2.1% to 2.2%)

“The global annual turnover of the Private Employment Agency industry amounted to € 232 billion in 2008”

Source: Ciett 2010 - “The agency work industry around the world”

Europe is the largest in terms of Ciett affiliates’ income (48% of worldwide revenues in 2008), followed by USA (21%) and Japan 21%)


Large firms play an important role in the TAW (Temporary Agency Work) sector. However, their dominance of national markets varies a great deal between countries.

Large firms are generally important in the European countries, in particular those with the most extensive use of agency work.

In 2005, the largest “concentrated markets” were France (83% of industry turnover by the largest 5 companies), Belgium (74%), the Netherlands (69%) and Spain (59%).

TAW

Adecco is the world's largest private employment agency, serving over 140,000 clients (down from 150,000 clients in 2007) in over 60 countries in 2009. It is currently employing an internal staff of 28,000. The company says its “daily number of staff on assignment” is over 500,000, with over 100,000 clients every day . Over 90% of its sales comes through providing temporary staffing.

Manpower used to be the world's second-largest provider of temporary employees. It states it places 4 million people yearly in permanent, temporary and contract positions through offices in 82 countries. It claims it has 400,000 “associates” on assignment on any given day.

The previously third largest employment agency, Vedior, was bought in 2008 by No. 4, Randstad, making Randstad currently the global No. 2, operating in more than 50 countries, employing 465,000 people every day in 2009.

• According to FNV Netherlands, there were not only around 100,000 agency workers sent out daily in 2009 by reasonably well-behaving bonafide agencies, there is also an equal 100,000 sent out through (much) smaller, less credible agencies.

• 51% of Belgian agency workers works with day contracts.

• 22.4% of all Belgian job openings go to agency workers. 8% of the remaining 75% are ex-agency workers and an additional 19% gets a temporary contract.

That means that only 49% gets a contract of unlimited duration when hired.

Gender - Youth

• In Japan, 70% of non-regular workers are women.

• In Thailand, 80% of all contract workers are women.

• In Korea, 67.7% of women workers are non-regular (versus 32.3 % for men).

The average wage of a female non-regular worker in 2008 was 67% of a typical male worker.

• In Australia, 1 in 3 women was casually employed in 2008, paid 21% less than permanent workers.

• According to Ciett, in 2009, more than 3 in 5 agency workers were aged less than 30.

Gender Differences for agency workers


Statistics - Europe• In Europe, an estimated average of 4 to 5 % of

workers are working as contract, temporary or agency workers, varying from rather low percentages in the Nordic countries to 33% in Spain (of which “only” 16% is agency work).

• European differences: in the UK, some 70% of temporary work is in the service and public sectors. In France, 75 % is in the construction and the manufacturing sectors.

• Temporary workers in the EU are mostly men. However, in some Nordic European countries, they are predominantly female.

From: European Foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions, 2007

• Another difference is in the percentage of young/old agency workers, from around 80% under 26 years in Poland, to almost 25% between 45 to 60 in Denmark….

• …or in the duration of assignments, from short (an average of 1.9 weeks in France) to much longer…

63% of all Belgian agency workers in the private sector has been working as an agency worker for over 1 year, close to 40% for over 3 years. (ABVV sources, 2009)

From: “Temporary agency work and collective bargaining in the EU” (Dec. 2008)

TAW employment and revenuesA few European examples

Country Number of workers, 2007

Change since 2004 (%)

Sector revenue change since

2004 (%)

Belgium 95,465 (382,188)

27.1 (17.3) 35.2

Germany 614,000 53.6 11.3

Finland 28,000 100.0 110.2

France 637,901 11.9 17.9

Poland 60,000 93.5 219.3

Sweden 59,400 69.7 -

UK 1,196,000 (8.7) 7.0

Source: European Institute for the Improvement of Living Conditions, Dec. 2008

Inconsistent and often limited figures

In the UK, the figure for agency workers varies from 1.4 million (employer’s organisation) to 270,000.

(Labour Force survey, 2008)

• In the Czech Republic, “agencies are obliged to report data annually to the Ministry, or attract a fine”.

However, “only a third of all agencies complies”. The requirement is not enforced partly because the Ministry cannot cope with current levels of data

given the large number of agencies now operating.”


• Trade union density for agency workers differs widely, also inside Europe. It ranges from Denmark (50%) and Finland (44%), over Netherlands (17%), Austria (5%) or Germany (4.3%) to Italy (1.7%), France (0.9%) and Slovenia (0.18%).

• In Sweden, a difference is noted between

white-collar (17%) and blue-collar (50%), the latter figure “might reflect higher exposure to trade unions in the user companies.”

Statistics - Europe


• An August 2009 IG Metall + University (Germany) survey finds that agency labour is increasingly being used more strategically by enterprises as a way of passing on the business risk of the cost of longer-term employment.

• In 2008, in Germany, 66% of all employed people had a regular job (secure jobs with social benefits and at least 20 hours a week). In 1998, that was 72.6%.

• The German Statistics Institute said in 2010 that more and more workers have a fixed-term contract while they would prefer a permanent one.

In 2008, 8.9% of employees had a fixed-term contract, up from 5,7% in 1991.

For new recruits, this figure reached 47%.

In Germany, the “Hartz reforms” included the creation of ‘mini’ and ‘midi-jobs’ which are typically low quality part-time jobs and established small grants for entrepreneurs to build a group of self-employed workers.

This category of self-employed workers came to be known as ‘Ich AG’, or ‘Me inc.’.

The percentage of part-time workers in Germany rose from 14 to 22.8% between 1991 and 2004.

Similar to experiences in other countries, this employment status is made up of 86% women.

Source: “Moving from precarious work to Decent work”, TUAC, 2009

In Croatia, “almost 90% of new recruitment is for a fixed term, which prevents many people who are newly entering employment or changing jobs to join a trade union”.

In many Central European and Balkans countries, “the legal exclusion of certain larger groups of persons ” (often including contract workers, e.g. Poland ) “from trade union membership” is identified “as a considerable problem” and something which is “no longer compatible with the principle of freedom of association”.

Source: FES, 2009

Statistics – Latin America

• In the Peruvian mining sector, only 16,000 workers were permanent workers in 2008, out of a total of over 85,000. In the early 90’s, 95% were still listed by ministerial figures as direct permanent workers.

• In Colombian Ecopetrol, there were 13,850 permanent workers in 1975, vs. 230 temporary and 500 subcontracted workers.

In 2008: 4,500 permanent workers, 600 temporary and 16,000 subcontracted.

• Colombian ICEM affiliate Sintraelecol put the number of CAL workers in its sector at 70%. In Endesa, there was 1 permanent directly employed worker for every 6 non-permanent one (2008).

• With Smurfit Kappa in Colombia (paper company, 2.700 workers), 60% of all workers were said to be CAL workers in 2009.

• Carbones de Cerrejon in Colombia, the world largest open-pit coal mine, employs around 5,300 workers. 6,000 other workers are employed at the mine by subcontractors.

A questionnaire by the ICEM Brazil social dialogue project in 2008 to unions in 15 major Brazilian companies in different

ICEM sectors on

“what is the main target we should deal with”

lists the issue of “subcontracting” (100% of all respondents mentioned it as a priority) as the number 1 priority to deal with, before

“Corporate Social Responsibility” and “Sustainable development”.

Source: ICEM co-sponsored research – Brazil chemical sector, Nov. 2009

Permanent vs. CAL workers in the Brazilian Chemical sector

Informal employment in Latin American countries 1998 – 2006

Informal employment in the formal sector includes those workers who do not have a proper contract


Statistics – North America

• Part-time, contract, and temporary work as well as self-employment, now corresponds to 1/3 of the Canadian workforce nationally. (TUAC Document 2009 - 2008 figures)

Almost 70% of the self-employed group can be considered ‘disguised’ employment. (TUAC Document 2009 – 2004 figures)

• The US Government Accountability Office has reported that the number of ‘contingent’ workers who are independent contractors, temporary workers, subcontracted and leased workers and part-time workers stood at approximately 31% of the total workforce. (2006)

A 2007 Mexican study found that approximately 60% of the 400,000 workers in Mexico’s electronics industry work for temporary agencies, with some companies employing as much as 90% of their workforce through sub-contractors. (source: Cereal)

Using official Mexican census sources, a 2009 study reported that fully 10 % of the Mexico’s workforce was employed by temporary agencies. (Source: Center for Labor Research and Union Advisement )

Statistics – Asia/Pacific

• In Korea, 55% of the labour market is organised through agency, contract or temporary work.

On average, Korean non-regular workers worked the same amount of hours as their permanent directly employed counterparts in 2008 (an average of 46.6 hours per week). Unfortunately, again on average, they earned only 51,9% of the Korean permanent workers’ salary.

• Coal India Limited employs some 420,000 permanent and 200,000 contract workers (2009 figures).

• In Singapore, the number of contract and casual workers increased by over 300 % from 2001 to 2007.

• In the Indian province of Goa, 80% of all workers are said to be contract labourers in 2009.

• In its Pakistan Khanewal Lipton Tea factory, Unilever employed, until late 2009, 22 permanent employees and 723 agency workers. The non-permanent workers earned 1/3 of the salary of the permanent workers (if they managed to work the whole month).

• In Japan. the “category” of CAL workers only came into existence 20 years ago.

Their number rose to 17 million in 2004 - over 33% of the labour workforce - up from 20 % in 1990.

• The rate of short-time workers in employee pension insurance in Japan in 2008 was 30% (It was 80% for regular workers).

• In Australia, in the early 1990s, around 23% of the workforce was “casual”. In 2008, that already was 27%.

Statistics – ICEM Asia MNC Project - 2009

Country

Trade unionists

at the seminar

from

CAL workers (partially

) unionised

Average union density

regular workers

Average % CAL

Indonesia

22 MNCs 4 MNCs 50% 31.7%

16 MNCs 2 MNCs 90% 27.3%11 MNCs 1 MNC 95% 40.6%14 MNCs 0 MNCs 85% 41.6%

Malaysia

13 MNCs - - 23.0%

17 MNCs 0 MNCs 58.5% 26.7%5 MNCs 0 MNCs 37.5% 26.7%11 MNCs 0 MNCs 67.9% 24.2%

Thailand

10 MNCs 1 MNC 65.9% 29.3%

10 MNCs 2 MNCs 64.9% 37.8%7 MNCs 0 MNCs 67.1% 19.0%5 MNCs 0 MNCs 50.1% 13.2%

Trade union density for CAL workers is low

• In Japan, 4.4% of non-regular employees are trade union members (2008)

• In Korea, 3 % of atypical workers belong to unions. (2008)

• In Australia, 9.4% of casual workers are union members, versus 30.1% for permanent employees. (2009)

Statistics - Africa

• A 2008 South African Labour Department study highlights the alarming increase of subcontracted labour in the South African mining sector, mainly using workers from foreign countries such as Mozambique and Lesotho, often in an effort to avoid direct accountability in cases of accidents and death.

• Over 60% of all staff of South African utility company Eskom was temporary in 2008.

• “Employment informality” within the formal mining sector increased from 90,231 jobs in 2003 to 122,589 in 2005, with subcontracted workers commonly being forced to work under dangerous conditions without protective clothing.

• According to the study, “It is necessary to re-conceptualise the informal economy from its origins 3 decades ago as a description of the urban poor in developing countries, to a recognition that informality does not exist in small, unregistered enterprises, but is increasingly found inside formal enterprises through the rapid growth of casual and subcontracted work”.

• It was estimated in 2009 that around 500,000 workers in South Africa are employed by labour brokers.

• According to the NUM, labour brokers in South Africa usually take as much as 50% - in some cases up to 70% - of what the company pays to the labour broker as their “fee”.

In many Sub-Sharan countries, unions affiliate a lot of CAL / informal workers.

In Guinea, 40% of all members of ICEM affiliate SUTIDS are “journaliers” (day workers).

Problems are enormous in many sectors, for example small scale mining.

Health and Safety

• In the USA,“19 percent of the day labourers reported work-related injuries that required medical attention in 2006, compared to less than 5 percent of workers in all private industries and about 6 percent of all workers in construction.”

• In Belgium, agency workers were twice as likely in 2009 to have an accident compared to permanent workers.

• According to the ICEM affiliated Peruvian FNTMMSP (mining), 49 miners died in the first 9 months of 2009. 37 were working for subcontracting companies.

• Recent Canadian research finds a link between "precarious employment" and poor mental health, showing that part-time workers with no job security will develop not only more physical, but also 3 to 4 times more mental health problems than their full-time counterparts. This, in turn, leads to a 50% increased risk of heart diseases.

Main reasons include inequality, fear (of termination), the combination of high demands and low control.

Statistics - The crisis

• CAL workers are time and again the first victims of any crisis. We all read newspapers…agency workers are the first go – and go in masses.

• Temporary Work Agencies in the Netherlands saw a reduction of 25% of ‘total hours worked by agency workers’ in 2009.

• If a job disappears in Sweden, workers can have their job back if the company decides to restart the job within 9 months. In a time of crisis, many employers wait 9 months… and then hire a temp.

The ICEM QuestionnaireIn the second part of 2008, the ICEM carried out a

global survey of its affiliates on the issue of CAL, the results of which were released in early 2009.

Over 100 ICEM affiliates replied, from 49 different countries, from all continents.

Where possible, the same (or similar) questions were asked as in a similar 2007 survey by the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF).

A shorter follow-up questionnaire was done in late 2009.

Has the share of contract and agency labour (CAL) in your sector(s) in your country increased

over the last five years?

88%

12%

Yes

No

IMF survey: 9 out of 10

83%

10%7%

Yes

NoDon’t know

Do workers in your country feel less secure as a result of the changing employment

relations?

IMF survey: 9 out of 10

Please provide an estimated share of the contract and agency labour work in your

sector(s) in your country

53%33%

14%

Less than 20%

20% to 50%

More then 50%

IMF: 44%

IMF: 13%

IMF:33%

Are wages of contract and agency labour workers in your country much less than for

permanent employees in similar jobs?

78%

22%

Yes

No

If wages are lower, at what percentage of a permanent worker’s wages are they?

40%

48%

12%

Less than 50%

50 to less than 75%

75% up to 100%

78% replied that wages of CAL workers are less than for permanent employees in similar jobs - 2 out of 3 said wages

are much less in the IMF survey.

31% of all ICEM affiliates answered that CAL wages were, on average, less than half of what permanent employees received - 33% said the

same in the IMF survey.

34% said that CAL workers receive 50 to 75% of permanent employee wages - 25% in the

IMF’s case.

Which groups of workers in your country most often work in contract and agency

labour jobs? 1 = not affected 5 =very often in precarious jobs

3,3

3,4

2,2

3,3

3,6

2,4

0 1 2 3 4 5

Workers with high skills

Workers with limited or no skills

Migrant workers

Older workers

Young workers

Women workers

In which areas, and to what degree, do employers evade their obligations to contract and agency labour

workers? 1= fully complies 5=completely evades obligations

Overtime payments

Vacation and holidays

Maternity and family leave

Social security and pensions

Occupational health and safety 3.3

3.7

3.3

3.4

3.2

1 2 3 4

Does your union have contract and agency workers as members?

54%

46%

Yes

No

Is organising contract and agency workers a priority for your union?

62%

38%

Yes

No

Which obstacles, if any, exist to union organising of contract and agency labour workers in your country? 1= not an obstacle 5= severe obstacle

Government legislation

CAL workers live in fear of dismissal (or

of other ways of harassment) Union rules &/or

structure Opposition of existing

union members1,9

2,0

4,2

2,8

0 1 2 3 4 5

Almost nine out of ten respondents indicate that CAL workers are (where they are organised) mainly organised inside existing trade union structures

IMF survey: The actions identified as most important among union strategies regarding precarious workers include first and foremost recruiting these workers into existing unions.

87%

13%

Inside existing unions

Through separate

unions

Does your union provide information or education on contract and agency issues to union members?

69%

31%

Yes

No

Has your union revised its rules recently to facilitate CAL workers’ membership?

28%

72%

Yes No

Collective bargaining priorities regarding CAL 1= Low 5 = very high priority

Ensure trade union rights 4,5Guarantee equal pay for similar work 4,4Ensure non-discrimination 4,4Protect against dismissals 4,4Convert precarious jobs to permanent 4,1Ensure participation in all union activities 4,0Provide legal counseling 3,8Train & upgrade skills 3,7Educate members on contract and agency work 3,6Reduce / limit allowable time periods 3,5Include a provision in International Framework Agreements on

principal employer responsibilities on precarious work3,5

From the IMF 2008 survey

The IMF survey findings indicate that collective bargaining objectives of trade union responses to precarious work exist in three groups.

The top group of collective bargaining objectives includes converting precarious jobs to permanent, guaranteeing equal pay for similar work, and ensuring trade union rights.

A second group of such objectives includes ensuring non-discrimination, protection against dismissals, and reducing/limiting allowable time periods.

Finally, a third level objective for responding includes training and upgrading skills.

Reform laws to facilitate organising

Ensure social security protections

Protect against dismissal

Reduce/limit allowable time periods

The main legislative objectives regarding CAL

3,5

4,1

4,2

3,9

0 1 2 3 4 5

Where CAL problems exist in your country, would you say the main problem is the lack of legal protection, or the fact that the

law is not enforced correctly/adequately?

44%

56%

Not good enough

Not enforced

Have you ever made use of labour inspection to offset CAL abuses?

47%

53%

Yes

No

If yes, was the experience positive?

57%

43%

Yes

No

The follow-up ICEM-IMF Questionnaire 2009

Asked for their experience over the year 2009, 66% of ICEM and IMF affiliates indicated that there was a continued increase in CAL, in spite of (or thanks to) the economic crisis.

Significant was that about on 1 in 3 noted an increase of over 10%.

22%

66%

12%

Has the share of precarious work /CAL in your sector(s) in your country increased over the last year?

decrease increase equal

40%

39%

14%

7%

Is your union taking measures to avoid an increase in precarious work/CAL once the global economy picks up again?

we are already taking action we are reflecting

we have not yet taken any action we do not believe this is a problem

Here and there, some CEOs of companies still boast that they

“started at the bottom of the latter”.

Today, that is no longer possible.

There is no longer a bottom of the ladder. Bottom-ladder jobs are no

longer jobs within the same company.’

The ICEM CAL project

• The Global ICEM CAL project started in 2005.

• Funded from the beginning by organisations in Sweden, Norway and Germany. Later also from the Netherlands.

• Works with a number of European experts.

• A wide variety of activities have been organised, reaching, with varying levels of details, all ICEM affiliates in all countries, regions and continents.

• The project is “run” at the headquarter level, where a global consultant/coordinator is working in close cooperation with the ICEM’s Project Officer.

• Four regional coordinators are working “in the field”: Aranya Pakapath in Thailand for Asia, Rosane Sasse / Elias Pintado (each 50%) in Brazil for Latin America and Joseph Toe for Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Three global conferences on CAL• Year-round local, national and

regional workshops, seminars and conferences

• The issue is discussed at all major ICEM meetings, including regional and sectoral conferences

• Regular meetings with other Global Unions to discuss joint action

• Campaign material: Research studies, country studies, leaflets, CAL newsletters, a video documentary, PowerPoint presentations, international surveys, a “Short Negotiators Guide” and a longer “CAL Manual”, most in various languages

• A campaign site: cal.icem.org

• Over 400 ICEM CAL related articles published, on CAL issues from all parts of the world.

• ICEM focuses on CAL during the international trade union movement’s Global Day of Action, on 7 October – coordinating with other GUFs

• Lobby international organisations (ILO, OECD)

The ICEM campaign

Three main “lines of action”• Legal• Company, collective

bargaining and organising• Trade union

The exchange of “best practice” examples is an important factor at all three levels

The legal angle

Main priorities

• Changing the law, making it better. Protecting workers from abuse Making sure that a formal relationship between

workers exists and gets recognised, Good laws also recognise the right of all workers

to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and force the employer to recognise the workers’ union.

• Make sure laws are respected

• Make increased use of labour inspections.

The legal angleA few examples of what ICEM affiliates have been

campaigning on

• Favour permanent direct employment, limit the number of CAL workers

• Create better rules to avoid arbitrary dismissals and CAL abuse

• Guarantee that a formal ‘employment relationship’ will be established, before the work starts

• Equal pay for equal work, as of day 1• Set other levels of benefits (besides salary) also at

same level• Guarantee training and career development • Better social security protection

A few examples of what ICEM affiliates have been campaigning on

• List categories of work, sectors, or types of jobs where CAL labour is not allowed or make sure the law specifies that CAL work will only be allowed in certain cases (not in case of strikes or dangerous jobs, for example)

• Reduce the maximum allowed time periods for contract and agency labour

• Make sure CAL contracts can not endlessly be extended for years and years through loopholes

• Prohibit employment agencies to charge fees to workers• Make sure the trade union at the company receives all

available information on contract and agency labour work at plant level

• Allow core trade union rights, make organising easier

The legal angle - The crisis

Consider support for legal revisions and practices whereby precarious workers can become

“temporarily unemployed”, but remain under some form of contract with the company.

In some (many) cases and countries, this needs to be rephrased to consider introducing unemployment

benefits for non-regular workers.

For example, in Korea, 6 out of 10 non-regular workers are not enrolled in unemployment insurance.

Consider support for (as in Northern European countries) unemployment compensation for

subsistence-type self-employed workers.

Consider support for legal revisions and practices whereby CAL workers also receive a

compensation in case of job loss.

Campaign for ‘notice periods’, also for CAL workers

Campaign for - as already foreseen in the new EU Directive on Temporary Agency Work, or in the 2008

Employment Relations Amendment Bill in New Zealand - Equal Protection and Equal Treatment

for Equal Work, as of Day 1 (Salary, Working hours, Overtime, Rest time, Paid leave, Non-discriminatory

policies, …).


Reflect carefully when planned legislation suggests a further broadening of current rules on contract and agency labour, for

example where agency workers can be hired on a “try them out” basis (suggested as

part of the solution to any crisis).

Labour agencies often use one worker after another in such cases, thus terminating

contracts just prior to the point when a worker must be made permanent under

the social rules.


There is a very real risk of a ‘new wave’ of CAL hiring once the economy picks up again. The first statistics on that are already there in the US.

Companies argue that the crisis has shown that they have to work with “easy to dismiss” workers.

This shift of the business risk onto the workforce - which would have extremely negative social consequences - needs to be resisted at all levels and trade unions will need to pay a great deal of attention to this.

Where it is impossible to totally avoid precarious work, alternatives may need to be looked at. A short-term worker with a direct contract with the user-enterprise, for example, may be much better of than an agency worker.

The legal angle• A lot of examples have surfaced where

relatively good laws exist, or where recent changes improved the legal protection. Best practice examples and/or recent positive legislative changes are coming from, among other, Indonesia, Philippines, India, New Zealand, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Canada, Belgium, Spain, Finland, Norway, Germany, Croatia….

• Sadly, in all too many countries, existing good laws are often not adhered to.

The legal angle - Asia

• In many countries, such as Thailand, Bangladesh or India, it is often illegal for CAL workers to join the union that represents the permanent workers

• In Malaysia , CAL workers need to be “recognised” or “approved” by employers for collective bargaining purposes.

A particular problem (not only in Asia) is the Korean “Catch 22” situation (as clearly demonstrated in the 2008 IMF Korea ILO complaint) where “the principal employer/subcontracting company refuses to negotiate with subcontracted workers, claiming that it has no employment relationship with them, while the subcontractors also refuse to negotiate, claiming that they do not control the terms and conditions of employment in the plant.

(Industrial action against a "third party", i.e. the principal employer/subcontracting company, is treated as an illegal act in Korea).

In Japan, where about 1 in 3 workers is precariously employed, the issue of permanent and direct work became one of the main political issues during the 2009 elections.

Whereas before the elections, the government already took some measures (for example, offering over € 3,000 to companies for every non-regular job saved through work-share programmes - while also trying to remove {second and third-generation} migrants from the labour pool entirely), this was not considered adequate by the Japanese public.

It is believed that the victory of the DJP (Democratic Party of Japan), which is cooperating with RENGO, is partly the result of the promise to improve conditions for temporary workers, dubbed the “working poor” by the media.

The legal angle – Latin America

A 2006 law change in Chile• A clear employment relationship needs

to be established

• User-enterprise and agency are co-responsible

• CAL only in certain cases (holiday replacement, new projects, …)

• User-enterprise is accountable if the agency doesn’t pay

Peru

• Adoption of ILO Convention 81 on labour inspection

• Under the Peru CAL law (2008), companies have to place all individual subcontracted workers on their own payroll (allowing only “tercerizacion” under certain circumstances - no longer allowing it as “a simple provision of workers”). The law was immediately attacked by the business community.

• An end to the practice of creating cover-enterprises for the purpose of recruiting workers for just one particular company, purely to avoid paying workers’ benefits.

• Unfortunately, the situation in practice is very different to the theory, with, for example, decrees following the law that flawed the original concept, including by limiting the areas where the user-enterprise can be held co-responsible.

Peru – Labour Inspection

Through a series of inspection visits in 2009, labour inspectors in Piura, Peru found that Skanska Peru completely “failed to comply” with the requirements of being a subcontractor.

Petrobras, as the user-enterprise, not only decided on the total number, the working hours and the salaries of the Skanska workers employed through the “service contract”, Petrobras also “agreed” on collective bargaining agreements and was involved in the evaluation and sanctioning of contract staff. The material used (including even the IT needed to provide the Skanska services) was also that of Petrobras. Skanska was furthermore found to be working for only one client in Piura, i.e. Petrobras.

As they only found a “straightforward provision of personnel”, the inspectors ruled that the 380 Skanska workers in Piura, Talara region, needed to be given a “direct and immediate” employment relationship with the user-enterprise, i.e. Petrobras.

EcuadorA first new law adopted in 2006

Similar to several EU laws: agencies need to be independent (no mere “intermediaries”) - agency work only in certain cases (temporarily replace another worker, events,…) - 2 contracts needed - training obligatory - not to replace management or to be used during strikes

In 2008, a new stronger law, as the first one didn’t have enough (no) results.

• No agency work, no hourly work, except in certain job categories (security, maintenance, food, cleaning – later amended to also include “strategic sectors”, such as hydrocarbon, electricity, mining, airports,…)

• Outsourcing to a sub-contractor only when the sub-contractor has all the needed “facilities alien to the core” (e.g. accounting, audits, publicity, etc)

• Former agency workers become direct employees (with 1 year job stability)

• No fee to be paid by agency workers • Ministerial list of eligible “companies for complementary activities”• Rules out “fake-self-employment”• For security, catering, cleaning and related jobs, agencies can only

employ workers in up to 3 user-companies per year.

Brazil

A law proposal has been introduced by CUT Brazil in 2009, seeking to

• Reduce CAL, including by making sure that core jobs can not be outsourced

• Limiting the ‘tercerización’ of jobs to certain job categories, including cleaning or catering

• Give information rights to unions on CAL, making sure unions know about coming changes months in advance

• Guarantee equal rights for CAL workers (salary, working hours, health benefits,…)

• Representation of CAL workers through the industrial union.

• Joint responsibility of user-enterprise and agency/subcontractor

The legal angle – North America

• Since April 2009, Canadian Ontario legislation (Bill 139) prohibits agencies to charge fees for CVs or interviews, or “temporary to permanent” fees.

• Temporary workers also need to be paid for public holidays and they have the same rights as regular workers to notice of termination and severance pay (only for workers employed “continuously” by an agency).

Before, there was a provision for such temporary workers, saying they “forfeited” their standard labour rights.

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) has argued that the federal labour code should be changed so that ‘‘non-renewal of a contract after 1 year’s employment should be considered as grounds for unjust dismissal, if there is no just cause for non-renewal, and if work is being performed by a newly hired worker of another contractor’’.

“Less conventional” assistance in the struggle against CAL comes, among other in the United States, from tax inspectors.

The US government announced, starting in February 2010, an audit of 6,000 random US employers in an effort to quantify how many employers “misclassify” workers (for example, using ‘independent contractor’ instead of ‘employee’), thereby avoiding to pay taxes.

One US organisation spoke of a 13% rise in the misclassification of workers in 2009 versus 2008.

In Namibia, a new law was adopted in 2007, aiming to outlaw the omnipresent system of “labour hire” (the jargon used in Namibia for employing workers through temporary work agencies).

The law said that “No person may, for reward, employ any person with a view to making that person available to a third party to perform work for the third party”.

This not only banned the use of agency labour, it also made sure that companies could not outsource work to subcontracting companies.

The law was declared void in December 2009, leading to a decision by the Cabinet to amend the law and seek limitations and regulations, instead of total ban.

The legal angle – Africa

In South Africa, CAL legislation is a “hot” issue (500,000 CAL workers in South Africa).

ANC wants to regulate labour brokers.

ICEM affiliate National Union of Mineworkers adopted a resolution “Labour brokering must be done away with as it is in conflict with the principles of Decent Work”.

In Mozambique, the 2009 ICEM CAL conference concentrated on contacts between trade unions and labour inspectors.

Union leaders commonly had no clear idea of the work by the labour inspectors.

The labour inspectors explained their work is often difficult (lack of resources) and asked trade unions to support them by denouncing CAL violations observed.

This “direct social dialogue” resulted in a better cooperation between trade unions and the structures of the Ministry of Labour, including the labour inspectors.

In Sierra Leone, the government starting reviewing its national labour law after the ICEM’s national conference there in 2009, specifically looking at CAL issues and problems.

As a result of another ICEM national conference, the government in Guinea agreed to review all mining contracts and do away with fake subcontracting companies.

Workers in Mauritius are facing a different, new “precarious” problem after the country’s government, in February 2009, decided to change its labour law, turning virtually every worker into a “contractual.”

The new law removes obligations to pay dismissal fees. At the same time, it also makes it possible to dismiss any worker at any time without good reason.

In Senegal, the President signed, in early 2010, a new decree to protect short-term workers, following pressure by ICEM affiliate SUTIDS and the CAL campaign.

The decree says, among other, that

The duration of a mission cannot exceed 2 years.

The user-enterprise is responsible for working conditions, as well as for salary obligations should the agency “fail”.

Workers “in mission” must enjoy the same working conditions as similar workers at the user enterprise.

At the end of his or her contract, the short-term worker will be entitled to a severance pay equal to 7% of the total gross remunerations paid since the start of the contract.

No use of agency workers in case of a strike.

The legal angle - Europe19 EU countries made changes to their laws on Temporary

Work Agencies between 2004 and 2008 (e.g. limit successive temporary contracts, strengthen enforcement or introduce equal rights, new licensing requirements or new social security measures).

Most EU countries do not allow entry-level jobs (agency workers on a “try them out basis”).

A prohibition on using agency workers to replace workers on strike is the most common form of legal restriction in the EU.

Most EU countries have no special rules for agency work concerning social security and social benefits such as health insurance, invalidity, unemployment benefits and pensions, which are governed by the normal rules that apply to all firms.

Source: European Institute for the Improvement of Living Conditions, Dec. 2008

Belgian legislation is often used as an example

• Limits agency work to specific situations and periods – forbids CAL work in other situations(only for temporary replacement – unexpected increase in work – special activities, e.g. exhibitions)

• Detailed contracts needed

• Describes rights of agency workers in detail

• Union permission needed in many cases

• User-enterprise needs to provide the company council with information on CAL, including why, how many, when, …

• Recognition of all agencies by an independent commission

The law in Germany already stated before the EU Directive on agency work that agency workers have the right to the same wages as permanent workers, unless there is a collective bargaining agreement that says otherwise.

A somewhat bizarre consequence of this legislation is that, as reported by German trade unions, employers are showing a clear interest in working together with unions, as it is the only way for them to discuss lower salaries… unfortunately not always with the most relevant unions.

A “veto clause” also exists in German legislation, allowing a works council to veto the use of agency labour in certain well-described circumstances (ex: when there is a danger that permanent employees of the company will loose their jobs as a result)

In the EU, laws are relatively good, but “loopholes” do still exist, for example in the Netherlands, where Polish self-employed workers worked for a few Euros an hour in the construction sector, as fake-self-employed.

They had the papers to prove it. The documents were in Dutch, a language they were unable to read or understand.

In the UK, ICEM affiliate Unite study found lots of migrant agency workers, working for half of the normal wages, or paid less than the minimum wage (Coca-Cola, BMW, Honda, WH Smith, …)

• In Russia, the legal situation in regard to contract and agency labour is somewhat ambiguous. Unions are of the idea that it is, by and large, illegal – and that is should remain that way.

• In the Middle East, for example in Iraq, the situation is especially difficult. (E.g. electricity workers working under a daily wage system) Several former anti-union laws in Iraq have not been changed since the fall of the previous regime, including Decree 150, which bans unions in public enterprises, including in the oil sector.

The legal angle – Asia/Pacific

• In Australia, unions are demanding a reform of the Australian Labour law, so as to allow bargaining over the control of contract work and contracting out of work. Currently, bargaining over these issues is illegal.

• In New Zealand, the labour law makes it mandatory to include a provision in collective bargaining agreements on contracting out. So, all agreements need to contain provisions, varying from consultation rights on the matter to prohibition.

The legal angle - International

ILO Recommendation No. 198 on the Employment Relationship

In 2006, after a long struggle, the ILO adopted a recommendation (not a convention) on the employment relationship

The recommendation calls for

• The national policy should include measures to:

Provide guidance on effectively establishing the existence of an employment relationship and on the distinction between employed and self-employed workers

Combat disguised employment relationships

The recommendation also calls for

• Regarding the determination of the existence of an employment relationship

Primacy of facts notwithstanding how the relationship is characterized by the parties

Specific indicators of the existence of an employment relationship

• Regarding monitoring and implementation

Mechanisms are needed for monitoring developments in the labour market and the organisation of work, and for formulating advice

The most representative organisations of employers and workers should be represented, on an equal footing, in the above mechanism

ILO Convention No. 181 on Private Employment Agencies

• Need for licensing or certification of Private Employment Agencies

• Equality of opportunity and non-discrimination

• Protection of personal data of workers

It is significant that “No replacement of the workers of the user enterprises who are on strike” is not mentioned in the convention, but only in the recommendation that is attached to it.

The ILO Convention No. 181 does call for adequate protection of the workers - and allocation of responsibilities between PEAs and user enterprises in relation to:

• Freedom of Association and Right of Collective Bargaining

• Minimum wages• Working time and other working conditions• Statutory social security benefits• Access to training• Safety and health protection• Compensation in case of

Occupational accidents or diseases Insolvency

• Maternity and parental protection

The ILO receives an increasing proportion of complaints relating to CAL Freedom of Association violations at the workplace.

“Disguised employment can involve …several layers of subcontractors.”

“Workers are not fired, their contracts are simply ended.”

“Non-extension of contract with sub-contractor, but privileged renewal with non-unionised workers.”

Source: Presentation by ILO Karen Curtis, Deputy Director, 2009

The legal angle - InternationalEU Directive on Agency Work

• An agreement in 2008 - finally - after over ten years of discussions.

• One basic principle: Equal treatment for agency workers as for permanent workers (doing the same job), including on issues such as salary, holiday payments and sick pay, as of Day 1.

Except when the social partners come to an agreement at the national level, as has happened in the UK (where equality only comes after 12 weeks).

EU Directive on agency work (provisions)

• “The basic working and employment conditions of temporary agency workers shall be …. at least those that would apply if they had been recruited directly by that undertaking to occupy the same job.”

“Basic working and employment conditions” are those relating to: duration of working time, overtime, breaks, rest periods, night work, holidays and pay.

• Temporary agency workers shall be informed of any vacant posts in the user undertaking to give them the same opportunity as other workers in that undertaking to find permanent employment.

OECD Guidelines

There is an international (CGU-supported) interest to “build up jurisdiction” through filing “OECD guidelines submissions”.

A major (and growing) problem is that, through the use of CAL, the bargaining unit is getting so small that it is too easy for any company to escape its responsibilities.

IUF wrote to the OECD Guidelines National Contact Point in the UK on “an ongoing series of fundamental breaches of the Guidelines” by the Pakistan company Unilever Pakistan Ltd.

The articles that the IUF saw violated: Enterprises should….

1. Contribute to economic, social and environmental progress with a view to achieving sustainable development2. Encourage human capital formation, in particular by creating employment opportunities and facilitating training3. Respect the right of their employees to be represented by trade unions … and engage in constructive negotiations.

IUF OECD Guidelines complaint - Pakistan

Despite having worked for over 9 months of continuous service – the legal minimum after which they should, according to the law, obtain permanent status - the vast majority of Unilever workers were still classified as temporary.

At the Khanewal factory, there were 22 permanent workers and 723 agency workers. These were employed through 6 agencies (these agencies supplied labour exclusively to Unilever and their offices were located inside the factory itself).

The majority of the agency workers had worked for over 10 years at the factory, with an average of 15 years.

The 22 permanent workers earned 18,000 rupees per month. The contract agency workers earned 6,000 (the legal minimum), only if they managed to work 26 days per month.

They are informed on a daily basis of their tasks. No work that day meant going home without pay.

The company angle and collective bargaining

The second main “line of action” of the ICEM’s campaign is the work at company, or employer’s, level.

As in so many other situations, good collective bargaining, and good organising, are key.

The campaign encourages all affiliates to include CAL issues into all collective agreements.

• The overriding principle is that agreements should concentrate on keeping employment direct and permanent,….

…even where social partners agree that there may be reason, at times, to use contract and agency labour.

• Central to the ICEM campaign is a model clause aimed at avoiding problems through pre-emptive action. The fundamental idea is to agree that the union(s) will be consulted prior to changes that could affect the employment status of employees.

“Employers will not sign any contracts with a third party that could affect the employment status of their direct

employees, prior to consulting with such employees’ union representatives.”

What can also be negotiated in collective bargaining

• Agreement on converting precarious jobs to permanent directly employed jobs

• Favour the use of direct permanent employment, also in new hiring

• Make sure collective agreements also apply to CAL workers

• Guarantee equal pay, and more, for equal work, as of day 1

• Negotiate good training and learning of skills for all

• Respect of trade union rights for all

• Negotiate union protection for CAL workers. Agree that all CAL workers can affiliate to the permanent workers’ union

Organising, organising and organising

• Often difficult, as many employers are using contract and agency labour as precisely one of the ways to avoid a high unionisation rate

• Many CAL workers have already been dismissed as soon as they joined a union, or started to ask questions about one

The company angle – Asia/Pacific

A lot of horror stories exist, but also some good examples, such as in India, where ICEM affiliate INMF (Indian National Mineworkers’ Federation) has managed to recruit 30,000 contract workers into the coal mining union in 2008, as well as another 8,000 in 2009.

The project found many cases where workers have been working for 10, 15, 20, in some cases even 25 years with a temporary contract….

… as well as workers who had been doing the same job, but, “technically” for different companies during different periods.

Permanent workers are often dismissed, only to be rehired by contractors or agencies, in the end doing the same work under poorer conditions.

From a visit to a Goodyear plant in Indonesia: A Goodyear agency worker in Indonesia is close to being top of the range. Below the agency workers are the subcontractor workers (who would be happy with an agency job), followed by day-workers (who would be very happy with a job with the subcontractor).

“The difference between the living conditions of union workers with permanent jobs and contract workers could be measured in

centuries”(Joe Drexler, ICEM, after a visit to India)

In Thailand, local union TIGLU, which managed to organise all 13 Thai Linde (German based industrial gas company) work sites, reached out and organised contract and agency workers into its union. With the help of the project, the ICEM, a number of ICEM affiliates in Western Europe, and a month-long union action in early 2008, TIGLU managed to sign an agreement with Linde, also reinstating all earlier dismissed CAL workers.

Workers had been contracted out to Adecco, and later to Esteemed, an agency located in a building under construction.

Agency workers refusing to sign were dismissed, others were told not to get involved in the union.

As a result of the struggle, the union pursued new collective agreement negotiations, which prioritised on the regularisation of contract and agency workers.

Unfortunately, later the management refused to honour the CBA…

…and a long struggle followed, during which the ICEM has been involved in various efforts to assist the Thai Linde workers, including through the Asian CAL coordinator and through the company’s headquarter union, ICEM affiliate IGBCE, to put pressure on the company, so as not to dismiss unionised CAL workers.

ICEM affiliate PCFT is organising CAL workers at the Thai Goodyear factory.

Most of the 120 short-term workers hired in 2009 were working at the tyre plant earlier through labour agencies. Now they work side by side with regular workers, doing the same jobs, in the same production lines, but, this time, on short-term contracts.

Thai law states that, where there is a collective agreement - such as at Goodyear - a company cannot hire workers on individual contracts unless wages, benefits, and conditions exceed the negotiated agreement. But the 120 workers are anyway employed through 11-month contracts, and are paid significantly less than the plant’s 600 regular workers (212 Thai Baht per day, half of what others earn).

With the assistance of the ICEM CAL project, a collective agreement was signed in 2009 covering CAL workers in 86 Royal Porcelain Company workplaces.

CAL workers were also successfully recruited at Thai Paper and Printing and EGAT-LU.

But the situation remains precarious: according to Thai law, a union founded by regular workers can loose its license if it also recruits agency workers.

Kiryung Electronics Factory – Seoul Korea(From Korean “In these times”, December 2008)

A group of women who assemble radios for Sirius in Seoul, South Korea, organized a union three years ago in 2005 after the company made the women work 13-hour days, six to seven days a week. Pay was only $3.62 an hour in the capital city, where the cost of living is similar to that of New York.

Their bosses responded by firing the union organizers and threatening to fire anyone who had worked at the factory less than a year. That was most of them. Only 10 of 250 assembly-line workers were permanent.

In South Korea, agency temps can be fired for any reason. What’s more, they lack the legal protections guaranteed to other workers and make half as much as permanent workers. Today, there are about 8.6 million dispatch workers in the country. Close to two-thirds of the work force does not have permanent employment status.

Kiryung hired mostly women. It gave three-month contracts to married women, presumably so they could be fired if they became pregnant. Unmarried women received six-month contracts. Management’s policy was to fire one dispatch worker every week, to “keep the waters clean,” according to an October report from the National Labor Committee, a New York-based labor research and advocacy group.

“People were fired for the pettiest reasons,” says Seok-Soon Oh, a Kiryung worker. “The supervisor would just say he didn’t like your face, you were too fat.”

Managers sometimes wouldn’t even tell them face-to-face that they were going to be fired. Pink slips would arrive via text message.

The National Labor Committee reported that Kiryung supervisors kept production quotas so high that women couldn’t take bathroom breaks. Shifts could stretch to 38 hours, but workers received only two 10-minute breaks, in addition to meals.

“People were terrified. If you were sick, you took some pills and kept working,” Oh says. “Once a co-worker collapsed and the boss sent her home, and said, ‘Don’t bother coming back.’

Regular workers

• Directly employed by Lafarge itself• Same job: driving lorry• Same workplace• Job order given by the same Lafarge manager• Monthly wage system - 500~750 USD as basic monthly wage• Double pay for holiday work

• 10~12 work hours a day enjoying overtime pay rate• Some holidays, Sundays• Pension, health insurance, paid annual leave, paid sick leave, bonuses• Protection by union

Non-regular workers

• Indirectly employed through a contractor• Same job: driving lorry • Same workplace• Job order given by the same Lafarge manager• Hourly rate system - 270 USD monthly (8 work hours a day)

• Flat rate for overtime including holiday work• 16 work hours a day without overtime rate• No holidays, no Sundays• No pension, health insurance, annual leave, sick leave, bonuses

• No protection by union

Lafarge Rawang Cement Factory, Malaysia (2008)

According to a February 2010 article (in the Australian Financial Review), BHP Billiton has a plan to replace contractors with employees in the Pilbara region.

(It was estimated in 2009 that 75% of the total 10,000 workers of mining giant BHP in Pilbara are employed by contractors)

The company is said to “promote this move on the grounds of improving safety” (as well as to ease it ore merger with Rio Tinto).

The article ended with “the staffing change may also increase exposure to union pressure”.

Nike is said to have a policy (non-written for the moment) for subcontractors to employ no more than 10% of their workers on short-term contracts.

South African and Chinese multinationals are among those with a bad CAL reputation in Africa.

But there are also some good examples: South African Airways agreed, in 2009, to stop using labour brokers, making temporary workers permanent.

Difficult situation (including brutal attacks) for CAL workers in the Nigerian Niger Delta.

ICEM is working with its Nigerian affiliates on ExxonMobil and its sub-subcontractors (12 sub-subcontractors – 600 CAL workers - same work, 40-50% less salary, no union).

According to ICEM affiliates, there were 4 CAL workers for every permanent worker in the Niger Delta in 2007.

The company angle – Africa

At the CAL project meeting in 2009 for Nigeria, NUPENG and PENGASSAN announced that they now represents 60% of all labour contract workers in their sector and negotiate collective bargaining agreements for them.

However, they also mentioned that collective agreements for CAL workers may “not in any way be comparable to the permanent staff conditions”.

Their aim is to convert 10% of labour contract staff to direct and permanent each year.

In Guinea, in 2009, the mining unions managed to negotiate a clause that says that a worker becomes permanent after 3 short-term contracts.

Also in Guinea, the Director of Russian aluminium company RUSAL was forced to leave by the ministry after the national ICEM project conference. It had become clear that he worked with 120 outsourcing companies. Formerly permanently employed supervisors had become subcontractors/agencies, handling their “own” staff.

Also in 2009, ICEM Senegal affiliate SUTIDS bargained and won from NMA Sanders, turning 350 “day workers” into permanent employees. At Gandour, 400 out of 600 workers won an open-end contract. SUTIDS also sued various outsourcing companies in 2009 and 2010 for non-compliance with salary and other conditions (and won).

In Sierra Leone, there is 1 labour inspector for the whole country.

The company angle - Europe• In Europe, collective bargaining for agency workers

differs greatly inside European countries. There are 4 main areas: agreements at inter-sectoral (highest level social partners and governments) level – agreements with a combination of temporary agency employers - with individual agencies - and at sectoral level.

• Agreements at TAW sectoral level are most common, followed by sector (industry) agreements.

• Often, the law influences collective bargaining and vice-versa.

• Only a few (usually more recent and/or smaller) EU countries have no regulation of TAW by collective bargaining.

• 10 EU countries have umbrella employer associations which bargain collectively with trade unions on behalf of temporary agency firms.

• In contrast, trade union organisation is relatively under-developed inside the agencies.

• In spite of that, collective agreements do form an important means of regulation in many EU countries (although much more so in the ‘old’ EU members) - and coverage is often high or near universal (for example, it’s close to 100% in Spain, Luxemburg, Austria, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Belgium or Denmark).

• In quite a few countries, different agreements apply to blue and white-collar workers (e.g. Denmark, Sweden, Austria).

Some ICEM affiliates have agreements directly with major agencies, for example IG Metall (Germany) or GMB (UK) with Adecco or Unite (UK) with Manpower.

Some have nationwide collective agreements, for example, ICEM affiliate TEAM in Finland with the Services Employers’ Association.

Some EU countries’ sectoral agreements require user companies to inform employee representatives of the plans to use agency labour, for example in Norway (metal sector).

In Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden, where collective bargaining plays an important role in the temporary agency sector, the social partners have a role in monitoring - and may even impose sanctions in addition to penalties issued by the labour inspectorate.

Collective bargaining is important for the regulation of temporary agency work in many EU countries. A few examples of issues that have been regulated this way:

• Length of assignment (Belgium, Italy)• Proportion of agency workers allowed (Austria,

Germany, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Sweden)• The use of TAW in strikes (Denmark, Lithuania,

Norway, Sweden)• The employment contract (Netherlands, Sweden)• Social security and benefits (Belgium, France,

Netherlands)• The regulation of pay equality (Austria, Denmark,

Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Sweden)• Training (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy,

Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain)• Representation (Belgium, Denmark, Italy)

Sectoral agreements in European countries often aim to limit the use of agency work, e.g. specifying only certain or exceptional conditions, or a maximum contract duration, or a maximum permissible proportion of the workforce to be employed through agencies.

In Spanish agreements, limits sought are usually between 5% and 12%, according to the size of workforce.

In Italy, the metalworking agreement stipulates a limit of agency workers as 8% of a company’s workforce.

In Austria, sectoral works agreements also often stipulate limits to the use of agency work, including quotas (usually 5%–10% of the workforce) and obligations to hire agency workers as permanent staff after a certain period (normally one year).

Collective agreement in Spain (unions, employers and government)

• Permanent employment is promoted from the start

• Incentives to change temporary work to fixed-term work, including through reductions in social security contributions

• Ending the abuse of continuous temporary contracts

• If the contract or subcontract workers do not have their own trade union representation, they are able to channel their demands through the trade union of the company

• The trade union representations of the company, and of the contractors, are allowed to meet to coordinate their activities

• Trade unions can participate in planning by the labour inspection.

National Collective Agreement in Italy (2008)

• Agencies are obliged to inform trade unions when at least 20 contracts are involved.

• Notice was introduced for CAL worker resignations. (calculated from the 16th day of assignment as one day for every 15 days of assignment - up to a maximum of seven, 10 and 20 days according to the worker’s job classification)

• Permitted assignment extensions increased from four to five, for a maximum of 36 (previously 24) months.

• Leased workers must be hired on open-ended contracts if assigned for 36 months to the same user firm.

National Collective Agreement in Italy (continuation)

• A sectoral fund has been created for supplementary social security (when workers do not qualify in another system): maternity allowance, accident protection, a one-off payment of €700 to workers unemployed for 45 days and who have worked for at least 6 months in the past 12 months.

• A National Training Fund for Temporary Workers is financed directly by the agencies, which must make contributions equal to 4% of the gross wages paid to leased workers during assignments. The fund provides agency workers with free, certified training schemes. (similar systems exist in France, Denmark and Spain)

• The agency must instruct the worker on the general sectoral health and safety risks, while the user firm must provide training during the first two hours of work on the specific risks connected with the job.

ICEM affiliate CO Industry in Denmark has a collective agreement containing the “area agreement” principle.

This means that all work done in a company is covered by the agreement, no matter if a worker is a company employee or an agency worker.

This also means that an agency worker has his or her contract with the agency company, but is covered by the local agreement, negotiated by shop stewards at the company.

As of 2010, the new agreement also reduces the period after which a worker is entitled to pension contributions: from 9 to 2 months.

A relatively new development is the setting up in Germany of a new subsidiary ‘Manpower Equal Treatment Gmbh’ (2008).

This agency says it pays temporary workers the same wages as the permanent workers at the company where they work. Other work conditions and benefits are also to be similar.

Manpower Equal Treatment also continues paying the salary where the agency is not able to find a new assignment for the temporary worker after his previous assignment.

From the collective agreement(s) in Sweden

• All new employees have the right to one hour of introductory information on the union

• Unions and employers are jointly dealing with the issue of authorisation of employment agencies

• Agency workers get, as a minimum, “an average salary at the workplace” (not the salary of the lowest earning comparable worker, but an average wage of all comparable workers’ wages).

• In 2010, a new agreement was signed that also says that companies can not hire agency workers if they have dismissed permanent workers in the last 5 months.

In the Netherlands, ICEM affiliate FNV Bondgenoten tries to insert the ‘9 by 12’ rule in CBAs (it is already part of 5 CBAs).

Where any given job is being performed by an agency worker for 9 months out of 12, then that job needs to be become permanent, and so does the worker.

In one company in Croatia, unions and employers agreed to look at the total overtime worked during one year and decided, based on that, that it should be possible to directly and permanently new workers.

The company angle – Latin America

Evolution of permanent vs. outsourced workers in Petrobras

In Brazil, until 2005, there were almost 4 CAL workers for each Petrobras permanent worker. (Petrobras is Brazil’s largest industrial company, operating in the oil and gas sector.)

In 2008, after years of negotiations - where it helped that the union could count on a supportive government - the Petrobras CAL ratio came down to just under 1 permanent Petrobras worker for every 3 CAL workers.

Still, a remains to be done: Petrobras had 72.137 permanent workers in 2008, and 211.566 CAL workers.

A 2009 Brazilian FUP-Petrobras collective agreement says that the company will seek “primerización”.

Petrobras in Peru

• A 2009-2010 struggle is with Sotrans, a transport subcontractor, and Chamene, a mechanical maintenance contractor, of Carbones de Cerrejon in Colombia.

As soon as the non-unionised Sotrans workers, with the help of ICEM affiliate Sintracarbon, started to talk about a union, 2 union leaders were “dismissed” (their contracts ended) – 33 other (also unionised) workers were later told that their contracts were not “prolonged”.

In the other case, the union (Sintrachamene) was recognised, but then the company refused to talk.

• On the other hand, new ICEM Colombian Affiliate USO managed to sign an agreement in August 2009 with Ecopetrol, winning health care for families of temporary workers.

The company angle - International

More and more work is being done by the ICEM in cooperation with all other GUFs, the ITUC and TUAC, as part of the Council of Global Unions’ “Work Relationship Group”.

Actions have include: • Stressing the importance of the issue in different areas • Regular meetings with representatives of all Global Unions• Exchange of information, including from individual affiliates• Joint lobby work / presentations at international

institutions, for example the ILO and OECD• Support for other GUFs’ CAL campaigns and solidarity

actions (most other Global Union Federations also work a lot on precarious work issues)

• Joint targeting of CAL issues in specific countries• Drafting the joint Global Union Principles on Temporary

Work Agencies (in close cooperation with, in particular, UNI)

As part of this joint work, 4 General Secretaries (ICEM, IMF, ITGLWF and ITUC) met the Turkish labour minister in October 2009 to discuss precarious work. With over a dozen Turkish unions present, they also held a press conference in Istanbul.

Another result of the CGU cooperation was a demonstration of around 10,000 workers from different sectors in Bangkok, Thailand.

The company angle - International

Global Framework Agreements (GFAs)

Work is ongoing to include clauses on CAL into the ICEM’s GFAs. So far, negotiations on this have been difficult (more so than on reaching, for example, a clause on HIV/AIDS)

Some ICEM GFA agreements do state that the company will make sure that the basic principles of the agreements also apply to the workers of subcontractors and suppliers.

Global Framework Agreements (GFAs)

One recent success comes from the ICEM-Rhodia agreement, which now contains a section that says that all contractors and suppliers will need to agree to follow the stipulations of the contract, and that Rhodia agrees to terminate its links with the subcontractor in case of violations.

Another is the language from the ICEM-SCA GFA (adopted in March 2009), which says that conditions for all jobs will be based on conditions of workers with a permanent employment. “Temporary and part-time employees should, as a main rule, receive the same relative terms and conditions as full-time permanent workers.”

The ITGLWF (International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation) has reported at least two cases, one in Peru and one in India, where their framework agreement with the textile giant Inditex, managed to improve an appalling contract labour situation.

BWI’s model GFA agreement has a clause on the establishment of an employment relationship.

It calls for companies to “respect obligations to all workers under labour and social security laws and regulations arising from the regular employment relationship (Social Security Minimum Standards Convention C102). In locations where conditions permit, efforts shall be made to offer fixed employment opportunities. All workers shall receive a written contract of employment. The company and all sub-contractors shall, wherever practicable, directly employ all labour, and shall pay social security and pension contributions for their workers.”

Trade union approaches and strategies

• CAL affects all unions - to different degrees

• A number of unions around the world have taken a principled stand to work towards a complete ban of contract or agency labour, a strategy which has failed in most cases.

• Most ICEM affiliates have taken a more or less pragmatic approach - often forced by circumstances - accepting that a certain amount of contract and agency labour may be “a necessary evil” and that it is extremely difficult to avoid it completely.

A particular problem has been that two different categories of workers are often created: permanent workers vs. CAL workers.

The result of this split has all too often created tensions, and even conflicts

It is imperative to avoid this split.

The fact that CAL workers most often earn less is a threat that will not be solved by antagonism. CAL workers’ themselves do not fix wages and other benefits.

Some consensus exists (90% of all ICEM affiliates) that the best practice is to bring CAL workers into the regular union structures.

But that is not always possible. It is often illegal for CAL workers to join the permanent workers’ union, or a union altogether.

In some cases, separate unions have been created in some countries and sectors for CAL workers (India, Peru, France…).

Other (better) solution: organise all in branch unions – transform company based unions into sectoral industry-wide unions, allowing both permanent and CAL workers to join - while avoiding differences and splits between different parts of the workforce.

Among the things unions can do to attract CAL workers

• Open the union to all workers. Avoid having different categories of workers being set up against one another.

• If needed, change the union rules, allow CAL workers to become members (possibly at alternative contribution levels).

• Set up a specific union section to deal with CAL issues …

• …or create “precarious worker union reps”.

• Provide specialised services to CAL workers (unemployment help, education, insurance, training, legal counselling).

Among the things unions can doto attract CAL workers

• Negotiate agreements that take the concerns of CAL workers into account. (“equal work for equal pay”, and more…).

• Negotiate to get CAL workers into regular permanent jobs.

• Encourage participation of CAL workers in trade union activities and/or collective bargaining.

• Engage in solidarity actions with CAL workers.

• Organise, organise and organise …

• … CAL workers into permanent worker’s unions (where possible), at sectoral level (where possible).

Trade union actions and strategies

Many ICEM affiliates have general campaigns running, specifically on CAL issues (Japan, Korea, Thailand, India, Malaysia, UK, Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Germany, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Zambia, South Africa, Senegal, Guinea, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, ….)

Various unions have specific subsections set up, dealing exclusively with CAL workers (Japan, Korea, Singapore, Italy, France, Sweden, Greece, Nigeria, DRC,…)

Individual unions engage in specific actions

The CMTEU in Mauritius reduced the monthly union’s affiliation fee for CAL workers from 50 Rs to 1 Rs.

The same union also gives preference to CAL workers to enter its IT school. And it provides fast-track loans for contractual workers.

They also ask employers to pay a one-day’s salary per month into a fund to cover dismissal fees.

Sometimes big things

• Belgian ABVV/FGTB has decided to dedicate 28 April (the international day of mourning) to the issue of health and safety for CAL workers.

• ICEM affiliates in Latin America have an annual Contract and Agency Labour Day on 28 July.

• The Indian ICEM Affiliates Council, set up in 2009, set as one of its goals to organise a level of 10% CAL workers into their unions.

An ICEM overview study in Colombia found one union sharing meals with CAL workers, as they did not have a food allowance.

Sometimes small things

The ICEM CAL Campaign site

cal.icem.orgThis PowerPoint Presentation is also available on the ICEM CAL site, under “Publications / CAL

background documents”

an updated introduction to the icem cal campaign

Documents

agency workers

icem sectors

core workers

precarious work relationship

different sectors

different lines of work

clerical work

required number of workers