6th August 2008, 05:33 PM
Found this in T&G news
http://www.tgwu.org.uk/Templates/Interna...deID=91798
Sound familiar?
However, we do recognise that action needs to be taken because of the chaos of sub-contracting in construction. Conference this union has a long history of supporting free collective bargaining and we re-iterate that today. But we do need to have a strategy that deals with the current labour market as it affects our members in construction industry. We have to tackle the chaos of bogus self-employment on construction sites up and down the country.
The T&G represents members working in the construction industry in both the private and the public sector and we have members at every point of the building supply chain. If ever anyone questions the capacity of the public sector to excel then look at the history of construction in the public and private sectors.
If ever there was a tale of two sectors then this is it. It was the public sector and its Direct Labour Organisations that have been under attack since the 1980s that spearheaded training for women in construction, that pressed for more black and ethnic minority workers on construction sites and fought to ensure that young people from local communities got the training for the industry that they needed.
But, we have faced an avalanche of problems as a result of the employment structure that was allowed to develop in the private sector. Poor employment practices came about because of the explosion of bogus self-employment. Why do employers prefer self-employed workers? They prefer them to avoid paying National Insurance contributions or take responsibility for the workforce. That's why bogus self-employment has mushroomed in this country.
Our trade group has battled, and I mean battled, to improve standards in the industry, but the effect on the industry through the growth of bogus self-employment is plain to see. In addition to the poor health & safety record, there are massive skill shortages in the industry.
Self-employed workers are not going to be able to invest in training and it is the lack of training in recent years that underlies the problem of skills shortages. The level of self-employment seriously damaged the industry's ability to train. In many areas skills training has been virtually wiped out.
Let's give you an example. Mastic Asphalt Roofing training for apprentices is now available at only one college in the UK. Yes one college in the UK. That's no way to run an industry and ensure that the skills of one generation to the next.
But the chickens have come home to roost, for the UK now has significant problems of rebuilding its construction workforce. At the present time, the industry needs to train and retain 80,000 people each year. That's why we have been able to touch even more significant rises in pay over recent years.
The real tragedy is that young people are coming forward for training but the real problem is that there are not enough employers that are prepared to provide them with the training. Most of the UK's major contractors do not train any apprentices and that's why there is a major skills crisis in the industry.
No one could have been more excited to hear last week that London had won the Olympic bid. But the reality is that at the present time in the capital around 80% of the workforce working on construction sites are self-employed. This has had only one effect - to weaken the working rule agreements that set minimum terms and conditions for building workers. These are voluntary collective bargaining agreements.
But in order to tackle the self-employed anarchy on the sites across the country we must have legally enforceable standards that apply to every single worker in the industry on every single contract. It's the only way to undermine bogus self-employment and ensure proper quality standards across the industry and provide a real level playing field. At the present time it is the better employers that are dragged down by the cowboys. This has got to stop.
"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers
http://www.tgwu.org.uk/Templates/Interna...deID=91798
Sound familiar?
However, we do recognise that action needs to be taken because of the chaos of sub-contracting in construction. Conference this union has a long history of supporting free collective bargaining and we re-iterate that today. But we do need to have a strategy that deals with the current labour market as it affects our members in construction industry. We have to tackle the chaos of bogus self-employment on construction sites up and down the country.
The T&G represents members working in the construction industry in both the private and the public sector and we have members at every point of the building supply chain. If ever anyone questions the capacity of the public sector to excel then look at the history of construction in the public and private sectors.
If ever there was a tale of two sectors then this is it. It was the public sector and its Direct Labour Organisations that have been under attack since the 1980s that spearheaded training for women in construction, that pressed for more black and ethnic minority workers on construction sites and fought to ensure that young people from local communities got the training for the industry that they needed.
But, we have faced an avalanche of problems as a result of the employment structure that was allowed to develop in the private sector. Poor employment practices came about because of the explosion of bogus self-employment. Why do employers prefer self-employed workers? They prefer them to avoid paying National Insurance contributions or take responsibility for the workforce. That's why bogus self-employment has mushroomed in this country.
Our trade group has battled, and I mean battled, to improve standards in the industry, but the effect on the industry through the growth of bogus self-employment is plain to see. In addition to the poor health & safety record, there are massive skill shortages in the industry.
Self-employed workers are not going to be able to invest in training and it is the lack of training in recent years that underlies the problem of skills shortages. The level of self-employment seriously damaged the industry's ability to train. In many areas skills training has been virtually wiped out.
Let's give you an example. Mastic Asphalt Roofing training for apprentices is now available at only one college in the UK. Yes one college in the UK. That's no way to run an industry and ensure that the skills of one generation to the next.
But the chickens have come home to roost, for the UK now has significant problems of rebuilding its construction workforce. At the present time, the industry needs to train and retain 80,000 people each year. That's why we have been able to touch even more significant rises in pay over recent years.
The real tragedy is that young people are coming forward for training but the real problem is that there are not enough employers that are prepared to provide them with the training. Most of the UK's major contractors do not train any apprentices and that's why there is a major skills crisis in the industry.
No one could have been more excited to hear last week that London had won the Olympic bid. But the reality is that at the present time in the capital around 80% of the workforce working on construction sites are self-employed. This has had only one effect - to weaken the working rule agreements that set minimum terms and conditions for building workers. These are voluntary collective bargaining agreements.
But in order to tackle the self-employed anarchy on the sites across the country we must have legally enforceable standards that apply to every single worker in the industry on every single contract. It's the only way to undermine bogus self-employment and ensure proper quality standards across the industry and provide a real level playing field. At the present time it is the better employers that are dragged down by the cowboys. This has got to stop.
"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers
