Temporary and agency workers’ bill
Wanted to note with thanks the Labour members (and a few odds and sods) who turned out to support extending employment rights to temporary and agency workers last week - including my MP, Andrew Smith.
Prize for best contribution to the debate goes to Ian McCartney, for the following exchange. Don would probably describe him as a Good Old Boy:
Pat McFadden (the minister responding to the backbench bill): “[...] Much has been said about the Government’s commitments and what we said before the last election, so I shall be clear with both sides of the House about what we said [quotes Warwick agreement made at the Labour party's national policy forum in 2005]”
Ian McCartney: “[...] I had not intended to take part in the debate, but I remember well the words that he quoted, having written them at 4 o’clock in the morning as part of the Warwick agreement. It is certainly true, as he said, that there was no guarantee about the directive, which was deficient in many ways, including its lack of protection for pensions. However, we signed up in good faith with the intention that if we did not reach agreement, we would tackle those abuses. The fact that we have not done that so far has led to the Bill. I hope that after today, we will get some serious negotiation done, and that those words will become a reality for thousands of workers.”
Hve any of you thought about the effect this bill is going to have on the thousands of film and television creatives whose livelihood depends greatly on being connected to clients via agencies who specialise in placing Freelancers ( in the Industry sense of the word). This is of course a small and niche industry by national standards, but it is geared to using agencies, and pays substantial fees to the freelancers involved. They are not set up as contractors by & large as most fall under the Film & TV Guidelines exemptions. If your bill goes through it will kill off these niche agencies putting 100’s out of woirk, and will make finding work/workers much, much more difficult for clients and freelancers. |Please consider creating an exemption for this industry.