Calls mount for government action on rogue construction employers

8 July 2009

Government can no longer resist to calls curb "rogue" construction industry employers with the publication today (Wednesday) of a report by the former head of ACAS Rita Donaghy for the Department of Work and Pensions into the prevalence of rogue labour providers (gangmasters) in the construction trade.

Unite wants legislation to be introduced to outlaw rogue employers immediately, arguing that they drive down wages and compromise health and safety laws.

The report criticises the epidemic of poor employers in the industry and backs longstanding calls by trade unions and MPs to toughen up the law. Unite says there must now be no delay in extending the regulation of labour providers by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) in the food and agriculture sector to cover construction industry employers too.

According to Unite, such powerful independent recommendations mean that the time has now come for government to act.

Jack Dromey, Unite deputy general secretary, said: "Rogue gangmasters put life and limb at risk, flout employment rights and rip off the taxpayer. Rogues also undermine reputable employers.

"Extending the remit of the Gangmasters Licensing Agency will make building sites safer, protect building workers and benefit the public purse by ending tax dodging."

Unite is concerned that limiting the reach of the GLA to food and agriculture, as at present, means rogue gangmasters move out of the regulated sector and into others, chiefly construction, where they can exploit workers with little fear of recrimination. Unite, together with the construction union Ucatt, has been campaigning for an extension of the gangmasters Act, passed in 2004, into the building trade, hospitality and social care, all industries with high concentrations of labour providers.

Unite supported Jim Sheridan MP who promoted the original Gangmasters Licensing Act which established the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA). In its short existence, the GLA has helped improve labour standards across the food sector.

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