The VWP is holding a seminar on Monday, 14th July at which it will present its finings to uynions. See press release…

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The VWP is holding a seminar on Monday, 14th July, 2.00pm-4.00pm at Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1. The seminar will present the VWP report on its first year of operation, ‘Lessons and Opportunities for Unions‘ which gives an update on the initiatives that the VWP has developed. These will be tested over the forthcoming year and the findings will be used to inform unions developing strategies and action plans to represent the interests of vulnerable workers. Details of the seminar can be downloaded here.

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Minister for Employment Relations Pat McFadden MP will today (Tuesday) meet with local workers at the TUC’s Vulnerable Workers Project (VWP) in East London.

The VWP, based in Whitechapel, is a £400,000 project funded by the Department for Business and delivered by the TUC. It aims to improve the plight of vulnerable workers in London’s labour market by helping them and their employers better understand their rights under the law.

The pilot focuses on workers in the cleaning, security and building services sectors working in the City of London and Tower Hamlets. It offers support, advice and training for workers in these sectors who are experiencing problems, and free training on employment rights for local employers.

So far, the project has:

• given advice and support to nearly 100 workers;
• run two groups for workers who have made enquiries to VWP, providing discussion and training on their main issues;
• run 13 employment rights training courses raising awareness and providing advice to 122 workers;
• uncovered three potential minimum wage claims;
• developed and run the first stage of a training course for employers, training supervisors in employment rights and handling employment relations;
• developed training for voluntary sector organisations to train as community employment advisers;
• developed training for cleaners to provide employment rights advice to other cleaners.

During the visit, which will also be attended by senior representatives from the TUC, Pat McFadden MP will meet with:

• vulnerable workers who the project has supported;
• cleaners and union reps from Unite;
• staff from the Workers Education Association which is developing an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course for the project based around employment rights;

• staff from Primus Personnel, an agency developing a profile in ethnic minority community;
• representatives from Carlisle Security and Acas, who provide training for employers in the area.

Pat McFadden said: “The Government has brought in employment rights like the National Minimum Wage, extra paid holidays, health and safety regulations, statutory maternity and paternity leave and sick pay.

“Most employers do the right thing and implement these rights fairly, but there are dark corners of the labour market where rogue employers try to exploit people, so it’s vital we enforce the law to protect vulnerable workers’ rights.

“That’s why we’re doubling the number of agency inspectors to investigate abuses and boosting penalties for those who break agency laws or don’t pay the national minimum wage.

“This pilot is providing vulnerable workers with better access to support and information. It’s also benefiting business, by making employers more aware of the advice available to them and of their legal obligations.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “The VWP has heard from workers in London who are working excessively long hours, have no contract of employment, are receiving low pay or are not being paid for all the hours they work, and are not getting any health and safety training.

“Unions are keen to help workers stop rogue employers from using an ignorance of UK employment law or a poor grasp of English or as an excuse to treat people badly.

“The VWP is looking at practical measures that can be put in place to deliver support for vulnerable workers, in particular following up on the recommendations of the report of the TUC’s Commission on Vulnerable Employment earlier this month.”

The Department for Business, TUC, CBI, and other partners are currently considering evidence on the type and extent of abuse of worker rights and other employment legislation as part of the Vulnerable Worker Enforcement Forum. The findings of the TUC’s Commission on Vulnerable Employment report are being considered by the Forum. The forum, to report back in the summer, is also looking at the enforcement regime and whether improvements can be made.

The East London Vulnerable Workers Project is one of two Government-funded pilots; the other is in Birmingham and focuses on vulnerable workers in the hospitality industry.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. To attend the visit or interview workers please contact Elly Brenchley in the TUC press office on 020 7467 1337 or Alex Thompson, Department for Business Press Office, 020 7215 5964

2. The visit is from 1-3pm on Tuesday 20 May at the VWP, 214 Whitechapel Road, London, E1 1BJ.

3. The short report of the TUC’s Commission on Vulnerable Employment is available at: www.vulnerableworkers.org.uk/media

4. All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

5. Register for the TUC’s press extranet: a service exclusive to journalists wanting to access pre embargo releases and reports from the TUC. Visit www.tuc.org.uk/pressextranet

Contacts:

Department for Business press office: Alex Thompson 020 7215 5964

TUC press office: Elly Brenchley    T: 020 7467 1337    M: 07900 910624      E: ebrenchley@tuc.org.uk

if you have any queries, please contact the Touchbase team at intranet@tuc.org.uk

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This course has been designed and will be delivered by the VWP and aims to provide delegates from community groups with the skills to be pro-active in raising employment rights issues in their groups and encouraging and supporting group members to pursue their rights and seek advice about their employment rights issues.

We will also seek to build the capacity of the community to address their employment issues by encouraging people, through their trained delegates, to, first, seek advice within their own community. We will provide training in basic employment rights to support this.

The VWP will also provide support through

• providing an on-going back-up advice service 
• supporting delegates through observation at sessions
• holding regular group meetings to discuss issues
• providing monitoring materials and system
• paying volunteers’ expenses.

Further details of the training can be obtained by contacting Bob Blyth, Project Manager (020 7467 1355, bblyth@tuc.org.uk) or vwp@tuc.org.uk.

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The VWP is offering a training package, free of charge, that

• enables participants to help deliver employment rights courses to groups of workers
• will lead to volunteer placement opportunities with the VWP and a course certificate
• has full expenses paid
• is suitable for people who are interested in helping their community
• does not require any previous experience of delivering training.  

The package is spread over 3 weeks and includes

• a 2-day ‘Train the Trainer’ course that will be held on 28th May and 11th June and
• 1-day training on how to use our employment rights training materials run on 4th June 2008.

Deadline for application forms is 23rd May. Application forms also available from VWP office.

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One of the aims of the VWP is to capture what is happening in the workplace as far as workers in cleaning, security and other Building Services are concerned, The VWP is in a unique position of reporting, directly to Government, workers’ views on what their situation at work is like and we will be making recommendations for policy changes based on these views. It is an opportunity that may not come again for some time.

We would, therefore, be very interested in hearing from workers who might want to talk to us about their experience. We would cover

• what issues you have at work,
• what, if anything was done to resolve the issue,
• what the outcome was, how you felt about the process - did it work? did it make you feel worse? 
• what your hopes and aspirations are for the future
•  what learning or training would help you achieve your aims
• any other views you have on what can be done to improve your situation at work. 

This is a unique opportunity to tell Government of your experience in your employment and give your views on what can be done to improve things. We will be using workers’ views to make recommendations to influence Government on making policy changes and improvements to the enforcement of employment rights.

You can contact us by email or phone 020 7467 1355. alternatively, you can leave your blog on the ‘Contact us’ section on the left hand side of the page. 

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If you work in Building Services, you can always tell us about your employment - what problems you have, what it is like to work there, what is good about your employment by going to our Contact Us section on the left hand side of this page. All comments will be treated confidentially.

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The VWP has produced information on the process you should go through if you wish to raise an issue at work.

First of all, set down what the issue is and what would be a satisfactory outcome would be for you. If the issue is not serious, for example, it doesn’t involve violence or intimidation, then the first thing you should do is to have an informal word with your supervisor. 

If the problem still persists after having a word you will then have to raise it more formally. You do this by putting your complaint in writing. For more information click here.   

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