“Jobs Not for Sale”

ICEM Campaign on Contract and Agency Labour

(Further below on this page you can find a large number of ICEM Contract and Agency Labour
related stories)

The substitution or limiting of permanent direct employment by the use of contract & agency labour has clearly become a priority issue for countless workers and their trade unions, in every region of the world and every sector.

Each year, more and more directly employed jobs are lost to sub-contracting companies or agencies, which usually employ workers with little or no job security, inferior benefits, and with substandard working conditions. This is leading to a two-tier workforce with less and less directly employed workers, and increasing numbers employed through contracts or agencies.

As clearly identified by recent in-depth research, undertaken by the ICEM, and described in the ICEM publication “Contract/Agency Labour: A Threat to Our Social Standards”, this issue is now so widespread that it has become a top priority for a large number of ICEM affiliates, so much so that we have launched a determined and sustained international response.


This ICEM response will have two main elements:

1. Campaigning to establish international standards governing the use of contract & agency labour, via the ILO, OECD, EU, ICEM Global Agreements, and other appropriate international standard setting bodies.

2. The development within the ICEM of means to assist our affiliates in responding effectively to this major challenge.


The ICEM is producing campaign materials and other information for the assistance of affiliates, including the following:

• Leaflets and Posters, highlighting the main points of the campaign.
  
• Campaign Briefing Notes, distributed to ICEM affiliates and other interested parties.
  
• A Legislative Overview. This document looks at current national legislation and regulations as well as international standards in the area of contract & agency labour.
  
• Useful background articles
  
• Powerpoint Presentation outlying the issue

 
One of the main objectives of the campaign is to achieve the acceptance of the clause below, by all international standard setting agencies / bodies:

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.


Contact person

The contact person for this ICEM campaign can be reached by e-mail at contract.labour@icem.org.


Interested in receiving more information?

Please send your e-mail address to press@icem.org, mentioning “Add contract labour” in the subject line, if you like to receive updates on the ICEM’s campaign; get stories from around the world on the subject, including examples on how other unions have been able to handle the problem; get information on conferences; and more.