Agency Workers: Here's How to Navigate the Treacherous Route to Furloughing

Workers across all industries are being exposed to precarious employment during the Covid-19 crisis, with many bosses showing their true colours and failing to support staff.

Agency workers are one group that are are really having to fight to survive. The law doesn’t offer agency workers the same protections as many other workers, and when the crisis hit, many temporary work assignments were cut or cancelled.

With the economy all at sea, agencies have tossed workers overboard. Although agency workers can technically be furloughed, they are having to battle to find out who to contact to request it - the employer or the agency.

Workers are having to watch agencies and employers play a game of ping pong, with neither wanting to take responsibility. Both agencies and employers have attempted to keep workers divided, giving mixed messages and refusing to respond to collective requests to be furloughed.

Now, however, agency workers are collectively organising, reaching out to each other, remaining united, and winning. They are showing the strength of organising in unions to stand up to bosses and demand the right conditions.

Workers at the Lighthouse in Glasgow have proved that this treacherous environment can be navigated through following a clear course - collective action and collective demands. Their journey began at the very start of the crisis, and now they have won.

You can read about the story of the light house workers here - Glasgow Lighthouse Staff Take Collective Action to Fight for Pay - Glasgow Times