January 16, 2013 12.35 pm
This story is over 107 months old
Protest outside Lincoln BT call centre over agency pay
Fairer pay wanted: The CWU are protesting outside the BT call centre in Lincoln to request fair pay for agency workers who are left over £500 short per month.
Union members protested outside the call centre in 2013 over loophole in agency pay.
A union representing agency workers held a protest outside the BT call centre in Lincoln on Wednesday, over a loophole in agency pay which is costing local workers more than £500 a month.
The Communications Workers Union (CWU) are leading the Lincoln branch of a national protest held outside call centres across the UK on January 16.
The union believes that people working through agencies are losing large sums off their wages in some companies due to a loophole in the law.
Agency workers should receive the same treatment after 12 weeks within a job as other employees, following legislation made in October 2011.
However, a legal loophole allows companies to use Pay Between Assignment (PBA) contracts, which sign away agency workers’ rights to equal pay.
Around 1,000 workers in the country affected by PBA are undergoing work for BT/Manpower.
In Lincoln, this is leaving workers on £7.50 per hour on a 37.5 hour week £584 a month worse off. Without PBA, this would have risen to £11.38 per hour instead.
The Lincoln protest began at 7am outside the call centre on Ruston Road.
Sally Bridge, the campaign lead, was in Lincoln at lunch time to support the protest: “We’re here today to raise awareness about the fact there is a loophole in the current legislation, which allows contract to be issued that cheat people out of significant sums of pay.
“It’s not just about the permanent workers, it’s about the other agency workers as well. There’s a £500 per month difference between one agency worker and another agency worker, working side by side, doing exactly the same job.”
She added: “It’s not illegal, that’s the problem, but then again it’s morally wrong.
“Firstly, we’re raising awareness amongst our own agency members, but we’re also saying to the public that this is morally wrong, and that this is a social and economic issue they need to be aware of.
“We’re also saying to employers and agencies alike that they should stop using these contracts, and the government has to do something about this legislation.”
One Lincoln resident who knows about the loss in potential wages due to PBA is Will Buchanan.
He is an agency worker on a Pay Between Assignment contract working in a call centre in the city.
He earns £7.50 an hour for a 37.5 hour week which is £584 a month less than agency workers who achieved equal pay. He started in November 2011.
Will Buchanan said: “When I signed up with the agency they told us to sign the contract, but none of us realised what it meant. We only found out when our CWU rep told us that other agency workers were getting a pay rise and we weren’t – we’d probably still be in the dark otherwise.
“It’s legal, but it seems unethical and carried out in an underhand way. It was glossed over when I signed up. It makes you feel second class and it’s an awkward situation.”
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Lincolnshire Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage following a two-vehicle collision in which a 12-year-old boy sadly died.
Following a call to police at 9.48am today (16 January), officers attended the B1190 at Bardney.
The collision involved two vehicles: a silver Mercedes-Benz A220 and a silver Ford Galaxy.
The 12-year-old boy, a passenger in the Galaxy, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of the Mercedes, a man, has been taken to hospital. The status of his injuries is currently unknown.
Roads have been closed following the incident while emergency services attend.
If you saw the collision, or have information, you can contact police in one of the following ways:
Call 101, quoting Incident 141 of 16 January.
Email [email protected] putting “Incident 141 of 16 January” in the subject line.
North East Lincolnshire’s MPs have stood by the Prime Minister after he apologised for breaking rules by attending a lockdown party.
Grimsby MP Lia Nici dismissed calls for him to resign, saying ‘nobody is perfect’, and Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers said it was the wrong time to call a leadership contest.
Boris Johnson admitted this week he went to a ‘bring your own booze’ party in the first Covid lockdown.
He has apologised for the decision, saying he believed it was work related but regretted it in hindsight.
Although opposition MPs have called for him to resign, Lia Nici, Martin Vickers and other Tories have stood by him for now.
However, the Cleethorpes MP said the party was ‘irresponsible and reckless’.
“He was certainly right to apologise, and the party in question shouldn’t have taken place,” Mr Vickers said.
“I share the anger and frustration of my constituents at these events and it does appear that lockdown rules were broken. That is irresponsible, reckless and unacceptable and disciplinary action, and possibly prosecutions should follow.
“It begs the question of how it got to the stage of the events taking place. Senior figures should have realised that this was wrong and the event should never have got off the ground.”
Grimsby MP Lia Nici (Conservative)
Grimsby MP Lia Nici also welcomed his apology for breaking the rules.
“I think it’s a positive thing that he has apologised for being outside in that garden on that day in 2020,” she said.
“He clearly wanted to thank staff who have been working hard under under Covid rules. Was it advisable to thank them that way though?
“It certainly would have been safer than inside, but the email from the civil servant telling employees to ‘Bring Your Own Booze’ is concerning.
“People are quite rightly upset about it. Everyone should have been following rules that the public were abiding by.”
A probe into the parties is now being carried out by civil servant Sue Gray.
Neither MP joined the Labour party in calling for Mr Johnson to quit – but said the report should come out quickly.
Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers (Conservative) | Photo: Steve Smailes for Lincolnshire Reporter
Mr Vickers said: “My colleagues and I need to consider what’s in the best interest of the country. A leadership contest would paralyse the country while we’re managing the pandemic and a volatile international situation.
“The last thing we want is a complete vacuum of power at the centre of government for six weeks.
“We should wait for Sue Gray’s report into the parties that is being prepared.”
Mrs Nici said: “Nobody is perfect. The Prime Minister is a good man who wants to do the right thing for the UK and Grimsby.
“We need to focus on where we’re going – not having the national media fixated on today.
“However, as a manager and a leader myself, I can say we need to see the report sooner rather than later. If people have intentionally been breaking the rules then there should be disciplinary action.”
If the report finds that Johnson broke rules, it could convince Conservative backbenchers to trigger a leadership contest overthrow him.
Mr Johnson said he hadn’t realised he was at a party and “bitterly regrets” that way that it was handled.
Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer said that Mr Johnson’s denials were “so ridiculous it’s actually offensive” to the public at a heated Prime Minister’s Questions.
New CCTV cameras will be installed north of Lincoln city centre after Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner secured an additional £50,000 of funding.
The original £400,000 scheme came after a successful bid by Lincolnshire’s PCC Marc Jones. This involved broadening the CCTV coverage to include the main walking routes out of Lincoln city centre and in three areas.
The funding will extend the new Safer Streets CCTV and will allow for the creation of 360 coverage out of the city centre. It will now allow the cameras to monitor walking routes to and from Bishop Grosseteste University.
The money for the plan – developed in partnership with the City of Lincoln Council – comes from the government’s Safer Streets Fund.
The scheme also includes funding to develop teaching materials which promote women’s rights and challenge attitudes; a Night Safety Charter pledging to design public spaces to make them safe at night; and training for bar, hotel and restaurant staff regarding vulnerability and tackling predators.
All elements of the plan will be co-developed with women and girls and experts in the field.
Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones. | Photo: Daniel Jaines
The Lincoln-based bid is the third successful Safer Streets bid for Lincolnshire. So far the PCC has brought £500.000 in additional funding to the county for projects in the north and east coast.
“I am delighted to be able to secure additional funding to extend the CCTV cameras even further,” said Mr Jones.
“The project was already going to make a significant difference in helping residents feel and be safe and the extra money will ensure that security is extended to even more people.
“It is excellent news and another step forward in protecting our communities.”
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