Working together

The first article in this two-part series ('Labour forces', EMC, October) concluded that there is an increase in use, at least in London and the south-east, of labour that is here illegally, speaks patchy English and has qualifications that are, to say the least, suspect.

The latest qualification now required on many sites in London (although not yet mandatory on the CSCS card) is a European language. Not French, German or Spanish, not even Norwegian or Italian, but Polish, Serbian or Croatian. The new top-up labour on sites scattered across the city are eastern European or from the Balkans.

This is a new development and one of two. The second is that they are not only working in unskilled jobs, they are also working as electricians, fitters and plumbers. They are, in most cases, doing so at wage rates that are akin to those paid to labourers, or in many cases less – the first Croatian electrician that has heard of the JIB is yet to be born! And are we surprised? They are being exploited, not only their colleagues who give them shelter and find them work, but by the companies that take them on. Companies that are members of the JIB and members of the ECA – companies that wear the cloak of respectability.

Recently I sat with a director of one of the largest electrical and mechanical contractors in the country. They boasted that they were able to do work in the south of England (where incidentally they said that "wage rates are too high anyway") because they "got Croatians by the boat-load". We have agonised over the use of agency labour for the last ten years; with illegal labour, we have moved to the next chapter.

If the reason for using illegal foreign labour, irrespective of where it comes from, is purely economic, and the director above argued that it is, then much of the work carried out by trade association members and staff over the past 15 years has resulted in very little. This cancer will spread, spread out of the few sites in London and the south-east, to major sites in other cities, and then sites throughout the country.

What is the point of trying to sell ourselves to clients, government and the industry as high quality and responsible? What has been the point of Latham and Egan when those that profess to believe in the process shame it by their actions? I don't know how we win this fight. A fight that goes to the very core of the economic drivers of some businesses in our industry.

If the justification for the use of illegal labour is along the lines of "it was the skills shortage that made me do it, I just couldn't find anyone to employ, or even get any of those agency types", then there is a solution. A solution that lies in the work that the industry has been doing for the last 100 years. That solution is training. But applied, focused, task and problem-orientated training. Training for the next generation.

Without debating whether there is a skills shortage in London and the south-east, lets accept for the purpose of this article that it exists. There is no doubt that the solution to that skills shortage lies in our hands. Hands that might need some help from government, but our hands nevertheless.

We have agonised over the use of agency labour for the last ten years; with illegal labour we have moved to the next chapter

The previous article stated that what we require from our workforce is that they comprehend English, have the right qualifications and are in the UK legally.

Taking the last of these three requirements first. Many of the individuals working illegally in the UK economy are not actually in the country illegally. Some undoubtedly are, and these workers need to be the responsibility of the proper government authorities.

However, many of those that are entitled to work in the UK do so illegally because they do not possess the first two factors above, namely an ability to comprehend English and the right qualifications. I would add to these two deficiencies the lack of a clear place to find out how these issues may be overcome.

Because of the lack of these three factors many individuals are forced to work in the black economy, through understandable desperation. And we all know that once that path has been followed, for even a short period of time, it is nearly impossible to return to the path of legal employment.

What is needed is a signpost that is clearly visible to those who come to the UK with quite proper qualifications from their own country, and who want to work as electricians, fitters or plumbers in legal employment. It is here that the Government can help.

Without anything at the end of the signposted path, some organisation that will map the skills of, say, a Serbian electrician, against the standards that we require of an electrician in the UK, and without that organisation being able to provide the facility to teach basic English comprehension and health and safety, the signpost is valueless.

So where is this organisation? Why doesn't it exist at the moment?

The easy answer is that no one has yet thought of it. Perhaps since the problem is a new one, perhaps no one has, yet, put their hand in their pocket to fund it, including the Government. Is this a role for the new Sector Skills Council – SummitSkills? I suspect partially so.