The Solidarity Federation (SF) has been involved in supporting a victimised former Office Angels temporary worker. Dan worked for Office Angels for three days in December of last year. He was assured by the company that the lack of a time-sheet would 'not be a problem'. However, Office Angels are refusing to pay him the wages he is owed - falsely claiming he only worked for one day, despite them having called him at work on his third day. After completely ripping him off, they had the nerve to harass him for seeking advice on an internet discussion forum.
We have organised a number of pickets of Office Angel branches across the UK. On one occasion a branch office closed for the day after it was announced that we intended to picket. The Solidarity Federation also organized a call for messages of protest to be sent to the Wimbledon branch, where Dan worked, sending emails and phoning Office Angels to complain about Dan's treatment. This acted as an effective "communication blockade" by jamming the methods the Wimbledon Branch office uses to maintain contact with clients and workers.
Though after the initial pickets Office Angels announced that they would be paying the wages they owe, Dan has still not received the money. The Solidarity Federation is therefore increasing the pressure by calling for a national week of action against Office Angels 9-15 May.
Office Angels is not a small company, it is part of Adecco, they're the largest temp agency in the world with over 5,500 branches in more than 60 countries. They have over 700,000 temporary workers a day working for them. More information can be found at http://www.adecco.com/. To increase the pressure further on Office Angels the Solidarity Federation will also be asking for support of the IWA in organising an international week of actions against Office Angels at the end of May.
Until Dan gets paid, we will keep on increasing the pressure we are putting on the company. We want to hear from any current or previous Office Angels employees that have come into conflict with this company and its culture of disrespect. We know that this is not an isolated incident and the more people get involved, the more pressure we can put on the company to start treating its workers properly.
Temporary workers face similar unacceptable conditions every day. They work without sick pay or maternity leave, are vulnerable to unfair and instant dismissals and have no union support. Rising unemployment and a bleak economic climate will force even more of us to accept these precarious conditions - yet another example of working class people being exploited by an economic system that only benefits the rich. The Solidarity Federation has organized the “stuff your boss” campaign” which aims to fight back against the increasing casulisation of working conditions in Britain.
SF-IWA