PART V: Fighting Outsourcing and Precarious Work: The First Steps

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Again, these are all part of normal business activity. If management is serious, why not sign an agreement on when, how many, and who exactly will be transferred to permanent status? If they refuse to sign, or even negotiate, they don’t believe it themselves! The time to solve the problem is now! Analyzing the problem – getting and using the information you need The first thing you need to do when you want to challenge precarious employment relationships and/or fight outsourcing plans, together with convincing your members and colleagues that the struggle is both important and winnable, is to collect accurate, reliable information. Don’t trust rumors or “what management said”. Verify everything and get written documentation where possible. Keep good records of everything that happens around this issue: hiring practices, employment figures carefully dated over time, official management communications, correspondence, internal union meetings and meetings with management and violations of rights and intimidation of workers. What Kind of Information? Collecting information on outsourcing plans As soon as outsourcing plans at your workplace become known, try to find out everything you can! This includes a. any and all information about the outsourcing company: who are they, what is their legal status, what is their record of labour practices, where are their of- fices, where do they provide services? b. operational details of the planned restructuring and the resulting system: i. which departments are concerned ii. what positions are affected iii. What employment relationship is planned for the outsourced workers? iv. Who will be supervising these newly outsourced tasks? OUTSOURCING AND CASUALIZATION IN THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY 53
54 PART V Fighting Outsourcing and Precarious Work: The First Steps c. if workers on direct employment contracts are being transferred to employment with the outsourcing company, what are the planned conditions of trans- fer: i. who will be transferred ii. how many will be transferred iii. what will happen to the others iv. what happens to the benefits these workers previously were entitled to or they have accumulated d. the planned terms and conditions of employment (wages, benefits, temporary or permanent contracts) for all outsourced tasks e. the position of the outsourcing company or companies regarding a three-way agreement between the management, the union, and the outsourced employee(s) f. a cost comparison for the tasks currently fulfilled by the company’s own de- partment and the cost under outsourcing (often it is NOT cheaper!) g. a draft or signed contract of the company with the outsourcing company Collecting Information on existing precarious work a. What forms of precarious work are currently in place at our workplace? i. how many workers are on temporary contracts at our workplace at different times of the year? Do they work constantly on temporary contracts? ii. how many workers are employed through other companies at our workplace? iii. what is their employment relationship? iv. which departments are concerned? b. Has it increased in the last years? (compare figures of permanent and precarious employment over the years. If permanent employment decreased, what has replaced it?) IUF
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PART V: Fighting Outsourcing and Precarious Work: The First Steps

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