Reinstate Ciaran Russell now!
Sacked on suspicion!
On 10 March agency worker and RMT member Ciaran Russell was sacked from his job at TfL’s Pier Walk call centre in Greenwich. TfL had suggested Ciaran had misused their computer systems. However, they failed to offer a shred of actual evidence of wrongdoing. He was not allowed to view the so-called “evidence” against him, and he denies any guilt in the matter. To date, Ciaran has received nothing at all in writing about the allegation or his sacking. He only learned of the sacking when he turned up for work on Monday morning in good faith and found he wasn't included in the usual roster. He was escorted from the building like a criminal! Unfortunately he is only the last in a long line of agency workers who've been treated with this kind of contempt.
Model Employee
Ciaran had worked for TfL since April 2013 with a good record. So good in fact that he was included with senior manager Djamila Guernou in TfL’s new "Living the Behaviours" campaign - featuring such slogans as "Be fair and consistent". His poster has now been removed. TfL's talk of fairness must seem like a sick joke to sacked workers like Ciaran, treated as expendable, and with no legal rights against sacking. To make things worse, his agency won't be finding him another job after the allegations, so he will have to fight just to clear his name.
Agencies - Huge Equality Loophole
Employment Law in Britain gives many protections against unfair treatment. This all counts for nothing if you can be dismissed at will because of a second-rate, Mickey Mouse agency contract. Minority ethnic, migrant and younger workers are all more likely to work via agencies in Britain. A full 20 percent are from minorities particularly Asian/Asian British or Black/Black British backgrounds, compared with just nine percent of all other employees.
For Equal Disciplinary Treatment
TfL has an established process of warnings when there are allegations of misconduct. Why is this not applied to their agency staff? This is yet another part of the "agency Apartheid" and the rolling back of workers’ rights via this rotten system of modern-day gangmasters. The RMT demands that all agency workers have access to the same internal disciplinary process as permanent staff NOW!
The RMT is not in the habit of allowing its members to be trampled on, agency or otherwise, and we will defend Ciaran.
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