The substitution or limiting of permanent direct employment by the use of contract & agency labour has clearly become a priority issue for countless workers and their trade unions, in every region of the world and every sector.
Each year, more and more directly employed jobs are lost to sub-contracting companies or agencies, which usually employ workers with little or no job security, inferior benefits, and with substandard working conditions. This is leading to a two-tier workforce with less and less directly employed workers, and increasing numbers employed through contracts or agencies.
The use of contract and agency labour is now so widespread that it has become a top priority for a large number of ICEM affiliates, so much so that we have launched a determined and sustained international response: the ICEM Contract and Agency Labour Campaign. The ICEM CAL Campaign allows trade unions world-wide to share CAL tools and experiences.

This means fewer restrictions on temporary work agencies, increasing the numbers of precarious jobs in the country. This is being countered by...
In the rush to get copper production from the Cananea mine back on world markets, is Grupo México disregarding the safety and health of contract...
The mid-July Beijing forum opened with presentations by Zokwana and Jiang Guangping, ACFTU’s Director-General of the International Department,...

Marcel Nuyten, FNV Bondgenoten (Netherlands): "Trade unions should do a great deal more with young workers."