Changes To Chris Bryant's Speech
Updated: 1:49pm UK, Monday 12 August 2013
By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent
The before and after sections on Tesco and Next in Chris Bryant's immigration speech are barely recognisable.
The speech delivered by the Shadow Immigration Minister was very different from extracts released in advance at the weekend.
In the Q&A after his speech, he denied he had been nobbled or spoken personally to the two companies.
But, after the angry denials by Tesco and Next at the weekend, by Monday morning the passages had been substantially rewritten and the tone had been dramatically transformed from hostile to complimentary.
:: ON TESCO:
Before:
"Take the case of Tesco, who recently decided to move their distribution centre in Kent.
"The new centre is larger and employs more people, but the staff at original site, most of them British, were told that they could only move to the new centre if they took a cut in pay. The result? A large percentage of the staff at the new centre are from Eastern bloc.
"Then there are the recruitment agencies that specialise in recruiting staff from elsewhere in the EU."
After:
"Take Tesco. A good employer and an important source of jobs in Britain. They take on young people, operate apprenticeships and training schemes and often recruit unemployed or disabled staff through job centres.
"Yet when a distribution centre was moved to a new location existing staff said they would have lost out by transferring and the result was a higher proportion of staff from A8 countries taking up the jobs.
"Tesco are clear they have tried to recruit locally. And I hope they can provide more reassurance for their existing staff. But the fact that staff are raising concern shows how sensitive the issue has become."
Comparison:
After Tesco said they had no distribution centre in Kent, that reference has gone. So too has the allegation about the cut in pay. Instead, Tesco is "a good employer" that is clear it has "tried to recruit locally".
ON NEXT:
Before:
"Look at Next PLC, who last year brought 500 Polish workers to work in their South Elmsall warehouse for their summer sale and another 300 this summer. They were recruited in Poland and charged £50 to find them accommodation.
"The advantage to Next? They get to avoid Agency Workers Regulations which apply after a candidate has been employed for over 12 weeks, so Polish temps end up considerably cheaper than the local workforce which includes many former Next employees.
"The recruitment agency Next used, Flame, has its website http://www.flamejobs.pl entirely in Polish. It's not illegal. But is it fair? Does it inspire long-term commitment to the business?
"In mentioning this I'm not looking for special favours for anyone. I'm just looking for fairness."
After:
"Next PLC recruited extra temporary staff for their South Elmsall warehouse for the summer sale - last year and this year.
"South Elmsall is in a region with 9% unemployment and 23.8% youth unemployment.
"Yet several hundred people were recruited directly from Poland. The recruitment agency Next used, Flame, has its website http://www.flamejobs.pl entirely in Polish.
"Now of course short term contracts and work are sometimes necessary in order to satisfy seasonal spikes in demand.
"But when agencies bring such a large number of workers of a specific nationality at a time when there are one million young unemployed in Britain it is right to ask why that is happening.
"It's not illegal for agencies to target foreign workers. But is it fair for them to be so exclusive? Is it fair on migrant workers who can find themselves tied into agency accommodation deals? And is it good practice for the long term health of the economy when so many local young people need experience and training?
"Next also say they have tried to recruit locally."
Comparison:
The allegation that Next "get to avoid Agency Workers Regulations" has gone. So too has the claim that "Polish temps end up considerably cheaper than the local workforce".
Mr Bryant did, however, make new allegations in his speech against the tourism industry:
"Tourism is one of our largest industries and yet I have heard horror tales of hotel management deliberately cutting hours of young British workers and adding hours to migrant workers who do not complain about deductions from earnings that almost certainly take people below the minimum wage," he said.
But he didn't name names.
More anecdotal accusations, I suspect.
Mr Bryant obviously wanted to avoid another bruising clash with big business.
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