"Suppliers of temporary labour in the Wigan area found themselves the focus of the GMB's wrath last week when workers complaining about pay and conditions at a national sports retailer's distribution centre walked out on strike. It's strange that some of the mainstream national press devoted more space to the GMB's gripes about the recruiters than complaints about the employer's handling of the dispute. Or perhaps the GMB spent more time airing its allegations against the temporary labour suppliers.

As events over the past few months have shown, this latest round of recruiter-bashing is not an isolated incident. The timing of each of these supposedly grass-roots flurries of dissatisfaction seem too well-coordinated to be just coincidence. If the GMB wants to debate the use of temporary labour, is it necessary to resort to these kinds of measures to open the discussion? These 'wildcat' guerilla-type attacks benefit no one concerned. It's time to find out what's really at play here."

DeeDee Doke
Editor