SOUTH Yorkshire MP Mick Clapham has launched a parliamentary campaign to urge ministers to provide better protection for migrant builders.
The Barnsley West and Penistone MP has tabled a hard-hitting Commons motion after it was claimed a foreign builder working at an NHS hospital was paid a paltry £8.80 for a 39-hour week.
Mr Clapham wants the Government to extend its flagship Gangma
sters Act to the construction industry - and his Early Day Motion has already won the backing of 35 other MPs.
Introduced in October 2006, the Act makes it an offence to operate as a gangmaster and provide labour without a licence in the agriculture, horticulture and processing and packaging sectors.
If the campaign succeeds it will mean migrant workers in the building industry will similarly be protected, and employment agencies and subcontractors will have to pass minimum standards before they can supply labour.
Mr Clapham's EDM follows revelations about the levels of pay for migrant builders working for a sub-contractor on the £600 million NHS King's Mill Hospital, in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, following deductions for rent, tool hire and utility bills.
Among a group of around 12 men from Eastern Europe it was claimed one worker was paid £79.20 for a 63-hour week and another earned just £66 for a 70-hour week. It was reported one man worked a 39-hour week and took home just £8.80 after his entire monthly rent was deducted in one week. Mr Clapham has now raised the issue in the Commons, branding the pay a "total abuse".
Business Secretary John Hutton said the Government would consider the Labour MP's call for a change in the law.
He said: "We are willing to listen, and consider carefully, any further requests for additional legislation, but the case has to be fully and squarely met."
Mr Clapham added: "This happened on a government project where there are good rules and a strong union - who knows what is happening on the hundreds of smaller sites."
READ MOREMore Barnsley newsMain news indexLettersFind out what else is going on in your area and send us the news that is happening In Your Neighbourhood, click hereCheck out the very latest on South Yorkshire's roads - including live traffic cameras on Sheffield's commuter routes - with our Traffic sectionLatest sport.The full article contains 398 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
