Laing in crusade for better training

John Laing Construction is leading a crusade to stamp out bad employment practices in the construction industry in a bid to turn the tide of dwindling recruitment figures among the young.

As the latest prong in the attack, the contractor has just announced that its workforce for the Millennium Stadium at Cardiff Arms Park will be directly employed with the probability of proper training opportunities.

The contractor denies that the move has been foisted upon them by the Inland Revenue's clamp-down on bogus self-employment among construction workers.

It claims that, contrary to reports that some contractors forced to take workers onto their books are offering employment terms contravening the industry's national working rule agreement, Laing is pursuing a policy of direct employment under decent working conditions in a bid to improve the industry's image to potential recruits.

Tony Evans, managing director of Laing civil engineering, said: "We are quite unusual among contractors in that we have always maintained a large direct labour force earning proper wages and productivity bonuses and with holiday and sick pay.

"But we want to move the issue forward and on the Millennium contract we are also investigating the opportunities for proper training for workers."

Evans said that Laing is taking a stand because the industry badly needed to attract more young people: "There are fewer young people coming in because they see construction as dirty, cyclical and transitory. In order to change this perception we must improve conditions including terms of employment.

"If people worked for contractors like us they would not have to work for firms not offering decent wages and conditions which means that those firms would have to eventually offer decent conditions as well. Construction workers are highly paid and trained in Europe and we have to try to attain that here."