Led by the Fair Work Convention’s Mary Alexander , Deputy Regional Secretary for Unite the Union Scotland and Fair Work Convention Co-Chair Professor Patricia Findlay , Director of the Scottish Centre for Employment Research, the Convention’s two year inquiry by the Fair Work in the Construction Industry Inquiry Group (CIIG)  involved research and extensive engagement with stakeholders including research on the work and employment experiences of workers and engagement with an expert working group and stakeholders from across the construction industry.

The Fair Work in the Construction Industry Inquiry found that:

• while many employers’ have taken steps to embed fair work in their business, the construction industry is not consistently delivering fair work;
• there are a range of fair work challenges around job insecurity and lack of direct employment, bullying and harassment, mental ill-health, exercising effective voice and raising concerns on sites, equality and diversity, and access to training and continued professional development;
• the existing fair work provisions within procurement are having limited impact on the experience of workers on the ground, and;
• that there are a range of Sectoral Collective Agreements that are estimated to cover around 62% of the employed workforce and that together these represent a set of minimum standards for the industry that should be strengthened and more rigorously applied to improve outcomes for all workers.

The report reveals that skill shortages are both a challenge and an opportunity to bring new talent into the industry, with an estimated 79,100 additional workers needed in construction in Scotland by 2029. The Construction Industry is at the forefront of the transition to a net zero carbon economy with 40% of national carbon emissions coming from the built environment, but also faces an aging workforce with 50,000 workers expected to retire in the next 10 years. The need to transition to a net zero carbon economy and undertake large scale retrofitting on existing building stock raises significant new challenges around skills and investment but also offers an opportunity to transform ways of working and offer high quality work to a greater range of people, dealing with the longstanding diversity issues in the industry.

The Construction Inquiry concludes that this is a key moment of change in the industry but the building blocks for collaborative working and supporting skills, standards and fair work  all exist already. Effective leadership is key, which requires collaborative working, effective workforce planning and a focus on fair work that is meaningfully applied throughout the supply chain. It is important that Government and other public agencies support the existing collective agreements and promote their use and effective implementation. Recognising, valuing and using these agreements along with collaborative and inclusive ways of working in the industry will create a level playing field between employers, ending the race to the bottom in the industry, and support better and fairer outcomes for the workforce.

For further information please contact:

Fairworkconvention@gov.scot