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Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

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Workers Registration Scheme to continue

May 24 2009
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber warns it could lead to A10 workers being abused The government has decided to continue the controversial Workers Registration Scheme (WRS) for Accession State migrants for a further two years. WRS was introduced in 2004 when eight new countries joined the European Union. It was designed to help the UK Border Agency to monitor migrants, by asking them to pay £70 for a UK work certificate, which they are required to hold until they have been working uninterrupted for 12 months. The scheme has been criticised for causing poor integration and forcing migrants into illegal work. One such critic, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, argued it made no difference to the number of migrants entering the UK. "If A8 workers do not register, they are denied all employment rights, leaving them open to abuse by unscrupulous employers. This in turn threatens the pay and conditions of other workers," he said. "The decision to prolong it is, therefore, perplexing, as it serves no real purpose.
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