An undercover agency worker working for Unite claims to have revealed a shadowy and insecure world of work, where no national insurance is paid, contracts of work do not exist and no workplace training or basic safety equipment was provided.

Ahead of the debate on the Temporary and Agency Workers (Equal Treatment) Bill, the union says one of its members has been working undercover to see and experience the plight of agency working.

The mystery agency worker, Simon, who spent six weeks working on agency contracts in the Midlands, says: "I am a union activist so I thought I knew what to expect in undertaking this work but what I saw shocked and depressed me.

"Even as a skilled manufacturing worker I barely earned above the minimum wage, I had illegal deductions taken from my pay, I had to work dangerous machinery without any training and without the legally required protective equipment and these jobs came via so-called 'legitimate' agencies."

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has responded to the claims. Tom Hadley, director of external relations, says: "We believe that the vast majority of agency workers have a positive experience of temporary work.

"However, we take the allegations made in Unite's press release very seriously. All agency workers deserve fair treatment and we recommend that Unite refers these allegations to BERR¹s Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.

"Unite's allegations bear out the view that the government¹s focus should be on better enforcement of the current rules. The Andrew Miller Bill, due to be debated on Friday, will not catch those agencies and employers who break the current rules. Any future regulation should target rogue employers and not limit the job opportunities agencies offer day in, day out."

The House of Commons will consider the Bill to end the exploitation of agency workers and introduce equal employment rights on Friday 22 February.

* The Labour Party and Sinn Féin have tabled a Dáil motion expressing concern about the exploitation of agency workers. The two parties say the failure of the government to introduce legislation on the issue of agency workers is having serious repercussions for workers in all sectors and is leading to exploitation.