A former agency worker at Chivas’ Kilmalid bottling plant has hit out at the firm for the way they treat temporary staff.
Matthew Rudge, who calls himself ‘the 10 year temp’, resigned from his role in the Leven Hall at the plant in February after 10 years as a temporary worker saying he felt “disheartened and slightly depressed” and adding “my positive outlook has been crushed and suppressed in this negative blame culture environment.”
He accuses the whisky giants – who last year generated revenue in excess of $1bn – of taking advantage of him after turning him down for permanent positions.
He also claims communication breakdowns between agency Brightwork and Chivas led to shifts being cancelled last minute.
Mr Rudge said: “I am astonished I lasted so long on a temporary zero hour contract, with no fixed income but always available for work. It certainly is a unique type of person who agrees to do this, anyone with a family should just forget about it. Turn yourself around and do not for one minute contemplate this unreliable type of income.”
He added: “I have been taken advantage of by Chivas. I have been bending over backwards to accommodate them and continually changing my working hours throughout the years; from dayshift, double days, weekend overtime and nightshift for over a year.
“Sometimes you don’t know what hours you will be working, whether you are even required the next day. I have been cancelled on many occasions with little or no notice and within an hour of my start time.
“On occasions I was driving to work with some colleagues, where I got a text and was cancelled enroute, they were not and still expected to attend. Which left me with no option but to drive to the site to take them, otherwise they would have been late.
“Both companies [Brightwork and Chivas] are continually blaming each other for their severe lack of communication.
“I feel disheartened, slightly depressed and my positive outlook has been crushed and suppressed in this negative blame culture environment. It will grind you down, force you to quit or desperately apply for something, anything, to get out of this dire situation.”
Mr Rudge added that he had applied for permanent positions with the firm. But was rejected and had a lack of experience cited – despite being asked to support new employees.
He continued: “I have been stepped over on several occasions for any chance of further training or progression within the role. I have applied three times for a full-time position within Chivas. I was deemed not adequate or experienced enough.
“Yet, on numerous occasions I was instructed to use my learnt skills to train the unskilled and unprepared new members of staff, on the machines that I have carried out my duties on.”
Mr Rudge claims a senior figure from Chivas had agreed to meet him to discuss his experiences in March, but to date a meeting hasn’t taken place.
Matthew added: “The temps are treated with contempt and as second class citizens. I have witnessed people unfairly treated, disrespected, threatened, harassed and bullied over the many years. They cannot say anything for fear of losing shifts and being blacklisted by the management.”
A Chivas Brothers spokeswoman said: “We pride ourselves on building a positive work culture, consistently investing in our people and our local communities. Given the fluctuation in our manufacturing volume requirements we do request additional support from temporary workers like Mr Rudge through our agencies including Brightwork to fulfil operational demands and maintain the highest standards of service.
“We’re a business that is fortunate to have a manufacturing team with outstanding tenure – 45 per cent of whom have been with Chivas Brothers between 10-50 years – which means we don’t often recruit for new full time staff. Where we have had the capacity to do so, we have extended opportunities for existing agency workers to join our full time team. Just last year for example, as a result of bottling hall expansion at Kilmalid, we ran a recruitment drive for 147 new roles. This was a rigorous process which welcomed both internal and external candidates to apply – and ultimately 86 percent of roles were filled by existing agency workers who demonstrated that they align with where we are heading as a future-fit organisation.”
They added that they remained open to meeting with Mr Rudge to discuss his situation.
A spokeswoman for Brightwork added: “At Brightwork we strive to create a positive workplace culture for all our valued temporary staff, offering them flexibility and choice. Whilst we acknowledge customer demand can fluctuate, our team will always strive to ensure alternative shifts can be sourced, but on occasions, this is not always possible.”
She added that Brightwork carry out regular surveys with staff and are happy to meet Mr Rudge.