Unwritten Agreements stopping employment opportunity.

[Swaggers]

Afternoon all.

I've recently been working through an agency on an assignment for Co A as a warehouse operative supplying parts for the manufacture of trains. Co A offer their services in logistics to Co B who are the company with the contracts to build the trains.Another agency, are presently advertising for staff on behalf of Co B to do a similar job to the one I was doing as an agency worker, but it pays approx. £5/hr more. I obviously have the majority of the skillset that they require to do the job, but am being thwarted in my attempts to take on the roll by an 'unwritten agreement' between Co B and Co A where neither will poach each others staff.

Considering that I have not worked on the site in question for the past 3 weeks, nor was I ever directly employed by Co A and will not be working directly for Co B in the new role, but for another agency, can such an agreement be enforced and what are my options should I decide to challenge the agreement.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance

Swaggers

[ULA]

Who is is that is thwarting you in your attempts to be assigned by the second agency to Co B?

[Swaggers]

Company A.

They are saying that there must be 13 weeks where no work is offered on site between the different companies and all the other companies seem to be working to this even though I've never had a contract with Company A, I was just assigned work there by a seperate agency.

[ULA]

Sometimes you will find that these types of agreeements will also cover agency and contracting staff as well. It would be worth claifying with Co A that is the case. In addition you could verify this with Co B.

[Swaggers]

I've challenged company A on the basis that I wasn't contracted to company B and therefore outside the parameters of the original agreement. It's taken a few weeks of back and forth but a solution has been found where everyone believes they haven't lost out too much and I start my new job a week on monday.
Sometimes all it takes is a little perserverance and a willingness to not take no for an answer.

[ULA]

Glad to hear that you have managed to sort this our. Good luck in the new job.