Death traps still there

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are ALTHOUGH 'trainees' hi now been brought into I with employees when comes to their legal rights safe working conditions, isn't the end of the matter.

Being covered by these laws is okay after you've had an accident - you'll get compensation. But it isn't going to stop them happening in the first place.

'The MSC presided over 17 deaths on YOPs. During the first week of YTS David Brookes died after falling down a disused mineshaft on a YTS outward bound course. That scheme had not been vetted by the MSC.

In fact most schemes don't get vetted. In the final year of YOPs, there were only 12 full-time and 50 part-time MSC officers responsible for safety in the whole country.

That made each officer responsible for the safety of 12,000 YOP trainees!

Derek Cain also died on YOPs. Not only had his factory not been vetted, but the MSC hadn't even bothered to check that the factory was registered with the Factory Inspectorate.

Trainees are being sent to death traps. The MSC has refused to hold inquiries into the deaths and serious injuries on its schemes. Instead it published a report which blamed everyone but itself for deaths and injuries; 'investigations have revealed that inadequate supervision on programmes as well as the lack of concentration on the part of trainees were the most likely contributory causes."

Maybe the MSC doesn't think it is at fault for sending trainees into dangerous places with "inadequate supervision"

MSC staff are not all trained to deal with safety questions. But the officers who visit schemes (and there are still no plans to ensure that every scheme is visited) are expected to 'advise' on safety.

The MSC doesn't even closely liaise with the Health and Safety Executive, the body which really does know about safety at work.

Young workers are more likely to have accidents at work than older employees. That fact in itself should surely have been enough to force the government and the MSC to be extra cautious. But it hasn't sunk in; neither have the facts compiled by Youthaid which show that someone on a YOP scheme was twice as likely to suffer serious injury as an 'ordinary' employee.

The chance of being killed was 1.5 times that of an average industrial worker By Jim UNIONISING can be difficult.

Many youth have a pretty cynical attitude towards unions, and to a large extent that cynicism is justified. Under YOPs many unions recruited trainees, and generally did nothing for them.

The TUC's full support for YTS has identified the trade union movement with the bosses of the MSC in the eyes of many trainees.

But trade unions can improve the lot of trainees, as the experience of Massey Ferguson shows.

There, the shop floor trade unions agreed to YTS only on condition that the trainees are paid £74.86 a week, and that all the trainees will be guaranteed a job at the end of the scheme.

It is important to avoid the trap of simply signing trainees up into the first union that comes along. Much better is to get youth together to discuss their problems and what they require of a union first.

This can be done through a trainees' council on a particular scheme, or through a trainees' action group covering several schemes:

Union representatives should then be invited along to explain what they can offer to trainees and what rights the youth would have within the union. Would they be allowed to elect their own representatives? Can they organise their own branch or committee? Will they have full rights to benefit, to vote, to send delegates to conference, and so on?

The attitude of the unions on these matters can vary greatly from area to area, so shop around!

The only Denham YTS trainees rule of thumb is that Far from keeping schemes safe, t he Mi wearing a woolly jumper likely te o smo for Mode A schemes at organiser wundles. wants normally join whatever union the normalv loi wontever unioo the 'ordinary' workers are in. Even so it would be useful for them te link up with other trainee: through an umbrella trainees 300... ulder from sparks from the welding. action group.

Some unions (notably the AUEW and AUEW-TASS) offer trainees free membership, which obviously makes recruitment much easier.

But it might make more sense to pay out a few pence a week in order to get into a union that gives trainees a better deal locally:

Brielly, the position of the major national unions on YTS is as follows:

* AUEW, AUEW-TASS, EETPU • d Metal Mechanics (NSMM) offer free membership. The AUEW has set up a special Section 5 for trainees. The Metal trainees above is rates have been negotiated. They charge the normal minimum rate of 30p a week.

* USDAW charge their lowest scale rate of 37p per week.

*FTAT charge f2.50 per year.

* POEU charge a 20p single payment (but since November they have had policy to boycott YTS, so are refusing to allow any