Madam, - Donal Guerin calls on IMPACT and other unions to "state clearly the position of temporary workers with regard to benchmarking" (August 29th). The position is that, under the Protection of Employees (Fixed Time Work) Act, 2003, workers on temporary contracts are entitled to equivalent pay and conditions to those of permanent staff in the same or similar grades who are doing similar work, unless their employer can show "objective grounds" for paying a different rate.
In practice, this means that almost all temporary staff working in the civil and public service are legally entitled to pay increases under benchmarking and "Sustaining Progress". Employers who deny this are wrong. - Yours, etc.,
BERNARD HARBOR, Information Officer, IMPACT trade union,
Nerney's Court, Dublin 1.