Working Time

EXCLUSIVE
The 25 Ministers for Employment and Social Policy will be meeting on 7 November in Brussels (from 10:00) in an extraordinary Council which will have only one item on the agenda: the amendment of the “Working Time” Directive on which a public debate will be held and a political agreement hoped for. After several consecutive failures, an agreement is essential. Everyone is of the opinion that it is the last chance to reach agreement. The chances are very slender, for (...)

FOLLOW UP WORKING TIME DIRECTVE
January 2007
Deadline for response 16 February 2007 Dear colleagues,
The ETUC has asked the ETUI-REHS to help us investigate urgently the current situation in Member States with regard to the implementation of the Working Time Directive, with a view to develop a proper response to the announcement of the European Commission to start infringement procedures.
The aim of this questionnaire is
to evaluate if the information on the various infringements by (...)

Leaked Finnish Presidency proposal shows "opt-out well and truly redundant", says Union Leader

(26 October, 2006) This week has seen intense activity in Brussels on the Working Time Directive dossier. The Finnish Presidency proposal, a copy of which has been seen by EPSU, aims to keep the individual opt-out as part of the package of any compromise on working time. According to European Federation of Public Service Unions General Secretary, Ms. Carola Fischbach-Pyttel, "this compromise would, in effect, render the Working TIme Directive meaningless".

Berlin, 19. Oktober 2006 - Nr. 67/06
Appell an EU-Staats- und Regierungschefs: Bereitschaftsdienst muss Arbeitszeit bleiben
Einen Tag vor dem Sondergipfeltreffen der EU im finnischen Lathi hat der Ärzteverband Marburger Bund (MB) vor einer Änderung der europäischen Arbeitszeitrichtlinie gewarnt. Nach dem Willen der EU-Kommission sollen die Staatschefs einer Revision der Arbeitszeitrichtlinie zustimmen, die unter anderem die Bewertung der Bereitschaftsdienste nicht mehr automatisch als (...)

The working time issue is at a very important stage. On Friday (20 October), the Finnish Presidency is due to hold an ’informal’ meeting to explore ways forward for the Working Time Directive dossier. A compromise text which was previously proposed by the Finnish Presidency has been rejected by the blocking minority of countries (Lead by Spain and France). However, there remains a possibility that the Presidency will try to get a deal on 7 November at the social affairs Council of (...)

(13 June, Brussels) The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) has learned that the Austrian Presidency is manoeuvring to try to force through a last-minute deal on the Working Time Directive. Revision of the directive, which has stalled under the last three EU Presidencies, is blocked due to the question of whether or not to end the controversial ’individual opt-out’ provision. A second stumbling point has been the categorisation of on-call duty in the working place. The Austrian Presidency has put the issue on the agenda of the European Council meeting of EU leaders, set for this Thursday and Friday (15-16 June) in an attempt to reach a deal.

DID YOU KNOW?
British people work some of the longest hours in Europe
Fatigue is more likely to affect your work than alcohol or drugs
Many UK workers do not know that they are legally entitled to limit their working week
UK workers were owed £23 billion from unpaid overtime in 2005
Have a look at the postcards:
For more see I MUST WORK HARDER?

Press communication
(2 June, Brussels) The failure of the Employment Council to reach a settlement on the working time directive yesterday, (1 June) is further illustration that Employment Ministers continue to avoid political reality on the issue, and continue to ignore the clear demands of the representatives of EU workers and citizens. The Austrian Presidency was unable to break the deadlock despite last minute manoeuvrings. "After 12 hours of debate yesterday, the Ministers were still (...)

(Brussels 8 December) EPSU has joined with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) in demanding that the EU Employment Ministers, meeting on 8-9 December, respect working hour limits. EPSU condemns the aggressive actions of the UK Presidency who have pushed their own national agenda.
Specifically UK Minister Alan Johnson is calling for the individual opt-out to remain for those countries that want it, and for on-call work in the workplace not to be defined as working time.
This (...)

(September 2005) The summer period saw some of the fears of EPSU confirmed on the WTD dossier. Rather than openly discuss and resolve the challenges placd before EU decision-makers by the Court of Justice (most notably the Jaeger judgement), the Council of Ministers retreated to a classic “Euro-fudge”. The Employment Council of Ministers, held under the Luxembourg Presidency on 2 June, failed to reach an agreement based on the European Parliament compromise put forward in the (...)

The European Trade Union Confederation will stage a high-level conference on Working Time in London on 17-18 November 2005. The Conference is designed to emphasise the grave concerns that the Trade Union movement has about the way the Working Time Directive is being handled at the EU level.
Catelene Passchier, ETUC Confederal Secretary, and conference organiser stated that "The organisation and limitation of working time is a key issue for trade unions since the very beginning of the trade (...)

The ETUC General Secretary John Monks meets Tony Blair, the current EU president, to present the ETUC’s priorities. ETUC criticises the UK government for blocking progress on advancing social Europe and argues that a major debate on social European is appropriate only if the right framework is established for such a debate, including an approach which integrates social, economic and environmental concerns. The ETUC argues for early action on the Working Time Directive respecting the (...)

In a strongly worded letter to Employment Minister Alan Johnson MP, GMB acting General Secretary Paul Kenny has called on the UK Government to deliver on its pledge to listen to UK citizens. "We were dismayed to see the Government and the EU Commission quickly announce that they rejected the position taken by the European Parliament", stated Mr. Kenny, "particularly on the opt-out and on-call time. GMB is alarmed that a democratically achieved position can be so will fully ignored, and the (...)

European Trade Union leaders condemn Employment Council inaction on WORKING TIME ‘Valuable opportunity to reconnect with citizens missed’ 3 June 2005
Participants:
European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU)
European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF)
(3 June, Luxembourg) The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), the European Transport Workers’Federation (ETF) and the European Trade Union Confederation (...)

On 2-3 June these Ministers Will decide your working hours without your consent...Will you let them? The Employment and Social Affairs Council of Ministers will hold a meeting on 2-3 June to decide the future direction of the working time directive. The EU member states represented by the SEVEN Ministers pictured have formed a cynical alliance to block the will of the European Parliament. Will you let them? CLICK ON THE AUTOMATIC E-MAIL for the Minister in your country and send them your (...)

More information about this campaing: see introduction (click here)
Minister Wolfgang Clement, Germany
Minister Dagnija Stake, Latvia
Minister François Biltgen, Luxembourg
Minister Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, Poland
send a message
send a message
send a message
send a (...)

More information about this campaign: see introduction (click here)
Louis Galea, Malta
Ludovit Kanik, Slovakia
David Blunkett, United Kingdom
Send a message
send a message
Send a message

Euro Demonstration,19 March 2005, Brussels
EU Working-time proposals are surreal!
UE temps de travail = propositions surréalistes !
EU arbeidstijd voorstellen zijn surreel !
EU Arbeitszeit Vorschläge sind Surreal!
El concepto de tiempo de trabajo de la UE es surrealismo puro !
EUs arbetstidsförslag är ur tiden !
“The European Commission’s proposals to change the EU Working Time Directive are a gift to European employers’ and nothing short of a scandal”.
Addressing 50,000 (...)

Announcement of Press Conference on 17 March 2005 from EPSU
WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE
EVENT Press conference on Working Time Directive ‘a realistic approach’
VENUE Résidence Palace - International Press Center Brussels, Rue de la Loi 155, Bruxelles
TIME 10h00-12h00 DATE Thursday 17 March 2005
Participants
Mr. ALEJANDRO CERCAS, MEP (reporter on working time)
Mr. STEPHEN HUGHES, MEP
CAROLA FISCHBACH-PYTTEL, EPSU General Secretary
CATELENE PASSCHIER, ETUC Confederal Secretary
JULIO (...)

Press Release - 17 March 2005
Participants:
European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC),
European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU),
Members of European Parliament, Alejandro CERCAS, Stephen Hughes.
The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), today shared a platform with the European Parliament Rapporteur on Working Time, Mr Alejandro Cercas MEP (PES). The message behind this show of solidarity was ‘EU working Time (...)

At a Hearing by the Social Affairs Committee of the European Parliament EPSU General Secretary Carola Fischbach-Pyttel launched a searing attack on the European Commission proposals to revise the Working Time directive. Calling the proposal a ‘historical mistake’, the General Secretary called on the Parliament to provide leadership in framing the debate.
Ms. Fischbach-Pyttel concluded her speech by saying that “The last point that I would therefore like to make is that the Commission’s (...)

As you are aware the Commission has published an extremely negative document. The aim before the next Executive Committee on 29-30 November is to convince the European Parliament to reject the Commission proposal in its current form.
We will also need to focus our efforts on the Member state Governments, such as the UK and Poland, who are particularly in favour of loosely defined provisions.
We will publish a more detailed update on the issue in the coming weeks.
For the document in all (...)

BRIEF OUTLINE
The ETUC task force on working time met on 8 September.The briefing included a preliminary outline of the Commission response to the second stage consultation on working time. It is to be noted by EPSU Executive Committee members that this outline is in advance of publication, and may be subject to change. The ETUC chair stated that there are 5 main areas to be proposed by the Commission:
Individual Opt-Out Clause
The opt-out will be retained. There is a formulation, which (...)

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