ETUC calls demonstration on working time
23 November 2008
European trade unions are mobilising for a demonstration in Strasbourg on 16 December, the day before the European Parliament votes on revisions to the Working Time Directive. The ETUC and its affiliates are calling on the European Parliament to follow its employment committee and adopt the report of Spanish MEP Alejandro Cercas. The Cercas report proposes only a limited period for countries to opt out of the directive’s 48-hour week maximum and for on-call time at work to be counted as working time. This is in opposition to the European Council’s support in June this year for a revised Directive that still allows for an opt out and includes a new definition of “inactive” time.
Read more at > ETUC (EN)
And in French at > CES
And more at > EPSU (EN)
EPSU to negotiate framework agreement on sharps
23 November 2008
EPSU and the HOSPEEM employers’ association are to negotiate a European framework agreement on how to prevent sharps/needlestick injuries in hospitals. The two organisations have written jointly to Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla to announce their decision, arguing that the social partners are best placed to negotiate an agreement on this issue. This will be the first major agreement negotiated in the sectoral social dialogue committee that was established in September 2006.
Read more at > EPSU (EN)
Unions back call for right to strike
23 November 2008
Energy sector unions met earlier this month to underline the importance of the fundamental right to strike in the face of recent European Court of Justice rulings that have given priority to internal market principles. The unions met in a conference convened jointly by the Hungarian VDSZSZ energy union and the European region of Public Service International. Information on the right to strike in the energy sector and across the public services is available in an EPSU-sponsored report by the ETUI-REHS research organisation.
Read more at > EPSU (EN)
Read more at > ETUI-REHS (EN)
Last chance to book for conference
23 November 2008
EPSU’s annual conference on collective bargaining and social dialogue, with financial support from the European Commission, takes place in Brussels on 9 and 10 December. Over 145 delegates from 24 countries have registered as participants. The sessions will cover general debates on collective bargaining in the public services along with equal pay and Eurorpean Court of Justice cases. There will also be four simultaneous workshops on violence at work, demographic change, migrant workers and transnational agreements.
Read more in 10 languages at > EPSU
European Parliament calls for action on gender pay gap
23 November 2008
MEPs have voted by a massive majority to call on the European Commission to review equal pay legislation and to come up with new proposals that will reduce the gap between the average pay of women and men. Despite 30 years of European legislation the gender pay gap is still around 15% averaged across Europe and more like 25% in the private sector. The Parliament backed the report from MEP Edit Bauer that proposed a range of measures including compulsory pay audits and the possibility of financial penalties for employers that failed to tackle the issue.
Read more at > European Parliament (EN)
Parliament backs action to protect collective agreements
4 November 2008
The ETUC has welcomed the European Parliament’s vote last month in support of a report drafted by Jan Andersson (European Socialist Party) on challenges to collective agreements in the European Union. There was a large majority favour, including votes from the European People’s Party. Andersson’s report outlines the deep concerns about the rulings of the European Court of Justice in the Viking, Laval, Rüffert and Commission versus Luxembourg cases and emphasises that economic freedoms, such as the freedom to provide services, are not superior to fundamental rights, such as the right of trade unions to take collective action. The Parliament has called on the Commission to prepare the necessary legislative proposals which would assist in preventing conflicting interpretation in the future including a review of the Posted Workers Directive and a re-assertion in primary law of the balance between fundamental rights and economic freedoms.
Read more at > ETUC (EN)
And in French at > ETUC
The Unite trade union in the UK has launched a petition to protect workers’ rights and collective agreements and a website that provides information on the key ECJ cases.
Read more at > Unite (EN)
ETUC wants to see support for real economy
4 November 2008
The ETUC has called on governments to adopt policies that will provide a boost to the real economy and not just to bail out the finance sector with an injection of capital. The Confederation is looking for a range of measures to increase economic activity and avoid the risk of deflation. It wants to see a quick and significant cut in interest rates and an increase in real wages rather than the kind of downwards wage flexibility that the European Central Bank and Eurogroup of finance ministers have been arguing for. The ETUC points out that precarious work, weakening workers’ bargaining position, is another accelerator for deflation and an increase in public borrowing has to be accepted in order to offset the decline in private indebtedness.
Read more at > ETUC (FR)
And in English at > ETUC
Don’t miss out on this year’s collective bargaining conference
4 November 2008
Over 130 participants from 24 countries have already registered for this year’s conference on collective bargaining and social dialogue. The meeting will take place in Brussels on 9-10 December looks as though it will be the best attended for some time. Support from the European Commission means that we can offer some financial help to participants from the New Member States and Candidate Countries. There are still a few countries where affiliates have yet to register any participants and we would encourage them to send in their forms as soon as possible.
Read more in 10 languages at > EPSU
Report highlights risks associated with spread of private pensions
4 November 2008
A new report from the European Commission examines the growth of private pension provision and what this can mean for workers in both public and private sectors. A key trend identified by the report is the transfer of risk from governments and employers. However, the only recommendation from the Commission on this is greater financial education for workers. The report also refers to the need to ensure that pension provision is not discriminatory but recent changes can lead to lower pensions for women particularly where there are breaks in contributions. The report also warns of the costs of management fees and how these can take a large chunk out of pension benefits over a long period.
Read more at > European Commission (EN)
ETUC calls for urgent measures to protect workers’ rights
17 October 2008
Speaking at a special European Commission forum on workers’ rights and economic freedoms, ETUC general secretary John Monks called for urgent action in response to recent European Court judgements. He pointed out that the decisions in the Viking, Laval, Rüffert and Luxembourg cases had all gone against trade unions and gave precedence to the single market. The ETUC wants to see Member States agree a protocol that gives precedence to fundamental employment rights as well as reforms to the posted workers’ directive. ETUC president and head of the Swedish LO confederation, Wanja Lundby-Wedin, expressed her concerns not only over the failure of European politicians to address the issue but also of the significant gap between the views of the ETUC and those of the businesseurope employers’ organisation that has said it is satisfied with the ECJ rulings.
Read more at > ETUC (EN)
And at > LO (EN)
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