ETUC to hold major Working Time Conference in London

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 union movement. Therefore, we do not want to sit still and wait, but take the initiative to show the indispensable role trade unions and collective arrangements can and must play in the organisation and regulation of working time". The ETUC will make an ‘award for the most innovative way of organising working time through good social partnership'.

The purpose is to help identify best practice in all EU Member States and the accession states. EPSU General Secretary Carola Fischbach-Pyttel stated that this initiative will help increase the pressure on the UK Presidency to resolve this issue in a fair and equitable manner.

























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