GUE – NGL put rejection of Council dilution of working time directive at the top of their agenda

(2 December, 2008, Brussels) European Parliament group GUE-NGL (European United Left – Nordic Green Left) have put the rejection of the Council of Ministers proposals on the working time directive at the top of their agenda.

As the home page of their website indicates: www.guengl.eu/showPage.jsp, there is a strong commitment among the 41 MEPs to back efforts to reject the council attempt to reduce the directive to a bare minimum of limits.

EPSU has made it clear that the three areas where the Council wishes to drop gains made by the Parliament in first reading: the opt-out, the definition of working time, and the reference period, should be non-negotiable.

An EPSU spokesperson stated that: “we are happy to see the GUE-NGL group agree”. The rapporteur for the directive, Alejandro Cercas MEP (PSE, Spain) is currently leading the efforts to ensure a successful result in Parliament – a result which rejects the council proposals on the three key issues, and which respects the health and safety of workers in the EU.