Readers will recall that back in March we pointed out anomalies in the nomination of Martin Selmayr as Secretary-General of the European Commission. We made the connection with his more than likely involvement in the non-transparent manner in which the Commission acted on our social partner agreement in Central Government Administrations and the refusal to bring the agreement forward to the European Council. The European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, has now accused the Commission of maladministration over Selmayr’s appointment. And like EPSU, the Ombudsman has found that the Commission has undermined the EU’s credentials as a transparent and democratic institution. This is very much at stake in our court case against the Commission. Employment Commissioner, Marianne Thyssen, plainly lied to us and to the employers. The Commission services behaved in a non-transparent manner, violating the Treaty and the role it gives to the democratic process of the social dialogue and to social partners.
Right2Water
The democratic image of the European institutions is also at stake in another discussion. Nearly two million people supported the first ever successful European Citizens’ Initiative that ended in September 2013. We asked for legislative measures to introduce the United Nations Right to Water and Sanitation (R2W) in EU law. The response of the European Commission was not very ambitious. The candidates for the European Commission Presidency in 2014, however, gave it their warm support as did the European Parliament in its report in September 2015. Despite many actions by EPSU and others such as the European Roma Rights Centre, we had to wait until January 2018 to see legislative proposals to realise the R2W in EU law in the form of the recast of the Drinking Water Directive. The ambition of the Commission proposals is limited. We expect the European Parliament to do more to try to ensure that the Directive provides everyone with safe, clean, affordable, sufficient and accessible drinking water. It will vote on the proposals and amendments next week. The Austrian Presidency, however, doesn’t appear very willing to do the hard work necessary to get a result before the European Parliament elections. We will make clear that a weak Directive will mean further widespread disappointment among citizens with the EU institutions.
Greece
All this pales besides the imposition of coordinated austerity on the one hand and the lack of coordinated solidarity to support refugees on the other. After 10 years of crisis, this has effected the attitudes of many people towards the European Union. Our Greek colleagues of ADEDY underlined recently how the lack of solidarity and funding have undermined the efforts by workers in reception and asylum centres to do a good job and provide adequate care and support to refugees. And they continue to challenge the idea that the austerity forced on Greece has ended and has been to the benefit of the many. On Saturday 8 September a demonstration organised by ADEDY in Thessaloniki will remind the government that Greece needs a new set of policies, and not the perspective of many years of continued austerity along with reforms that strengthen markets rather than the public services that people urgently need. EPSU will send a message of solidarity. This, in a nutshell, is what the European Parliament elections will be about: whether we end up with a European Union for people, respecting core values and offering hope to develop a more Social Europe, or a with a hollowed-out EU where people are pitted against each other and nationalism reigns.
Solidarity in the Orpea care multinational
On 4 September unions in the French multinational care company Orpea expressed their solidarity with their German colleagues suffering harassment from their management. Striking workers have been dismissed and worker representatives have been put under pressure in the company’s German subsidiary, Celenus. The unions will engage in common actions to assist in reaching a solution over the next weeks highlighting more problems with working conditions in various countries. We expect companies to respect their workers and their trade unions, provide decent pay and conditions through collective agreements and ensure information and consultation rights are respected. EPSU will support further actions that are foreseen in Paris and Berlin later in the month.
In September many unions will be taking action for better pay. We already mentioned the Greek comrades, but also in Portugal (in hospitals and health care) and in Poland (public sector pay) larger actions are planned. We wish success to all. And it will be interesting to see if EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker uses his last State of the Union speech to engage with the concerns and expectations of working men and women or will focus on business and institutional issues. We are clear: workers do not need an EU that liberalises and creates markets for public services. We need one that supports investment, strengthens bargaining and trade unions rights and offers a more positive perspective and hope. Will he be up to the challenge?
