The ETUC has welcomed elements of the latest version of the draft Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions but is disappointed that some hoped-for rights, such as a ban on zero-hours contracts, have not materialised. It notes the new rights in relation to training, probation, payment for cancelled shifts and working for more than one employer. The ETUC was also calling for the right for precarious workers to transfer to more secure forms of employment and is disappointed that workers on fewer than 12 hours a month will be excluded. EPSU reacted similarly but also underlined its concern that the Directive includes a loophole that would allow a broad range of public service workers to be denied certain rights.
Directive provides new rights but fails to deliver on others
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Directive provides for increased mobility of pension rights
The new directive on supplementary pension rights should allow workers moving across borders more possibilities to take their pension entitlement with them. The Directive includes provisions on guarantees (vesting rights) which should be granted at the latest after three years of employment and with a minimum age of no more than 21 years. The rights of workers who leave an employer-run pension scheme before retirement must be preserved and treated fairly compared to the rights of those workers who remain in the scheme, for example as regards indexation. Workers will also have the right to know
Unions hope negotiations can deliver better rights for posted workers
Negotiations are set to begin between the European institutions over revisions to the Posted Workers Directive. European trade union organisations including the ETUC and the EFFAT and ETF sector federations, have expressed their disappointment with the outcome of the meeting of Employment Ministers on 23 October. This agreed a document that excludes road transport workers; contains insufficient safeguards on allowances; does not include a legal base to make it an instrument for the protection of workers, as opposed to only single market law; fails to recognise many types of collective
Government fails to deliver on public employment and pay
(October 2016) Despite promises of additional funding to cover public sector employment, the latest figures announced by the government are a major disappointment to all the public sector federations. FP-CGIL, CISL-FP, UIL-PA and UIL-FPL issued a joint statement that attacked the government for its short-sighted policies and failure to provide any opening for serious negotiations on pay, skills, productivity and innovation. The unions will be stepping up their mobilisation beginning with a national protest in Rome on 12 November.