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 Learning and Skills for All Fund 2009 - Manchester Launch Event Learning and Skills for All Fund 2009 - Lancashire Launch Event Learning and Skills for All Fund 2009 - Cumbria Launch Event Learning and Skills for All Fund 2009 - Chester Launch Event Learning and Skills for All Fund 2009 - Merseyside Launch Event  |
TUC Education European ReviewIssue 43 July 2008 Welcome to the seventeenth issue of the new-look European Review which will be emailed four times a year as a supplement to those registered to receive TUC Education Update. A hard copy will also be posted to Union Education Officers, TUC course co-ordinators and tutors. Everyone with an interest in European affairs as they affect trade unionists can still access the magazine online at http://www.tueip.dircon.co.uk/ or at http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/education/index.cfm?mins=88
Bargaining round upGERMAN WORKERS ARE TO BENEFIT from bigger pay increases than for some time after the latest round of wage negotiations. However they may have to work longer hours to get the money. Public sector employees will receive an extra 3.1% backdated to the beginning of the year together with a €50 supplement; next year there will be another increase of 2.8% plus a €225 lump sum for lower grades. Local government employees will also see their work hours go up by 30 minutes per week. Hospital staff will receive only a 1.6% rise this year but will get 4.3% in 2009 without the lump sum. A 25-month deal in the chemicals sector will give 550,000 workers a 4.4% rise backdated to March plus another 3.3% next year. One-off payments of 0.5% of pay for each of the first 13 months of the agreement will depend on the financial position of each individual company. The chemicals agreement also covers training, flexible transition to retirement, pensions and working-time accounts in which holiday entitlement can be converted into financial credits. MALTA'S LARGEST PRIVATE EMPLOYER, STMicroelectronics, which is facing tough market conditions due to the decline in the value of the US dollar, has been prevented from taking it out on their workers. The company indicated that it would suspend pay rises scheduled for the period 2006-2010. However the GWU trade union insisted that its collective agreement with STM was honoured, threatening industrial action. In response the company announced 'down-sizing' while ITALIAN UNIONS HAVE RESORTED TO STRIKE ACTION to try and close a loophole which has left construction workers as the only group who cannot claim sick pay for the first three days of absence. Although it is possible to achieve this through negotiation at company level, unions say that this has proved impossible in companies employing 45% of all building workers. They are also worried about an increase in part time contracts. Franco Martini, the general secretary of FILEA-CGIL, commented: 'The excessive use of part-time contracts may be a way to hide clandestine labour and we should absolutely limit this negative practice'. On pay they are demanding an extra €105 a month as the industry is growing. Revised Works Council directive publishedFOLLOWING EXTENSIVE CONSULTATION THE European Commission has published its plans for the revision of the European Works Council (EWC) directive. Having received feedback that indicated that employers' organisations were against revision whereas unions were in favour the Commission asked for examples of best practice and how to promote their creation.
They concluded that action by the EU was necessary and consulted the social partners on what form it should take. At this point the employers in the shape of Business Europe offered to open negotiations with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) with a view to agreeing the new law as part of the social dialogue instead of it being initiated by the Commission in the usual way. However the ETUC, smelling a rat, was concerned that this could not be done by next year's European Parliament elections, in which case the proposal would fall, and appealed to the Commission to bring in the revision. Because the employers wanted to follow a different route they did not offer their suggestions as to the substance of the revision so it was no surprise that the Commission's proposals seemed to please the unions more. They include reference to training of EWC union members and the role of trade unions in supporting them, the responsibility of a firm in providing the necessary information to set up a new EWC, ways to adapt or continue a works council in the event of restructuring, mergers etc. as well as general principles and definitions of 'information' and 'consultation'. It also sets out more detailed guidelines on things like the ratio of EWC reps. to employees, the role of experts whom they may call upon and the topics that should be discussed at EWCs as opposed to national level. One union demand that has not been met is the reduction of the minimum number of workers that a multinational company has to employ to come under the legislation; on the grounds of proportionality this stays at 1,000 with 150 or more in at least two Member States. Despite this ETUC reaction was generally favourable 'We strongly support the opinion of the Commission that EWCs must be in a position to play their full part with regard to development in undertakings, anticipating and accompanying change' stated Reiner Hoffmann, Deputy General Secretary. Business How the Commission reacts to these influences pulling in different directions will help to decide whether workers renew their faith in the EU, according to ETUC General Secretary John Monks. 'the Commission as well as the parliament and the Council must prove that they are able and ready to strengthen workers' rights and the social dimension of the European Union' he said. Unions want to rescue Posted Workers directive from courtsAS WE OUTLINE BELOW, THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE recently struck another blow against the right of workers posted from one EU Member State to another to enjoy the same pay and benefits as local employees. The case, brought by the European Commission against
Even before the latest judgment the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers, the Commission and the ETUC had considered the working of the directive. The parliament's Employment Committee was worried about the popularity of the EU with workers if local labour standards were undermined and the problem of attracting skilled employees from outside the EU if they were only guaranteed minimum conditions, while the Council of Ministers advocated exchange of information and best practice on the directive between Member States. The Commission seemed convinced that the legislation was not working properly and admitted that posted workers could be at risk but it recommended more co-operation between countries and access to information rather than reform. The European Trade Union Confederation were, however, convinced that the law should be revised, and, further, urged 'the European institutions to adopt a Social Progress protocol at the next Treaty revision, confirming the primary goal of the EU as being the improvement of living and working conditions of its workers' in the words of General Secretary John Monks. It predicts that the judgment will have an impact throughout the EU, especially in countries such as Companies to promote equality as EU shows size of problem at the topRECENT REPORTS TO THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION HAVE AGAIN HIGHLIGHTED the unequal distribution of the sexes among top jobs. At the same time, one According to the EU report 30% is the crucial figure for female employment at which a critical mass is formed that can influence politics. This would be a considerable advance for most of the bodies surveyed. National parliaments contain an average of 24% of women, regional assemblies 30% and cabinets of There is no female central bank governor in the EU and five times as many men as women are financial decision-makers. In business generally the higher the level the fewer are the women employed: 44% of all workers, 32% as heads of small businesses but only 10% of board members in leading companies. In public administration the position has improved in recent years with women now comprising a third of those at or near the top although the EU institutions themselves have only a 20% female representation. The judges in the highest courts of the Community are 30% women. As well as trying to change this state of affairs, the French charter attempts to make human resources departments more aware of the position of working parents and to prevent and eliminate practises that discriminate against them. The Minister of Labour, Xavier Bertrand, believes that 'improving the position of parents in companies is a choice made by society, which takes the form of very concrete measures, such as working time reorganisation, telework and the management of departures and returns to work linked to maternity leave'. Some Spanish companies have also acted on these issues; a large department store chain, El Corte Inglés, has concluded an 'Equality Plan' with trade unions with the aim of preventing all forms of gender discrimination at work. 62% of their 67,000 employees are women but they are under-represented in technical occupations and only 22% of managers are female. The company promises positive discrimination where candidates are equally qualified, 40-60% of places on management training courses to go to women, examination of pay structures, greater working time flexibility and action against sexual harassment. Unions say the plan has possibilities but will be 'very demanding' and believe that the pay equality provisions are weak.
Commission expands anti-discrimination directive pleasing unions and campaign groupsA MATTER OF WEEKS AFTER THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION had let it be known that its new legislation outlawing discrimination outside the workplace would only cover disability, the finally revealed proposal proved to have a much wider scope. Trade unions and campaign groups had lobbied for the new law to prohibit all the grounds included in the earlier Employment Equality Directive and it seems that their effort has paid off. Discrimination due to age, sexual orientation, and religion as well as disability will be forbidden in the provision of goods and services including health, housing, education and social security, joining the existing provisions for race and gender. It will cover both direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Exceptions will be allowed for 'generally accepted practices' such as discounts for senior citizens or age limits for the consumption of alcohol. National laws which protect certain religions or maintain the secular nation of the state will also be beyond the new directive. The Commission believes that the role of the 'national equality bodies' such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the U.K. is vital in giving advice and going to court if need be. The new directive will form part of a package of measures to set up an expert panel to examine the effectiveness of anti-discrimination policies, to raise the awareness of rights under both the new and existing laws, to encourage Member States to adopt positive action to achieve equality, to require better collection of data and to persuade companies of the business case for diversity in the workforce and among customers. There will also be a special EU Roma summit in September as the Commission believes that 'the marginalisation of millions of people is unacceptable above all from the perspective of equality and effective enjoyment of human rights' and promises it will 'remain vigilant in this area and will step up its work with national equality bodies to improve their capacity to tackle cases of discrimination against Roma'. Reaction to the proposal has been positive. The European Trade Union Federation (ETUC) issued a statement warmly welcoming it, also signed by a range of campaigning organisations. The British TUC found some reasons for confusion on the scope of the directive however, especially in the field of accommodation and education of disabled people, and adoption by same-sex couples. Corporate Justice campaign comes to
CAMPAIGNERS FOR CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILTY (CSR) came to the European Parliament recently to try to persuade legislators to toughen up laws holding multi-national companies responsible for their actions outside the EU. Following a resolution in March in which the parliament called for victims in the third world to be able to use European courts to seek redress, mandatory disclosure of all corporate lobbying and the establishment of an Ombudsman for CSR, the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) put forward further proposals at a conference in
The coalition, which includes over 250 civil society organisations from across New EU safety law REACHes out to USATHE EUROPEAN CHEMICALS AGENCY (ECHA) began its work in June. Its task is to implement the new regulations on the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals or REACH. The Helsinki-based organisation will be required to receive registrations for about 30,000 substances which are used in quantities of greater than one tonne annually. The ETUC is planning to draw on its network of unions and reps. to distribute its own information on the new law of which, it says, many employers are ignorant. However the effects of the legislation are also likely to be felt far beyond EU borders. Already manufacturers in the USA are looking at the composition of substances that they use. Although American regulations are much laxer than REACH, requiring the authorities to prove that a chemical is harmful before it can be restricted, companies do not want to lose access to a market of nearly 500 million people. DuPont is to register about 500 substances including 20-30 expected to make the list of substances of 'very high concern' created by the European legislation. It is quite likely that other US firms are using such substances as the US Environmental Protection Agency has only banned 5 chemicals since 1976! Even if they are authorised in the EU consumers could shun them as experience with, for instance, lead in toys and phthalates in baby rings has shown parental anxiety trumping corporate lobbying. Instead companies may find it easier to substitute: 'We're not looking at this as a European program - we're buying and selling all over the globe' commented a vice president of DuPont. Nanotechnology can create jobs but precautions neededALTHOUGH THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RECENTLY rejected special measures to deal with products made with the emerging nanotechnology (see our last issue) both the EU Commission and the ETUC have their eye on their health and safety aspects. The Commission has started a 'public dialogue' by noting the huge potential of the scientific advance which manipulates materials at the atomic level. They say that 10 million jobs could be created by 2014 to service a market worth between €750 and €2000 billion. While energy efficiency, computer memories, pharmaceuticals and medical procedures could all benefit, the Commissioners stress that public knowledge of the technology must be increased in the EU and a precautionary principle must apply to protect health, the environment and workers' safety.
This accords with the view of the European Trade Union Confederation who made it the key demand of a recent resolution. They stress that REACH, the newly implemented directive controlling the use of chemicals, must apply to their nanometre forms, even if they would otherwise be exempt as less than one tonne per year is imported or manufactured. The ETUC wants the 'no data, no market' principle to apply. They say that workers and unions must be involved in the assessment and reduction of nanomaterial-related risks, worker information, training and health monitoring must be improved where they may be exposed to products containing nanos and safety data sheets must state whether nanomaterials are present. Medical opinion would seem to support this approach with parallels being drawn with the asbestos disaster. Indeed an editorial in Lancet Oncology comments that carbon nanotubes have a similar structure to asbestos and have also been found to cause mesotheloma in mice: 'our physical and chemical knowledge of these molecules exceeds our biological understanding of their effects'. Temps and working time: EU cuts Gordian knot at last thanks to TUCThe revision of the Working Time directive and a proposed Temporary Agency Workers directive are two pieces of legislation that have been stuck in the EU sausage machine for many years. At times linked and at others separated, the
IT WAS WAY BACK IN 2001 THAT the social partners, in the shape of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and Business Europe (then UNICE) decided that they differed too much over the proposal for a new law on temporary agency workers to agree a directive. The ETUC then called on the European Commission to put forward a bill in the normal way. Ever since that time it has proved impossible to get a majority in the Council of Ministers for any text, with the At the end of May the TUC, CBI and the British government came to an agreement under which agency workers must be treated equally with comparable permanent employees after twelve weeks in a job. On the basis of this, the government dropped its opposition in the Council of Ministers and a version of the new law, which allowed for this compromise, was waved through. At the same meeting a proposal to revise the Working Time directive was also agreed. The compromise here was to keep the The details of the temporary workers law mean that pensions can be withheld from agency employees in the UK, although sick pay and holidays are covered, that measures to stop employers using repeated contracts of less than twelve weeks will be put in place and that 'local agreements', for instance at company level, cannot have less favourable terms than the national deal. In the case of working time the fine print comes in several shades of grey. Although workers in the UK will be able to sign away their right not to work more than 48 hours per week they cannot do so before they start work or during their first month on the job. They can also opt-in again, without notice, during the first six months. Any opt-out has to be renewed every year and employers must keep records of the actual hours worked by opted-out workers. No employee covered by the proposed directive can work more than 60 hours per week on average over a three month period. On the other hand none of these limits will apply to workers employed for less than ten weeks per year by the same company and the problem of on-call time, which came up in court cases at the European Court of Justice, has been resolved by distinguishing between 'active' and 'inactive' hours which will be difficult to define. Unions seemed more pleased with the first deal than the second. 'The agreement on a directive on temporary agency workers was positive and shows that the European Union can legislate improvements for workers', said John Monks General Secretary of the ETUC. But in the same comment he went on 'but the agreement on working time is highly unsatisfactory and unacceptable to the ETUC, in respect of the new provisions on on-call work and the continuation of the They promised to keep up the fight for a better deal on working time. Both measures will now go to the European Parliament and the socialist group of MEPs intend to reject that proposal. PES spokesman Stephen Hughes said: 'This is a health and safety law - and as a point of principle there should be no room for an opt-out'. If the parliament and the Council of Ministers cannot agree, the conciliation procedure will be followed which will not finish until the end of the year. As the Member States will then have the usual three years to implement the directive, it is unlikely to be fully operational before 2012. The law will be reviewed four years after this and there is no guarantee that the Irish unions seek law change as
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Member State | Average hourly labour costs (€) | % wages | % employer's social security | |
|
Sweden |
|
32.2 |
66.2 |
30.6 |
|
Denmark |
|
32.0 |
86.7 |
10.9 |
|
Luxembourg |
|
32.0 |
83.9 |
15.2 |
|
Belgium |
|
31.6 |
69.2 |
30.3 |
|
France |
|
30.3 |
67.1 |
28.6 |
|
Germany |
|
27.7 |
76.3 |
23.3 |
|
Netherlands |
|
27.4 |
76.9 |
21.0 |
|
Finland |
|
27.4 |
78.0 |
20.8 |
|
Austria |
|
26.7 |
73.2 |
24.0 |
|
United Kingdom |
|
24.5 |
79.2 |
18.4 |
|
Italy |
|
21.4 | ||
|
EU 27 |
|
20.4 | ||
|
Spain |
|
15.8 |
73.4 |
24.9 |
|
Greece |
|
13.4 |
78.8 |
21.7 |
|
Cyprus |
|
12.0 |
84.9 |
15.1 |
|
Slovenia |
|
11.3 |
82.6 |
13.4 |
|
Portugal |
|
11.0 |
77.5 |
21.2 |
|
Malta |
|
8.7 |
93.1 |
6.9 |
|
Czech Republic |
|
7.1 |
72.6 |
26.1 |
|
Hungary |
|
6.3 |
69.1 |
26.9 |
|
Poland |
|
6.0 |
80.2 |
16.6 |
|
Estonia |
|
5.5 |
73.6 |
25.1 |
|
Slovakia |
|
5.3 |
75.0 |
24.1 |
|
Lithuania |
|
4.2 |
71.5 |
28.2 |
|
Latvia |
|
3.4 |
78.7 |
20.6 |
|
Romania |
|
2.7 |
72.1 |
26.1 |
|
Bulgaria |
|
1.7 |
78.5 |
20.9 |
Figures are for 2006 except Greece, 2003; Italy, 2004; Denmark, Netherlands, UK and Poland, 2005. No stats available for
'Europe in figures - Eurostat Yearbook 2008' is available free of charge from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat
Poorer countries and poorer people spend more on food
The recent Eurostat Household Budget Survey has shown that what might be thought a 'common sense' view has a basis in fact. The poorer you are the more of your income you spend on food, and this applies to countries as well as individuals. The survey found the less wealthy east European Member States at the top of the league for spending on 'food, beverages and tobacco' with Romanians getting through half their income under this heading. On average 15% of the expenditure of the wealthiest fifth of households throughout the EU goes on food etc. whereas the figure for the poorest fifth is 25%. Conversely in the categories of transport, recreation and culture, and restaurants and hotels the rich spend more of their income.
|
Member State (% of household expenditure by category) |
Food, beverages and tobacco |
Housing |
Transport | |
|
Romania |
|
50.0 |
19.4 |
6.5 |
|
Lithuania |
|
37.3 |
23.1 |
8.1 |
|
Bulgaria |
|
35.3 |
37.7 |
5.0 |
|
Latvia |
|
32.3 |
22.3 |
10.9 |
|
Slovakia |
|
30.1 |
28.8 |
9.2 |
|
Poland |
|
28.0 |
36.0 |
8.1 |
|
Hungary |
|
26.2 |
24.1 |
14.1 |
|
Estonia |
|
25.3 |
35.1 |
10.0 |
|
Malta |
|
24.0 |
19.8 |
16.6 |
|
Czech Republic |
|
23.5 |
26.8 |
11.1 |
|
Italy |
|
20.4 |
35.4 |
11.9 |
|
Spain |
|
20.3 |
35.0 |
10.5 |
|
EU 27 |
|
19.4 |
33.1 |
11.9 |
|
Slovenia |
|
19.1 |
28.8 |
15.6 |
|
Greece |
|
18.9 |
30.2 |
10.4 |
|
Ireland |
|
17.9 |
30.6 |
11.6 |
|
Portugal |
|
17.8 |
31.4 |
12.9 |
|
Cyprus |
|
17.0 |
27.5 |
14.6 |
|
Austria |
|
15.8 |
28.5 |
16.1 |
|
Belgium |
|
15.7 |
30.9 |
12.9 |
|
France |
|
15.7 |
32.4 |
13.5 |
|
Denmark |
|
15.2 |
36.0 |
13.8 |
|
Finland |
|
15.1 |
32.3 |
15.7 |
|
Germany |
|
12.9 |
35.0 |
13.3 |
|
Netherlands |
|
12.6 |
32.0 |
10.9 |
|
Sweden |
|
12.4 |
35.5 |
13.0 |
|
United Kingdom |
|
12.3 |
36.1 |
13.5 |
|
Luxembourg |
|
11.0 |
37.2 |
16.2 |
Figures are for 2005
Tutor brings TUC know-how to war crimes court
Darren O'Grady is a tutor at the Trade Union Studies Centre of South Thames College. Recently he was asked to assist in the training of union reps at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
A trade union was formed for staff working for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1993, representing workers across all grades and nationalities. The union has adopted an organising model which has succeeded in recruiting around 80% of eligible membership, the highest level of any United Nations agency.
It has been proactive in seeking members' views and involving them in all aspects of the work of the union, developing an effective network of workplace representatives in the process. This has enabled the organisation to seize the initiative in a number of areas and led to the establishment of a Joint Negotiating Committee and similar bodies for health and safety, communications etc.
The union requested training for their representatives from the UK TUC, which has aided the development of their organisation. As a TUC tutor based in
The second course was for ICTY union committee members and was based around the Completion Strategy that ICTY are proposing. This reflects the fact that the ICTY is a United Nations ad hoc agency rather than a permanent one and the intention is to wind up the organisation over the next couple of years. Consequently there are many issues of concern for the workforce around redeployment, training for new skills and so on. Again this would be very similar to the sort of training we would be involved in with workers in the
The ICTY building in The Hague
However the ICTY union have a number of very specific issues. Over the years, many of their members have settled in
Former Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte
The union has been campaigning hard around such issues, lobbying the Dutch government, EU as well as UN bodies on their members' behalf and has made many gains. The training course was an opportunity for the committee members, nearly all of whom are unpaid workplace reps, to discuss and plan out a strategy to tackle the very difficult issues that the union faces.
As a trade unionist it was a fascinating experience for me to work with these colleagues, who have built a very effective union in adverse circumstances. As a trade union educator it was rewarding to be part of a process where colleagues appreciated the link between union training and organising in the workplace, and utilised the opportunity to the full. Finally, as a human being, it was an absolute pleasure to meet and enjoy the hospitality of such a wonderful collection of people!
Diary: conferences and courses
EUROSHNET - Safer products for competitive workplaces. European Conference on standardisation testing and certification 11-12 September
EUROSHNET2008, Hotel Sheraton, ul. Powšle 7, Cracow, POLAND
Katarznya Buszkiewicz-Seferyn
Tel: +48-22-623-3678
Fax: +48-22-840-0811
Email: kabus@ciop.pl
Anticipating and managing change in the metal working industry 28-30 September
ETUI-REHS Education, Protarus, Cyprus
Jean Claude Le Douaron
Tel: +32-2-224-0543
Email: jcledoua@etui-rehs.org
TUC Organising Academy - Building Stronger Unions: Organising the Future 14 October
TUC, Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS
Joanne Adams
Tel: 020 7467 1361
Email: jadams@tuc.org.uk
Training young European trade union leaders 18-23 October
ETUI-REHS Education, Boulevard du Roi Albert II, 5, box 7, B1210, Brussels, BELGIUM
Valerica Dumitrescu
Tel: +32-2-224-0528
Email: vdumitrescu@etui-rehs.org