Responding to the European Commission’s proposal for a directive on fair wages, ETUC Deputy General Secretary Esther Lynch said:
“Commissioner Schmit's proposal for a Directive is a positive step as it is the only way to achieve real change.
“The Directive requires member states to take action to promote collective bargaining, and have national action plans to increase coverage if less than 70% of workers are covered by a collective agreement. But workers are not guaranteed protection from employer reprisal when they join a union.
The European Commission will publish a proposal for a Directive on Fair Minimum Wages and Collective Bargaining tomorrow (28 October).
The ETUC suggests the following key tests for the Directive. Does the Directive:
1. Oblige member states to take action to ensure respect for the right to bargain collectively and stop union-busting?
Airline passengers and aircrew will enjoy safer air during flights if the EU accepts new safety standards drawn up by industry stakeholders.
The new draft standard on aircraft cabin air quality includes measures to prevent exposure to engine oil and hydraulic fumes onboard aircraft during commercial flights.
The standard would also benefit airlines by streamlining methods to investigate cabin air contamination events involving oil and hydraulic fluid and, in doing so, reducing costs.
Ahead of the informal video conference of ministers for Competitiveness on 23 October, Isabelle Schömann, ETUC Confederal Secretary, calls on the ministers to take the ETUC priorities[1] on board for a sustainable and responsible Industrial Strategy for Europe that delivers quality jobs for all.
The European Commission’s Work Programme 2021 contains some positive commitments, some surprising omissions and at least one absurd proposal according to a first assessment by the ETUC.
On the positive side are commitments to
The European Labour Authority (ELA) has failed to take real action over the first cases of worker exploitation referred to it a year ago by trade unions.
When the ELA started work in October 2019, trade unions brought ten cases involving the non-payment of wages, holiday pay, sick pay and social security contributions to the attention of the Authority.
The cases, which are typical of the abuse faced by cross-border workers, include:
The European Commission has today adopted its ‘Renovation Wave’ strategy, which is designed to address the current low building decarbonisation and renovation rates of around 1% across the EU and tackle the underlying barriers for improving the energy efficiency of the EU building stock. Currently, roughly 75% of the building stock is energy inefficient, yet almost 80% of today’s buildings will still be in use in 2050. At the same time, more than 50 million European households suffer from energy poverty.
EU labour ministers meeting tomorrow are being urged to send a clear message to companies restructuring because of Covid that they must respect trade unions and workers’ right to a say in the process.
Major restructuring processes are ongoing in all sectors as a result of the Covid crisis and in many cases companies are flouting their workers’ rights to information, consultation and participation to business decision affecting their working conditions and employment.
Trade unions are launching a campaign for an EU law to tackle work-related stress amid a mental health crisis worsened by the lockdown.
Work-related stress had already become an epidemic before confinement, accounting for more than half of all working days lost in the EU. New Eurostat data shows one in three workers are always or often working under time pressure, a major cause of stress.
European trade unions are backing the European Parliament’s call on the Commission to ban unpaid internships and invest in quality jobs for young people amid soaring youth unemployment.
The proposal is part of a Parliament resolution passed today aimed at improving the European Commission’s weak proposal for a Reinforced Youth Guarantee.
The EU’s gender pay gap won’t be eliminated until the next century at the current pace of change, ETUC research shows amid a delay in promised European Commission action to end the scandal.
Eurostat data shows the EU gender pay gap has closed by 1% over the last eight years, which means women will be waiting for another 84 years to achieve equal pay if current trends continue.
Without binding pay equality measures to change the current trends, the ETUC also found: