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TUC Welcomes New European Plans For Workers' Rights

Welcoming the announcement by the European Commission of a Renewed Social Agenda today (Wednesday) TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

"This new package of measures shows that Europe still matters to working people and has something to offer on rights at work and equality. Its major shortcoming is that it doesn't go far enough to protect workers from European Court of Justice decisions that undercut workers' rights.

As the recent Irish referendum showed, voters won't buy a Europe that only works for business - they want a people's Europe not just an ever larger common market. This is a welcome return to Europe's role in delivering better rights for working people, although it is only a start and more needs to be done.

We welcome the steps forward on equality, on giving people more of a say over their work, on agency workers' rights and on ratifying ILO conventions. And the commitments to promoting green jobs, skills and social solidarity are positive moves, although we will judge the Commission on how far these words are put into practice.

But Europe needs to do better on working time, giving workers a say when their employer is restructuring, and making sure improving patients' rights doesn't undermine the NHS. We will be pressing for improvements to these directives in the European Parliament."

The European Commission of a Renewed Social Agenda includes:

  • plans for new European legislation on workplace democracy (European Works Councils);
  • the Temporary Agency Workers Directive unblocked last month by a TUC-CBI deal with the UK Government;
  • a directive on equal treatment in access to goods and services (giving new rights to disabled people, older people and - thanks to last minute lobbying by unions and others - LGBT communities);
  • revisions to the Working Time Directive (which the TUC is concerned will not stop the upward drift in working time);
  • an encouragement to ratify all up-to-date International Labour Organisation conventions; and
  • other proposals for programmes not requiring legislation, to address challenges such as lifelong learning, child poverty, and creating green jobs.
    Source: TUC



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