21.05.2008

EAY:n kanta ja tiedote vuokratyö- ja työaikadirektiiveistä

Palkansaajajärjestöjen EU-edustuston tiedote 20.5.2008

Euroopan ammatillinen yhteisjärjestö EAY arvioi, että työmarkkinaosapuolten välillä Iso-Britanniassa aikaan saatu sopimus edistää vuokratyödirektiivin läpimenoa kesäkuun työministereiden neuvostossa. TUC:n käynnistämä kampanja ja ay-liikkeen kantoja tukeneiden työväenpuolueen kansanedustajien painostus Gordon Brownin hallitusta kohtaan saivat myös aikaan sen, että hallitus eilen ilmoitti laittavansa osapuolten sopimuksen täytäntöön ja tukevansa vuokratyödirektiivin läpimenoa.

EAY ei hyväksy, että vuokratyödirektiivin ja työaikadirektiivin käsittelyä kytketään yhteen. Kytkystä ei ole odotettavissa mitään hyvää kummankaan direktiivin osalta. EAY:n mielestä vuokratyödirektiivistä tulisi saada ratkaisu 9.6.2008 neuvostossa. Työaikadirektiivin osalta valmistelua tulisi jatkaa, jotta direktiivimuutokset eivät heikentäisi työaikasuojelua.

Iso-Britannian kolmikantasopimusta on lähemmin käsitelty edustuston tiedotteessa 19.5.2008. EAY:n kirje jäsenjärjestöille ja tiedote ovat alla.

EAY on osaltaan tukenut sovun etsimistä Iso-Britannian osapuolten välillä edellyttäen, että lopputulos ei vaikuta kielteisesti vuokratyöntekijöiden asemaan muissa EU:n jäsenmaissa. EAY toivoo, että komissio ja ministerineuvosto ottavat tämän EAY:n kannan huomioon.

EAY tavoittelee nyt, että esitystä vuokratyödirektiiviksi muutetaan vuokratyöntekijöiden yhdenvertaisen aseman turvaamiseksi seuraavalla tavalla:

- yhdenvertaisen kohtelun periaatetta tulee soveltaa heti vuokratyöntekijän ensimmäisestä työpäivästä lähtien;
- periaatteesta voitaisiin kuitenkin poiketa sopimalla asiasta työehtosopimuksella (tämä koskee myös kynnysaikojen käyttöönottoa);
- niissä jäsenmaissa, joissa ei ole yleissitovien työehtosopimusten tai vastaavaa järjestelmää, periaatteesta voitaisiin poiketa valtakunnallisten työmarkkinajärjestöjen tekemällä sopimuksella.

EAY suhtautuu kriittisesti komission ehdottamiin työaikadirektiivin muutoksiin päivystysaikojen, työajan tasoittumisjakson pidentämismenettelyn ja korvaavien lepoaikojen osalta. EAY myös vetoaa ministerineuvoston jäseniin, että opt put järjestelmää rajoitettaisiin eikä hyväksyttäisi Iso-Britannian pyrkimystä jäädä 48 tunnin enimmäisviikkotyöajaikaa koskevan sääntelyn ulkopuolelle. EAY viittaa Belgian, Espanjan, Italian, Kyproksen. Luxemburgin, Portugalin, Ranskan ja Unkarin tekemiin muutosehdotuksiin aiemmassa neuvostokäsittelyssä.

--
Jorma Rusanen
Director
The Finnish Trade Unions Representation to the EU
FinUnions (KEY-Finland)
Boulevard du Roi Albert II, 5
B-1210 Brussels - Belgium
Tel +32 2 201 06 81; +32 2 203 12 38 (direct)
Fax +32 2 203 11 37
Mobile +358 40 5485661; +32 479 95 21 49
jrusanen@fin.etuc.org / www.finunions.org

ETUC's letter:

TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES AND WORKING TIME

Note by the General Secretary and Catelene Passchier

1. This communication reports on progress made in the UK to regulate temporary agencies. It should clear the way for the implementation of the long awaited Temporary Agency Worker Directive at European level. We also report on the position of the proposed revised Working Time Directive.

Background

2. The proposed Temporary Agency Worker Directive which aims to ensure equality for agency workers with regular workers has been blocked for over a decade by a small group of governments including the UK, Germany and Ireland. (Germany has an agreement with the UK on aspects of social policy and Ireland has not wanted to regulate its labour market more than the UK for competitiveness reasons). The UK has therefore been the key to progress on
this question.

3. The UK has been under considerable pressure recently both at European level and domestically. Under the Portuguese Presidency, a number of governments (including Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Hungary and Cyprus) signalled their determination to implement the proposed directive. Ultimately, no vote was taken but the UK were in effect given notice that they could well lose a vote in the near future on the issue.

4. In the UK, a strong TUC campaign and pressure from union supported Labour MPs also pushed the UK for action to implement an agreement already made with the Labour Party on temporary agency workers.

The UK Agreement

5. That campaign has now been successful. On Tuesday, May 19, the UK Government agreed with the TUC and the CBI (the central employers body) its approach on temporary agency work and in the light of that, it signalled that it would be seeking to support the proposed Directive.

6. A copy of this short agreement is attached. Perhaps the main point is that there will be a qualifying period for UK temps of 12 weeks. It is estimated that this will make 75 per cent of temporary agency workers in the UK eligible for equal treatment.

The ETUCs Approach

7. The ETUCs approach has been to encourage the conclusion of an agreement in the UK provided that agreement did not undermine or dilute the position of agency workers in other EU countries. We are satisfied that this is also the intent of the Commission and the Council of Ministers.

8. The aim now is to amend the text of the draft directive to provide for the following:

- equality for temporary agency workers from day 1
- but derogations (including qualifying periods) can be introduced by collective bargaining
- and in states where there is no system of declaring collective agreements universally applicable or otherwise extend the application of collective agreements, derogations (including qualifying periods) can be introduced by a negotiated agreement between the national social partners.

9. Provided the amendment bases any derogation from equality from day 1 on the need for agreements between the social partners at national level, this should lead to a satisfactory outcome for the ETUC. We are in touch with the Slovenian Presidency and the Commission about the text of an amendment and we will keep you informed on these talks.

10. The aim of the Commission and the Presidency is to secure agreement at the Council of Ministers on June 9.

Working Time Directive

11. Less welcome is the determination of the Commission and a majority of member states to secure agreement on the revised Working Time Directive on June 9. The revision deals with the question of on-call working where 25 member states are currently in breach of the Working Time Directive. It also proposes that the UK opt out from the normal upper limit on weekly working time of 48 hours be continued indefinitely. There are helpful amendments on the table on this latter point from a group of governments including Spain, Italy, Belgium, France, Hungary, Portugal, Cyprus and Luxembourg, seeking to put pressure on the UK to tighten the conditions for the opt out and to compel a further review of it in future.

12. The ETUC is writing to all member states supporting the amendments to the Working Time Directive from these countries and calling on the Council of Ministers to secure their inclusion in the final text. We are reiterating our demands to improve the texts on the conditions for introducing long reference periods, and strengthening the rigthts to flexible working and reconciliation for workers. We have also made clear our concerns about the actions proposed
on on-call working.

13. The Governments most friendly to us on these questions (the ones listed above) have linked pressure on the UK to make progress on temporary agency work with concessions to the UK on working time. We have made no such link and have dealt with each issue separately. It is important to stress that the agreement in the Council would be the final step after the first reading in both dossiers, clearing the way for the second reading in the EP. Both dossiers are co-decision, and therefore the EP still has an important role to play.

Conclusion

14. We are urging the Council of Ministers to break the linkage and to
- approve the Temporary Agency Worker Directive (subject to the ETUC being satisfied about the final text);
- take full amount of our position on on-call working, reference periods and reconciliation in relation to the Working Time Directive; and
- oppose the UK position on the opt-out from the Working Time Directive by supporting amendments on this issue.

If you have any questions and comments on these points, please let us know. In the meantime, please discuss the issues with your Governments and social partners to check the impact of these developments on your own countries.

John Monks Catelene Passchier
General Secretary Confederal Secretary

TEMPORARY AGENCY WORKERS AND WORKING TIME
Brussels, 21 May 2008

Commenting on the agreement between the British Government, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Confederation of British Industry (CBI) reached in the UK yesterday on equality for temporary agency workers, John Monks, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), said:

This is good news for millions of temps in Europe, not just in the UK. It clears the way for a new EU Directive, based on the principle of equal treatment from day one, with possibilities to derogate only by collective agreement or by agreement between the social partners at national level.
I hope that the Directive will now be agreed quickly. We continue to press our opposition to the UKs continuing determination to retain its opt-out from the Working Time Directive and to express our concerns on other aspects of the proposed revision of this Directive.

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