Brussels, 22/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - MEPs from the EPP and S&D groups have organised the first European conference on the “Protection of a Work-free Sunday” in Brussels on Wednesday 24 March. The conference will adopt a call on the European working time directive, and all that surrounds it, including the need to keep Sunday as a day of rest for workers' health. This call will be submitted to heads of state and government on Thursday 25 March, at the summit in Brussels, by deputy chairman of the EP employment and social affairs committee Thomas Mann (EPP, Germany).
Among those taking part in the conference, in addition to Mann, are Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Commissioner László Andor, Vice-President of the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) Ingrid Sehrbrock, Bishop Dr Ludwig Schwarz SDB (Diocese of Linz), and MEPs Csaba Öry (EPP, Hungary), Richard Falbr (S&D, Czech Republic), Nathalie Griesbeck (ALDE, France), Philippe Lamberts (Greens, Belgium) and Ilda Figueireido (GUE/NGL, Portugal), and representatives of several national trade unions.
In a press release, the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) states that health encompasses not only the physical, but also the mental health of workers. More than any other day of the week, a work-free Sunday is absolutely vital for workers' health. It provides an escape from the stresses of work, lets workers enjoy family and social life and, so, achieve a better work/life balance, and offers the opportunity to develop spiritually. Sunday, COMECE says, is of unparalleled importance for workers' social, cultural, sporting and other activities in civil society. “Without a free Sunday, there is no free weekend,” it points out. Given this, it can come as no surprise that Sunday working encourages worker burn-out and brings significant pressures that are detrimental to workers' health, resulting in depression and higher rates of absenteeism, COMECE argues, referring to a number of studies and investigations that have been carried out. (G.B./transl.rt)