Brussels, 29/04/2010 (Agence Europe) - The International Road Transport Union (IRU) has sharply criticised the vote held at the European Parliament employment and social affairs committee on Wednesday 28 April. This vote rejected the report by Edith Bauer (EPP, Slovakia) and supported the inclusion of self-employed drivers in the field of application of the directive on working time (EUROPE 10128). In a press release, the president of the IRU's EU goods transport liaison committee, Alexander Sakkers, stressed: “The rationale of working time legislation is to ensure that salaried workers are not forced to work more than they wish to. Since this is irrelevant for independent owner drivers, the road safety argument has been misused by some to encourage their inclusion at EU level. This is entirely unjustified, considering the extensive EU regulatory framework focusing on road safety”. During its plenary vote in June, the European Parliament is expected to make adjustments in an effort to avoid numerous job losses affecting self-employed drivers. MEPs should also stop misusing the argument about road safety in order to include self-employed drivers in the scope of the directive on working time, asserts the IRU. The latter warns against the risk that would occur if the draft directive were rejected. In addition to provisions on the work of the self-employed (which would include them in the scope of the directive), the proposal defines the measures that would put a stop to those forced to be self-employed and harmonise legislation on night working, explains the IRU. The organisation also argues that although it wants self-employed workers to be excluded from this directive, it does, nonetheless, want member states to have the opportunity of applying this text or not, on the condition that they consult the industry. (A.By./transl.fl)