Brussels, 07/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - If structural and youth unemployment are of particular concern within the EU, we are also facing another “alarming trend”: the rise in precarious work, declared Commissioner László Andor, who is responsible for employment, social affairs and inclusion, at the meeting of the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism (EFFAT), on Thursday 3 November. “The current economic crisis means that European leaders are dealing with the dual pressures of rising unemployment and fiscal consolidation but we must remember that it is not only those outside work who suffer from poverty”, because “quality of jobs is also an important issue”, he stressed, according to a press release issued by EFFAT.
Although the general observation that precarious work is a threat not only to the food sector, but also to the employment market as a whole, was shared by all those who attended, questions over the sources of this phenomenon and policies to be set in place to deal with it revealed significant differences of opinion. In the view of EFFAT secretary general, Harald Wiedenhofer, “one of the main reasons for poverty in Europe is the segmentation of the labour market and the increase of atypical work contracts” which leads to situations of discrimination between workers. The existence of several categories of contracts was something that Commissioner Andor considered could be “helpful for workers from various backgrounds to find permanent jobs at a later stage”. “Difference is not always discrimination”, he said, adding that “we have to see if the existence of certain contracts creates a dynamic which gives cause for concern”. (JK/transl.fl)