The agreement between the European Parliament and the EU Council on Thursday 7 February on the Working Conditions Directive was generally welcomed by trade unions as “a step in the right direction”, even though they unanimously denounced the exclusion of many workers, particularly from the public sector.
As a reminder, the sealed agreement provides for the exclusion of all workers who have a contract of less than 12 hours per month (or 3 hours per week), but also of many public service trades (police, military, emergency services), while imposing an obligation on Member States to provide an objective justification to the European Commission for such exemptions (see EUROPE 12189).
This was a decision denounced by the unions. “This directive leads to the kind of unjustifiable discrimination between workers that the EU should be striving to prevent”, lamented the European Public Services Union (EPSU) in a press release, as it explained that public officials will not be treated in the same way from one Member State to another. The union wants to examine the next steps to avoid any abuse and intends to raise the issue with employers in the framework of sectoral social dialogue committees.
Similarly, the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CESI) bitterly regretted this point of the agreement, having based its hopes on the European Parliament's position. However, the trade union hopes that the obligation to justify any exemption may limit its use by Member States, particularly in terms of training.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) also deplored these exclusions, in addition to the many other shortcomings: - the absence of a ban on zero-hour contracts; - the lack of ambition in respect of the need for employers to respond to requests from employees seeking access to a more secure contractual form; - the transposition period of 3 years is deemed too long.
The Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU will present the content of the Interinstitutional Agreement to the Ambassadors on Friday 15 February. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)