On Monday 10 July, the European Commission set up a new European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for the social services sector.
The aim of this new committee, which is based on the recent recommendation from the Council of the European Union on strengthening social dialogue (see EUROPE 13199/33), will be to guarantee better working conditions for more than 9 million active workers in a fast-growing sector (15.5% more workers in 10 years) which is addressing the increasing needs of Europe’s ageing population.
In June 2021, the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and the Federation of European Social Employers, the two social partners representing the sector, requested the creation of this committee.
Social dialogue and collective bargaining are “one of the most important solutions to the problems of low pay, strenuous working conditions, precarious employment and damaging gender stereotypes” that characterise the social sector, said Jan Willem Goudriaan, EPSU General Secretary, in a press release. According to Gregor Tomschizek, President of the Federation of European Social Employers, “to attract and retain skilled workers, we need to advance training and skills, improve working conditions” to make the sector more attractive.
View the Commission’s decision on the creation of the committee: https://aeur.eu/f/7zh; and the letter from the European Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, to the two social partners: https://aeur.eu/f/7zi (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)