On Thursday 30 April, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) urged EU labour ministers to adopt “an ambitious traineeships directive”.
With trilogue negotiations due to resume on 5 May, expectations are low on the part of the European Parliament, which continues to regret a lack of commitment on the part of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 13845/11) and is already thinking of delaying to a potentially more active Irish Presidency, according to sources.
Even an agreement on the agenda for the talks on Tuesday 5 May was difficult to reach.
In this context, the ETUC wants to keep up the pressure on the Member States and this flagship text for social Europe. “The numbers do not lie. Across Europe, the majority of trainees face precarious working conditions, insecurity, and, too often, exploitation as they transition from education to the labour market”.
The ETUC points out that “There are 3.1 million young people doing traineeships and half of them are unpaid. Many of those traineeships are abusive, replacing a need for employment contract. The majority of the Member States do not have any regulation on traineeships, allowing the legal loophole for employers to use young people as cheap or even unpaid labour”.
The directive on traineeships therefore “now presents a unique opportunity to finally address this unfair situation and deliver meaningful change for young people. We are at a decisive moment. The upcoming trilogue negotiations must lead to real progress — progress that ensures a level playing field across Member States and delivers tangible improvements for young workers trapped in an endless cycle of bogus traineeships”.
Link to the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/lrf (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)