Brussels, 08/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - Unice (European employers) announced on 8 March its decision to propose to the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) to negotiate a legally non-binding agreement on telework. "Telework is a way of working, not a legal status. It is not a theme for regulation at EU level but we think that voluntary negotiations could held develop telework in Europe. Unice therefore decided that there was no reason to wait for the second consultation of the European Commission to make its decision known," George Jacobs, Unice President stressed, hoping that "ETUC will give a positive reply to our offer".
ETUC General Secretary, Emilio Gabaglio reacted by saying that, for ETUC, "an agreement on telework has to be binding for the signatory social partners at European and national levels, even if it is the result of voluntary negotiations".
You may recall that some 7 million European employees (or 4.5% of the work force, compared to 13% in the United States) regularly work at a distance from their employers, using information technologies.