Brussels, 28/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - The confirmation by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) of its decision to stop negotiating over temporary work (see EUROPE of 22 May, p.16) has given rise to real disappointment among European employers, who are disappointed that after three successful rounds of negotiations (on parental leave, part-time work and fixed term contracts), "we regret that it has not been possible to conclude a fourth agreement on temporary agency work but we would like to stress that this in no way places a question mark over UNICE's commitment to the European social dialogue" explained the European employers' organisation.
"The lack of flexibility on the part of the ETUC seems to indicate that the trade unions regard temporary work as a threat. Yet, this form of work responds to the needs of companies and workers alike. Temporary work currently represents around 1.5% of employment in Europe", commented Georges Jacobs, UNICE President. Mr Jacobs explained in a press release that European employers "have offered temporary agency workers legal protection against discrimination" and signals that the disagreement with the trade unions concerns "how a comparable worker is defined. The comparison can be made either with a worker in the user company or with a worker in the same temporary work agency. ETUC's insistence that the comparable worker in the user company should be the first point of reference is unjustified".
UEAPME (European Association of Craft and SMEs, UNICE's partner in the social dialogue) also disagrees with the ETUC definition of the comparable worker. In a press release, the UEAPME Secretary General, Hans-Werner Müller, said that "a European agreement could only be a framework agreement because of the diversity resulting from differences in national regulations", and that this "is even more justified in the case of temporary agency work, because of the triangular nature of the relationship between the temporary work agency, the worker and the use enterprise to which the worker is assigned for a specific task".