Brussels, 26/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - The draft directive adopted by the European Commission last week aiming to give temporary workers equal rights and treatment (see EUROPE of 21 March, p.11) has been criticised by employers, who in the words of UNICE President George Jacobs, see it as "ill-conceived". Mr Jacobs said "What the Commission proposes is a bad compromise, which could lead to unnecessary bureaucracy, legal uncertainty and hamper job creation. We launch an appeal to the Council and the European Parliament to find a simpler and more balanced solution."
In a press release, UNICE said that the Commission's text imposes comparison with a worker in the user company as the first point of reference and only allows comparing of terms and conditions of employment within the agency as a derogation and sees the proposed solution as unjustified and unnecessarily complicated. UNICE argues the two existing possibilities should be put on an equal footing at the European level (comparing a temporary worker's conditions with a worker in the user company or a worker of the same agency) "to allow Member States, through legislation, or social partners, through collective agreements, to decide freely whether the comparison should be made with a worker in the user company or with a worker of the same agency". UNICE points out that temporary work currently accounts for around 1.5% of employment in Europe.
As far as the European Confederation of Trade Unions (ETUC) is concerned, the Commission's decision to put forward a directive on temporary work is a good idea. ETUC Secretary General Emilio Gabaglio said that President Prodi and Commissioner Diamantopoulou had shown determination in presenting the initiative, with the Commission assuming its political responsibilities according to the Treaty, giving a clear signal to people who want to modernise through deregulation that they must not jeopardise social rights.
In a letter to the Financial Times on 25 March correcting a report on the directive, Mr Gabaglio explained that the ETUC opposed the 6 week protection threshold proposed by the Commission for temporary workers since "the current Commission's proposal would exclude workers with assignments of less than six weeks from equal treatment… Such a derogation is not acceptable to the ETUC. It is unfair and unnecessary and will introduce even more discrimination into the labour market. Some employment conditions are in any case based on seniority and in this respect temporary workers are already less likely to meet threshold requirements for particular benefits. Business should stop whingeing and accept that they have to treat all their workers fairly".