Brussels, 25/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in plenary last week in Brussels, the European Economic and Social Committee adopted an opinion on "Working Conditions for Temporary Workers" (rapporterur: An Le Nouail-Marlière, Workers, France). The Committee considers that "the principle of non-discrimination in relation to a comparable worker in the user undertaking, which is fundamental, is
in danger of being eroded by exemptions that the Commission draft allows, notably in its article 5.4, regarding temporary workers on missions in user undertakings not exceeding six weeks". The Committee is not in favour of such an exemption, as "it rules out most temporary workers from implementation of the principle of non-discrimination". In fact, the Committee fears that, in some countries, this exemption should amount to depriving temporary workers of the protection provided by the principle of non-discrimination in relation to comparable workers the user undertakings. Yet, this protection is essential to ensure the legal security of temporary workers and not to undermine conventional systems setting the working and salary conditions of user undertakings.