15/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - Annemarie Muntz, president of Eurociett (which represents temporary work agencies at an EU level and brings together 21 national federations of private employment agencies and six companies like Adecco, Manpower, Vedior, Kelly Services, Randstad and USG People), was angered at hearing during the debate at the European Parliament on the “services directive”, Evelynne Gebhardt say that temporary work was modern slavery. Ms Muntz declared in a press release that, “this is a shocking insult to the 3 million temporary workers employed on a daily basis by temporary work agencies”. She added, “Workers are increasingly choosing greater flexibility in their working lives. Temporary agency work provides for greater job security and acts as a stepping stone into the labour market”. Muntz explained that in all EU Member States, temporary work agencies were well regulated by national legislation and/or collective agreements and that the temporary job sector is recognised as a social partner in the context of the European social dialogue. She stated that temporary work played a key role in improving fluidity and the effective functioning of the labour market, which had also been recognised by the Kok Group report in 2003 and by the ILO and ETUC. The press statement notes that according to a study published in 2005 by Kings College London, temporary workers are often happier and healthier than permanent workers. For example, 29% of temporary workers consider that they are overworked compared to 41% of permanent workers and 11% declare that they are depressed due to their work compared to 21% of permanent employees.