Brussels, 25/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - During the campaign launched on 20 February in Brussels by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) demanding more purchasing power and more equality in the EU (EUROPE 9605), the ETUC secretary general denounced the appeals for wage restraint made by the ECB and said that it was “shocked by high wage rises and bonuses certain bosses give themselves and who are not always good examples of good corporate governance”. John Monks declared that it was not the workers on average or minimum wages that should pay for the others. He referred to a campaign poster showing that the 20 highest paid bosses earned 300 times more than the average European worker and recommended that Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the ECB address the boardrooms of the big companies when he called for wage restraint.
In a reply to journalists, John Monks announced that: 1) the setting up of car company production in less expensive countries meant that Europe was losing jobs but workers from these countries were coming to Europe. He said that the behaviour of these countries had to be checked and that he wanted the revision of the European Works Committees (EWC) to be rapidly implemented (EUROPE 9605). 2) There is a degree of frustration when we see what is being done in the social chapter in Brussels. He pointed out that one of themes in the speeches is “what social Europe?” He also affirmed that there had not been any improvement at all in this area since the 2001 directive on information-consultation of workers, and that the idea of a social Europe had been abandoned in a car park. Monks said that they had not been surprised by the emergence of Euro-scepticism in many countries because social Europe had not developed as fast as “liberal Europe”. He added that the president of the European Commission and his team had realised that social Europe was badly off, given that they had proposed the re-examination of the EWC directive. He also criticised the fact that Nokia had moved to Romania without consulting its EWC. He clearly indicated that ETUC wanted more efficient EWCs that would naturally make company boardrooms more honest. Mr Monks said that they could not stop companies relocating, but had to put pressure on companies to keep certain activities and act responsibly. John Monks concluded that if Europe wanted to be popular it had to breathe some life into social progress. He explained that the French presidency of the EU would be at their side and the European Commission already had the advantage of the past in pointing out that corporate Europe is increasingly less responsible than in the past. (G.B.)