Brussels, 22/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - There is a ray of hope for the millions of temporary workers in Europe. The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) to be held on 9 June, in Luxembourg, could, if all goes well, approve a compromise that will be presented by the Slovenian EU Presidency on the package for adjusting working hours and temporary work, which has been in stalemate for years At the origin of this gleam of hope is the agreement concluded and endorsed by the British government on Tuesday 20 May in the United Kingdom, between British social partners, the TUC (Trade Union Congress) and the CBI (Confederation of British Industry, employers). According to the agreement, temporary workers will be entitled to the same rights as permanent staff, after having worked for 12 weeks in the hiring company. On the European side, trade unions and small and medium-sized enterprises (UEAPME) welcomed the agreement which augurs well for follow-up on the dossier at European level. Employers (BusinessEurope) join their affiliate CBI, which describes the agreement as the lesser of two evils compared to the risk of having “damaging legislation from Brussels”.
Reacting immediately to the news, the Slovenian EU Presidency said: “Developments in the United Kingdom are encouraging for the work of the Presidency on this dossier. Agency Workers and Working Times directives have been put on the EPSCO agenda of 9 June (in Luxembourg) as possible items. Over the next few days, the Slovenian Presidency will be working on a compromise proposal. We will try to strike a balance within each of the directives and also between the two. We intend to build upon the Portuguese Presidency's achievements and will therefore discuss the two directives as a package”. Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla, who also welcomed the agreement, said the agreement is a “milestone for social dialogue in the United Kingdom and an important step towards fair treatment of agency workers both in the United Kingdom and in Europe. I hope it paves the way to conclude an agreement on the EU Agency Workers Directive in the Council on 9 June”.
Immediately after TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, who described the agreement as a “victory” by the TUC-led campaign, the general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), John Monks (who, we recall, regularly called on Labour ministers to put pressure on their colleagues to stop blocking European legislation for protecting temporary workers - see EUROPE 9555), said: “This is good news for millions of 'temps' in Europe, not just in the UK. It clears the way for a new EU Directive, based on the principle of equal treatment from day one, wi h possibilities to derogate only by collective agreement or by agreement between the social partners at national level”. John Monks hopes the directive will now be adopted rapidly. He pointed out that the ETUC will continue to “press our opposition to the UK's continuing determination to retain its opt-out from the Working Time Directive and to express our concerns on other aspects of the proposed revision of this directive”.
On the employers' side, CBI Deputy Director General John Cridland, supported by his organisation BusinessEurope, said “there has been a major risk of damaging legislation coming from Brussels, and the CBI has judged that the government's proposals represent the least worst outcome available for British business”. The European Union for Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (UEAPME) also welcomed the British agreement on temporary work, saying: “We hope it will help in unlocking the stalemate at European level on this very important and sensitive topic. We feel that the terms of the agreement are balanced, reasonable and fit in the flexicurity discussions recently started at EU level, by providing a good equilibrium between flexicurity and security”. The secretary general of the CEEP (enterprises with public participation), Rainer Plassmann, said: “We must be careful not to assume that the UK agreement on temporary agency workers will be enough to achieve European agreement on both these issues”. He called on the EPSCO Council of 9 June to “seize this opportunity to reach a sustainable agreement on both matters which would protect workers, while at the same time giving flexibility to employers to deliver services”.
British Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform John Hutton said for his part: “This is the right deal for Britain. Today's agreement achieves our twin objectives of flexibility for British employers and fairness for workers. It will give people a fair deal at work without putting their jobs at risk or cutting off a valuable route into employment”.
The Portuguese EU Presidency had not managed, during the EPSCO Council in December 2007, to have a political agreement adopted on the working hours and temporary work package (EUROPE 9559). (G.B.)