Unions push for laws to protect ‘atypical’ workers

Date: 07/03/1996

EUROPEAN trade unions are urging the Commission to push for EU rules to protect part-time and fixed-contract workers.

But as the Commission prepares to launch the second stage of consultation on 'atypical' work, the employers' federation UNICE remains less enthusiastic.

In its response to the Commission's initial submission on the subject, UNICE states clearly “that European legislation is not necessary”.

Attempts by the Commission to legislate on the question date back to the early 1980s. Ministers adopted a directive on health and safety for temporary workers in June 1991, but attempts to persuade member states to agree on two other proposals on atypical work were abandoned in December 1994 and the issue was referred to the social partners.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) executive committee is due to meet today (7 March) to formulate guidelines with which to go into stage two of the process outlined in the Social Protocol.

“The employers don't want to negotiate on social security for atypical workers, which is an essential element for us. We share the Commission's broad-based approach, but think it needs to be extended even further to cover seasonal work, home work and teleworking,” said a spokesman.

The ETUC believes EU-wide laws would reduce insecurity in the labour market, eliminate the risk of distortions of competition and combat indirect discrimination, particularly against women, who make up 82&percent; of the part-time workforce.

But UNICE claims the Union should concentrate on allowing companies sufficient flexibility to react to market developments, while protecting employees and promoting job creation. It argues the Commission should focus on stimulating national agreements between the social partners.

UNICE rejects the Commission's argument that the lack of EU rules distorts competition and says it would be impossible to draw up a satisfactory set of rules to cover all types of part-time, fixed-term and temporary work.

But a senior UNICE official stressed that the federation had yet to make any final decision. “UNICE will first see whether the Commission is determined to go ahead with legislation. If so, we will have to discuss the issue and come back with our response, probably in June. We'll only go into the consultation process if there's a genuine chance of getting a better deal for companies than through the normal legislative channels,” he stressed.