Austria puts protection of workers’ rights at top of the liberalisation agenda

Date: 10/09/1998

By Renée Cordes

THE Austrian presidency of the EU is calling for a shift in the Union's transport policy to give greater priority to protecting jobs and working conditions.

Vienna will press for further market-opening measures to be accompanied by legally binding social regulations, such as those governing working hours, at an informal meeting of EU transport ministers in Feldkirch next week (15-16 September).

A policy paper prepared for the meeting argues that liberalising the road-freight, rail and aviation markets is "both a threat and a challenge for employees and therefore has to be accompanied by an adequate social framework".

But it is bound to be greeted with suspicion by some EU governments amid fears that such proposals will be used by opponents of free transport markets to hinder the already sluggish pace of rail liberalisation.

The initiative from Austrian Transport Minister Caspar Einem comes in the wake of this week's unprecedented day-long seven-country truckers' strike protesting against excessively long working hours.

"We appreciate very much that it is on the agenda of the informal meeting," said Sabine Trier, spokeswoman for the 3-million-strong Federation of Transport Workers' Unions in the EU. "We see it as an awareness on the part of the Council of Ministers."

In his policy paper, Einem argues that opening up Europe's transport industry to competition must be accompanied by a framework for social conditions.

"When productivity pressure is increasing, social standards are becoming, at the same time, a competitive instrument to the debit of the employee," he warns. "Harmonisation must take place on a level as high as possible also because the working conditions of those employed in the transport sector have a direct effect on the quality of performance and safety in transport."

While stopping short of making specific recommendations, Einem advocates a regular and extensive audit of the whole transport sector.

This "market surveillance system" would compare traffic levels, prices and costs of different types of transport. Should the results point to "undesirable" developments, such as increasing railway and declining road-haulage costs, transport ministers would be in a position to introduce new measures to combat them.

"That is very much in line with the kind of policy we are promoting," said Sarah Finke, spokeswoman for the International Transport Workers' Federation, which organised this week's pan-European strike. "We want the EU to look at the external costs of transport and recognise that pure liberalisation is not always appropriate for a public service industry."

However, Austria stresses that it is not opposed to liberalisation. In the long run, says Einem, opening up Europe's transport sector will lead to further job growth.

"Market opening and intensified competition offer opportunities to gain market shares, to develop new business fields and thus to create more employment," says the paper.

Einem recommends the establishment of national and Europe-wide "incentive systems" for transport firms to encourage them to redeploy rather than sack staff. Between 1990 and 1995, the railways alone shed 27% of their staff, according to the paper.

At next week's meeting, Austria will also press ministers to harmonise technical regulations and standards such as those governing rail gauges, vehicle types, signalling and safety measures on the railways. It claims that while technical harmonisation has been completed for high-speed trains, regulations governing equipment for new and extended routes of conventional, non-high speed rail services are also needed.

The Austrian Presidency of the EU is calling for a shift in the EU's transport policy to give greater priority to protecting jobs and working conditions.