IR Notes

The European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs was due to elect its select committee and its presidency at a second inaugural meeting, held in the evening of 15 July, in Brussels. However, as with the meeting held on 10 July, the sole application for the post of Chair of the Committee, which was from MEP and former Polish Prime Minister, Beata Szydło (European Conservatives and Reformists – the ‘ECR’ Group), was rejected. This time the margin of rejection was even greater than on 10 July, with 34 votes against, 19 in favour and two abstentions. The Socialists and Democrats Group had asked for voting to take place in the form of a secret ballot, because there were reasonable doubts regarding the candidate. “She has been, and still is, the high-level representative of a party which, in recent years, has either blocked or undermined social progress for workers within the EU, and which is also conducting itself in a very problematic way as regards the rule of law”, emphasises Gabriele Bischoff (S&D), MEP and member of the new Committee. Several MEPs clearly stated that they did not intend to allow the far right to chair the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. A further vote will have to be organised in the coming days. Social affairs have also been addressed within the framework of the process of approval by Parliament of the candidate put forward by Member States for the post of President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. When questioned by Socialists and Democrats MEPs, the candidate set out her intentions, in the field of social affairs, in the form of a letter. Her main plans are as follows: 1° the creation of a just transition fund to help those most affected, so that “we will leave no one behind as we move forward”; 2° the introduction of a European Unemployment Benefit Reinsurance Scheme, to help Member States’ public employment services cope with a rise in unemployment associated with an external shock; 3° taking the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals into account in the economic policy coordination exercise that is the European Semester; 4° an action plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights, which would include in particular the creation of a fair minimum wage, so that all workers can enjoy a decent living in the country they work in; improving the working conditions of platform workers and “revitalising the anti-discrimination directive”. As far as gender equality is concerned, she plans to relaunch a strategy that should provide for binding measures in terms of wage transparency, and quotas to ensure a balanced representation of both men and women on company boards.

Preventive restructuring : Directive 2019/1023 of 20 June 2019 on preventive restructuring frameworks, on discharge of debt and disqualifications (…) appeared in the OJEU of 26 June. The directive seeks to harmonise national legislations and procedures concerning preventive restructuring, insolvency and discharge of debt. Article 13, which is specifically aimed at workers, calls on Member States to ensure “that individual and collective workers’ rights, under Union and national labour law, are not affected by the provisions of this directive. States should also ensure that employees’ representatives are given access to relevant and up-to-date information regarding the availability of early warning tools (recital 23), and it should also be possible for them to provide support to employees’ representatives in assessing the economic situation of the debtor” (recital 23). The content of restructuring plans must specify “the arrangements with regard to informing and consulting the employees’ representatives in accordance with Union and national law” (Art. 8, g) iii) and “where applicable, overall consequences as regards employment such as dismissals, short-time working arrangements or similar” (Art. 8, g) iv).

• Work-life balance : Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Directive 2010/18/EU on parental leave has been published in the OJEU. Member States have until 2 August 2022 to transpose this text. (see IR Notes no. 112).

A Social Europe, as seen by the employers : On 26 June, BusinessEurope, which is the principal employers’ organisation at European level, published a document on the future of the social dimension in Europe, setting out its vision of what a social Europe should look like, with a view to promoting it to the European institutions at the time of their renewal. The most recent position paper of this kind is now five years old. The document advocates enhanced coordination of employment and social protection policies “working together with the trade unions”; improving the effectiveness of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) by offering to set up two consultative committees dealing with employment and social protection, on which representatives of governments, of the European Commission and of the European social partners would sit; making an effort at all levels to boost the working population, especially in order to address the labour and skills shortages that are a matter of increasing concern to employers; a respect for the autonomy of the social partners and a heightened effort to strengthen the social dialogue and the social partners in countries where these are ineffective.

• Feminisation of the rail sector : On 4 July, the European social partners in the rail sector (CER and ETF) decided to enter into negotiations for an autonomous agreement to establish binding minimum standards for measures to improve the integration and participation of women in the rail industry. The aim is to increase the proportion of women workers employed in rail companies and improve their working conditions (see ETF press release).

• Digitalisation in the social services : On 6 June, the European social partners in the social services sector (EPSU and FESE), adopted a Joint Position Paper on Digitalisation, setting out an “Assessment of Opportunities and Challenges”. On 27 June, the partners also organised a conference on social services in Europe, with the aim of securing the European Commission’s agreement for the creation of a European social dialogue committee dedicated to this sector. A joint letter has been officially dispatched to the Commission, requesting the creation of this committee (see press release issued by EPSU and FESE).

• A minimum wage for apprentices : The government has decided to guarantee a minimum wage for apprentices (if a collective agreement does not already stipulate this). It will apply to new contracts signed from 1 January 2020 onwards. In the first instance, the remuneration for year one of their training will be 515 euros per month, and this figure will gradually rise to 620 euros in 2023. During the course of an apprenticeship, the minimum wage paid will rise by 18% in year two, by 35% in year three and by 40% in year four (see press release).

• Reform of the employment market : Parliament has passed a law aimed at achieving a balanced employment market (Wet arbeidsmarkt in balans). It will come into force on 1 January 2020, and is intended to reduce the gap that currently exists between flexible forms of employment and full-time open-ended contracts. The law provides for redundancy money to be paid regardless of the term of a contract of employment (at the present time, redundancy money becomes payable after two years’ service). Employers will have to pay higher unemployment insurance contributions for employees who are on flexible contracts than those payable for employees on permanent contracts. Another change worthy of note is the introduction of cumulative grounds for dismissal, i.e. combining several grounds which, on their own, are insufficient to justify termination of a contract of employment (whereas currently, one single serious reason is required).
  > To find out more, see the Labour Law Flash report May 2019 published by the European Commission.

Boosting skills : We have published on our website the new European Works Council Agreement of the DS Smith group, which was previously reported in IR Notes 112. This is one of the most comprehensive agreements ever signed in recent years. The European Works Council covers the whole of Europe (and not just the EU). Several appendices to the agreement set out the roles and duties of the various actors involved – such as the EWC Health & Safety Workstream Lead, whose job is to head up a network of national ambassadors responsible for this area – and of the sub-committees set up to represent the group’s various businesses and geographical regions – and to tackle specific subjects, such as diversity. The select committee meets 12 times a year and is entitled to issue opinions and to set up working parties.

Launch of a global forum : As provided for at the time of the revision of the Agreement on the Airbus SE-Works Council in place at Airbus SE (see IR Notes 106), on 20 and 21 June, the European aerospace group organised the first meeting of the Airbus Global Forum, with the aim of initiating an international social dialogue with employee representatives from the various global geographical zones established within the group, on the basis of two representatives per region (see Airbus SE Works Council press release). Members must come from sites that employ at least 500 people and must have either a trade union mandate or an employee representative’s mandate. In total, 16 members took part in this new forum, which will meet once a year.

A socially innovative and disruptive agreement : On 9 July, the management of the car maker Renault (181,000 employees) and the trade unions represented on the select committee of the Renault Group Works Council, together with the IndustriAll Global Union federation, signed a Global framework agreement on developing life at work entitled “Building the World of Work Together at Renault Group”. It supplements the Group’s first Global framework agreement on social, societal and environmental responsibility, signed in 2013. The agreement marks a step towards the construction of an international social dialogue, as it tackles a number of topics that were completely absent from previous agreements. The group promises “to create the conditions ensuring that employees can identify and acquire the competences that are indispensable for the development of their automotive job and their employability.” The agreement defines how management will operate and invites each employee to “contribute to an ambiance of working life that is positive and respectful of everyone”. It also covers the layout of work spaces and the food offered in the workplace. The agreement proposes the implementation, at local level, of “programmes allowing employees to donate their days off to colleagues whose children or spouses are facing illness or a disability or are victims of a particularly serious accident”. The group aims to offer “more tailored working options that give them more freedom to organise their activities, reduce daily commuting, and take account of personal and family constraints.” It seeks to develop “tailored working hours arrangements” and entitles employees “to choose whether or not to connect [to the company’s network] outside of their usual working schedule and during their leave”. “During these same periods”, the signatories add, “they are not required to respond to any emails or phone calls they receive and should do their best to limit their own messages and calls to emergency situations” linked to the security of employees and/or customers. Lastly, the agreement provides “a binding legal basis for future local agreements, which must comply with the principles and commitments laid out in this agreement.” This is an important provision in terms of efforts to make the agreement effective (see press releases issued by IndustriAll and the Renault group).

Publications on trade unionism : During the first six months of 2019, Germany’s Friedrich-Ebert Foundation published a number of interesting publications examining the Trade Unions in Germany (in English); the Trade Unions in Turkey (in German); Posted workers regulations as a cohesion test in the enlarged European Union (in English), and a paper on “Trade Unions in Transformation“, describing, in the form of 25 success stories, how trade unions have innovated and how they were successful in their struggles or have embarked in a promising strategic direction.