IR Notes

The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, on 27 October presented the Commission work programme for 2016 (see press release). Apart from “initiatives on better migration management”, the programme contains a major social component, with a “new skills agenda for Europe” and “a new start for working parents”. As indicated by an annex, outlining the 23 initiatives that will be taken, this will comprise a “set of legislative and non-legislative measures to better address the challenges of work-life balance faced by working parents and support the participation of women in the labour market”. The programme also puts forward a key measure announced by Jean-Claude Juncker, a “pillar of social rights as part of a deepening of economic and monetary union” which, according to the annex, “will address gaps in existing legislation and identify common principles and reference benchmarks with a view to a greater convergence of employment and social performance over time”. The programme envisages a review of the quality of current EU legislation (REFIT initiatives) including in particular: 1/ REACH legislation (protection against exposure to chemical products); 2/ health and safety legislation, with a view to making sure it is “workable and will be enforced”; 3/ directive 2008/106 on the training of seafarers. A further annex states the “priority pending proposals” intended to speed up the work of the parliament and the council, such as the proposed directive on the presence of women on boards or the decision establishing a European platform on undeclared work. “It is far from clear what is concretely proposed, but some of the commitments are at least encouraging,” commented the new general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation Luca Visentini (See ETUC press release). BusinessEurope did not publish a press release on the new work programme.

• Communication aimed at deepening the single market: The European Commission on 28 October presented a communication entitled “Upgrading the Single Market: more opportunities for people and business” accompanied by a Commission staff working document (“A digital single market strategy for Europe – analysis and evidence”) and a report “on the integration and competitiveness in the EU and its member states”. This is a roadmap that will guide the Commission in its preparation of initiatives to remove the barriers still obstructing the smooth operation of the internal market, but also to adapt the internal market to “innovative business models”. The aim is to act to provide an environment that will allow the emergence in Europe of future Googles or Facebooks (see press release). The Commission wishes to develop a European agenda for the collaborative economy while making sure that “labour law is complied with” and that it “protects workers” – which was welcomed by the European Trade Union Confederation (see press release). It envisages that any measure posing a barrier to the internal market for services that has not been notified to the Commission should be considered void. The communication confirms the adoption of a “mobility package” in order to ensure “better coordinated social security systems” and to conduct a “targeted review of the posted workers directive”. Another priority will be to simplify the cabotage rules in the road transport sector and to ensure adequate working conditions in this industry. BusinessEurope welcomes the Commission’s initiative (see press release) and urges it to proceed rapidly. The organisation mentions a study by the European Parliament which finds that completing the single market could add up to 5% to the EU gross domestic product.


• Four social directives to become law in 2016: The Commission’s work programme for 2016 (see above) is rounded off by the list of legislation that becomes applicable in 2016, including four directives with a social content: directive 2014/54 on the freedom of movement for workers; directive 2014/67 on the enforcement of directive 96/71 concerning the posting of workers; directive 2013/35 on the protection against exposure to electromagnetic fields; and directive 2014/112 implementing the European agreement on working time in inland waterway transport.

• Transfer interpreted as a breach of freedom of association: The European Court of Human Rights on 22 September ruled on a case concerning two Turkish teachers who had been transferred from their schools after taking part in an unauthorised demonstration (ECHR 22 September 2015, application Nos. 22685/09 and 39472/09, in French, and press release). The Court recognised this as a violation of article 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

• New work programme in the chemical industry: On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of their European social dialogue committee, the European social partners in the chemical sector on 14 October adopted a roadmap 2015-2020, a work programme 2016-2017 and an addendum to their framework agreement on competence profiles of 2011. The two partners announced that they intend to enter negotiations on sustainable employment and career development in 2016 with a view to concluding a voluntary framework agreement. The document will include chapters on young people, older workers and women.


• Sugar industry crisis: The European social partners in the sugar sector on 26 October adopted a declaration calling on the European authorities to set up a “restructuring fund” to mitigate the impact of the unprecedented crisis currently affecting the sugar industry (see EFFAT press release).

• Minimum wage to go up: Following the intervention of a state-appointed mediator, the social partners arrived at an agreement on an increase in the legal minimum wage, which will rise from 355 euros to 430 euros at the beginning of 2016 and then to 470 euros in 2017. It was set at the level of approximately 40% of the median monthly earnings (1,082 euros in the second quarter of 2015).

• Regulation of traineeships: More than one year after the law of 10 July 2014 on the regulation of traineeships was adopted (see article published by Eurofound), the government on 26 October passed a decree (in French) that limits the maximum number of trainees that can be engaged to 15% of the workforce in organisations having more than 20 employees, and to three in those with fewer than 20. A single mentor is not allowed to supervise more than three trainees.

• IG Metall opens its doors to self-employed workers: At its 23rd congress, the IG Metall metalworkers’ and engineering union amended its constitution to extend membership to one-person businesses – in particular crowdworkers pursuing their activity via crowdsourcing platforms (see press release, in German). It will now be possible for self-employed individuals to become members of IG Metall provided that they themselves are not employers.

• Protection of personal data: The supreme court annulled a clause used by a call centre in all its employment contracts whereby any communication relating to the employment relationship could be sent to the employee by text message or email. The employee was obliged to advise the employer immediately of “any relevant change to these data”. In the eyes of the court, this clause violated employees’ fundamental rights insofar as it obliged them to communicate their personal data. Furthermore, it found that the employee’s consent could not be regarded as valid insofar as the clause appeared in all employment contracts, leaving the employee largely powerless to renegotiate this provision.

Deutsche Bahn: Deutsche Bahn and its European works council on 28 October arrived at an agreement on the guarantees offered to around 1,000 European employees affected by the creation of a shared service centre for accounting in Bucharest (see press release of the German trade union EVG and press release from Deutsche Bahn). The agreement, “secured after a year of difficult negotiations,” says EWC chairman Joerg Hensel, “provides minimum standards for all the employees affected by this relocation”. “According to our lawyer, Manfred Bobke-von Camen, this is one of the first agreements of its kind in Europe.” The document provides a right to redeployment within the employee’s original company or, failing this, within the entire group, either in his own country or in the EU, thanks to the establishment of an internal job market at European level. “The agreement,” Joerg Hensel points out, “also provides for payment of relocation expenses if transferred, compensation for a reduction in pension for employees eligible to take early retirement, a right to training or retraining in order to apply for a different position within the group and the creation of a hardship fund should an employee face particular financial difficulties”.

• NH Hotel: The Spanish hotel group NH Hotel (9,818 employees) on 9 October concluded an agreement (available in Spanish) with a view to establishing a European works council (see press release of the European trade union federation EFFAT).

Umicore: The management of the Belgian Umicore group (14,000 employees) and the IndustriALL Global Union trade union federation on 20 October renewed their global framework agreement on sustainable development of 2007 that was previously amended in 2011. The new agreement covers fundamental human and social rights, health and safety, as well as environmental considerations. The IndustriALL press release contains details of monitoring missions carried out as part of the agreement’s implementation (also see Umicore press release, in Dutch).
> Also see: The request drawn up by the new global trade union network at the Saint-Gobain group, calling for negotiation of a global framework agreement (see IndustriAll press release). Last minute: H&M and IndustriAll have signed an International framework agreement (see IndustriAll press release).

Falling proportion of employees covered by collective agreements: The International Labour Organisation has published a summary (ILO, “Labour relations and collective bargaining”, Issue Brief No. 1, October 2015) (in English) of the number of employees covered by collective agreements (“collective bargaining coverage”) derived from its industrial relations database IRData. Between 2008 and 2013, the ILO found a drop in bargaining coverage (–4.6%) together with an average decline in union density (–2.3%). The bargaining coverage in the 10 countries of the EU most severely affected by the crisis fell by an average of 21%, particularly under the influence of the Troika’s recommendations in favour of decentralised collective bargaining (see press release, in Italian).