30-07-2008: Europe Academy Symposium "Europe’s Social Dimension against the backdrop of globalisation"

On 1-3 July, 2008, CESI’s Europe Academy held its symposium, entitled ‘Europe’s Social Dimension against the backdrop of globalisation’ in Alsace. The symposium, which addressed a wide variety of topics, was further enhanced by the beautiful city of Strasbourg and the Alsatian culinary specialities on offer. The Discussion between the 130 guests and keynote speakers also gave everyone plenty to get their teeth into.

Currently, the issue of Europe’s social dimension is the topic on everybody’s lips. As the Europe Academy was gathering for its symposium, the European Commission was publishing its new Social Agenda. The relevance of the topics on the agenda lent a sense of vigour to the discussion. It once again became apparent that Europe’s workers and citizens are calling for a stronger social slant to European policy, in particular in the light of increasing globalisation.  Read more...

From left Helmut Müllers, Adrien Zeller, François Loos, Mahmud Chowdury, Monique Cartigny
 

20-06-2008: CESI Commentary on the European Court of Justice judgement (C-319/06)

Adding on to its series started with the Laval case the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued its judgement in a case against the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg brought to it by the European Commission under Article 226 EC. The ECJ upheld all four complaints the Commission argued against the implementation of the Posting Directive in Luxembourg underlining its narrow understanding of the Posting Directive providing only for a limited scope to secure labour standards while firstly securing the internal market goals.

"Again, as done in the cases Laval and Rüffert  the ECJ did not recognize the political core right of a member state to define which of its social policy measures are considered so important that they should apply to all its national service providers, and therefore as well to cross boarder service providers to counter unfair competition. Apart from challenging the member states labour market policies the ECJ judgement challenges the intention of the Council when drafting the Posting Directive meant to be an instrument to secure national working conditions instead of discarding them. Confronted with the Irish 'no' to the Lisbon Treaty the EU can no longer afford to ignore its workers and citizens demands for a broader social aspect in its policies.  As a first step the CESI urges the European legislators to revise the Posting Directive to clarify and preserve its original meaning."

Helmut Müllers, CESI General Secretary
 

"With the Irish 'no' the message has been out thrice that Europe has failed to listen to its citizen.  The European policies are in desperate need of a stronger social aspect considering the rights of workers to be a key issue to its success. Europe can no longer shape its future solely on the aspects of economic growth, while cutting on peoples' social rights".

Helmut Müllers, CESI General Secretary

The Europe Academy's symposium "Flexicurity - Labour market policy model for all of Europe?", held on 28 and 29 April, 2008, is in keeping with the times. 'Flexicurity' is the new buzzword which the European Union is using to attempt to find a solution to the problem of faltering labour markets. In the discussion held amongst participants, however, it became apparent that everything lies in the emphasis placed on the terms 'flexibility' and 'security'. 

The 140 participants from CESI's affiliates talked with independent experts, such as Prof. Ton Wilthagen (Tilburg University), Prof. Roger Blanpain (Leuven University), Prof. Vincenzo Galasso (Bocconi University, Milan) and Isabella Biletta (Director of Research at EUROFUND), with the Belgian Minister for SMEs, the Self-employed, Agriculture and Scientific Policy, Sabine Laruelle, and with  European Commission representative Beata Zaborowska (European Commission coordinator). Klaus Dauderstädt (President of the German trade union GdS),  John Hansen (General-Secretary of the Danish Frie Funktionaerer), Domingo Fernández Veiguela (National Chairman of the Spanish trade union CSI-CSIF), Nicolás Fernández Guisado (Chairman of the Spanish trade union ANPE), Helmut Müllers (CESI General-Secretary) and Norbert Schnedl (Vice-President of the Austrian Trade Union Federation) lent a trade union slant to the discussion.

After a general introduction to the topic, an in-depth discussion was spread out over three workshops, all of which dealt with various aspects relating to 'flexicurity'.

The relevance of the topic was such that debate amongst the participants continued into the evening and was fuelled by the evening address made by Director-General Nikolaus van der Pas (DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities). The continued commitment on the part of participants and the quality of the contributions made by trade unions also made it clear to the guest speakers, in particular those from the European Commission, that the social dimension of the ‘flexicurity’ issue is prompting just criticism from CESI and its affiliates.

This is what lead CESI General Secretary, Helmut Müllers, to stress: "The way in which the ‘flexicurity’ concept is strongly geared towards flexibility cannot, in CESI’s view, be in harmony with the efforts on the part of the European Commission to strengthen Europe’s social dimension, and, in so doing, foster peoples’ trust in Europe".  

What some see as the "flexicurity success story" was strongly qualified at the symposium by the Danish affiliate and the expertise of Mads Peter Klindt Ph.D  of Aalborg University. The latter explained that the high level of ‘flexibility’ was no longer being supported by an equally high level of ‘security’ in the Denmark of today. Unless a worker who had been ‘flexibly dismissed’ rapidly found new employment, pressure would mount and s/he would be expected to accept jobs requiring few qualifications. 

Klaus Dauderstädt summarised the aforementioned phenomenon as follows: "In spite of all the positive aspects, we are concerned that it is easier to make employment conditions more flexible than it is to improve security. However, then it would be the worker who would lose out. This is why we would prefer 'securibility' to 'flexicurity'".

Given this, CESI particularly welcomed the desire expressed by Nikolaus van der Pas, on behalf of the Commission, to involve the social partners more in the spirit of Europe’s social dimension.

dbb National Chairman Peter Heesen has been acting President of CESI (European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions) since the end of March. CESI's Executive Board had asked the Europe Academy President to lead the dbb's European umbrella organisation until the ordinary congress at the end of the year. Valerio Salvatore, had announced he would be stepping down for personal reasons prior to this decision.

Members of CESI's Executive Board reacted with great understanding to Valerio Salvatore's decision and unanimously approved Peter Heesen's appointment. The head of the civil service federation would like use the time remaining until the end of the year to build on the position of independent trade unions in Europe.  

Peter Heesen: "We made a great leap forward when we were recognised as a European social partner. However, we mustn't rest on our laurels. Rather, we must keep pressing on with our work and play an active role in the process, so that the idea of a European Social Model can finally be brought to life". Peter Heesen is particularly active at European level. European unification is close to his heart, because he sees it as the best guarantee for freedom, peace and prosperity.

"There's still a long way to go. We must strengthen Europe's social dimension. The multi-faceted European Social Model is based on the fundamental right of human dignity and the European societal principle of solidarity. We have to make a model fit for the future in the face of globalisation. This is our task as European social partner" said Heesen, following his election.
 

14-04-2008: "Equal Pay Day" - CESI demands same pay for men and women and the dismantling of structural discrimination

On the occasion of "Equal Pay Day", the action day calling for fairer pay for men and women being held at the moment in many EU countries, President of CESI’s FEMM Equal Opportunities committee Kirsten Lühmann said:
"In CESI’s view, there is an urgent need to take action to do away with the persistent structural discrimination against women. Only a fair distribution of paid and unpaid work can ultimately lead to actual equal pay. Here, employers must also create the kind of conditions which accommodate changing family models and income distribution. Some examples of this are (1) workplace crèches, (2) more flexible working hours and (3) a greater employment of alternative types of work such as teleworking".
"On 'Equal Pay Day', women have the same salary in their account as men on 31 December last year. In other words, they have to work longer to earn the same income", observed Kirsten Lühmann. "Given that women in the EU earn on average 15 per cent less than men, they are also setting aside a smaller pension. Old-age poverty and the need for the state to intervene with financial support are often the knock-on effect."
The demand ‘Equal Pay for Equal Work’ is one hundred years old, but it still strikes a chord. According to a European Commission report published in February 2007, women in the EU earn on average 15 per cent less than their male counterparts. The pay gap is even greater in Germany (22 per cent) in Estonia, Slovakia (both 24 per cent) and Cyprus (25 per cent). In some countries, such as Italy and Belgium, the pay gap is below double figures (7 and 6 per cent). This said, in none of the European countries surveyed did women earn more than men.

 

18-03-2008: "Flexicurity": EU Commissioner Spidla faces up to CESI's questions

On 28 and 29 April, 2008, CESI will be holding a symposium entitled: ‘Flexicurity - labour market policy model for Europe?’ in Brussels. The symposium is being funded by the European Union. For CESI, this was an opportunity to put the following questions to the EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimir Spidla, on the topic of flexicurity.

Commissioner, what role does flexicurity play within European employment and social policy?

At its heart, flexicurity is guided by the key components of the EU Strategy for Growth and Jobs (Lisbon Strategy). The revised Lisbon Strategy calls for more action in response to globalisation. In so doing, it makes it clear that the status quo cannot continue. The flexibility demanded by the market must be accompanied by employment security for the employees. More ...

The Trade Unions’ Delegation for National and European Administration (TUNED), and the EU Directors General for Public Administration (EUPAN) have agreed a two year "test phase" for a formal social dialogue between the organisations. The test phase will commence on 1 January 2008 and conclude on 31 December 2009. The agreement is significant as it sets out a clear agenda based on joint decision-making rules between the social partners in central government administrations employing some 7 million people in the EU.
The agreement will allow TUNED and EUPAN to embark on in-depth work in the following areas: violence and harassment at work, the effect of demographic change on national administrations, trust in government, as well as the EU "Lisbon Strategy" on growth and employment. The process will be subject to a mid-term and a final evaluation procedure, under the French and Swedish Presidencies, respectively.
UK trade unionist, Charles Cochrane (PCS), chair of TUNED, stated that; "This agreement marks a major step in ensuring that national administration social partners play a concrete role at EU level". He added that; "our joint work programme reflects the concerns of our members. Through an improved social dialogue we hope that the European Commission will inform and consult us on initiatives affecting central administrations. It will also help us further promote trade union rights and social dialogue for all civil servants and public sector employees".
The newly formed social dialogue steering group will meet on 11 January 2008. Technical working groups are scheduled for 29 January and 24 April. For the full text of the agreement and the supporting documents please click here.
 
 

1. The permanent contract should remain the standard. Only it makes it possible for people to build up a sufficient pension and gives families the security to make plans. Atypical working conditions must remain the exception.
2. CESI rejects a one-sided relaxation of the protection against dismissal. The rights and duties of those looking for work should be on an equal footing.
3. Modern and intelligent solutions for a better work-life balance must be found.
4.  There is a need for better possibilities for further training for employees and people looking for work, so that low-qualified people are not forced out of the labour market. Training funds at sectoral level could be a sensible solution.
5. The social partners’ collective bargaining must be preserved.
6. Given that social models in the Member States are highly distinct, there need to be different approaches towards a successful labour market policy and social policy. As a consequence, any measures at European level can only be set in the form of minimum standards.

Before the Council of Ministers meeting, CESI President Valerio Salvatore had the opportunity to discuss CESI's position with various labour ministers. "Independent trade unions are not against modernising labour law. This is why we are seeking dialogue with the EU institutions and employers. However, we are firmly against reforms which place a disproportionate burden on the employees" said Salvatore.