Eurotrash - The latest from Brussels
WORKERS, MAR 2007 ISSUE
Our flexible friends...
The European Commission is calling for the abolition of trade union rights. A Green Paper, "Modernising labour law to meet the challenges of the 21st century", follows a 2006 White Paper on "flexicurity". This asserted that workers could have job security if they embraced flexibility. It stands reality on its head: labour rights result from struggle by organised workers, not their acceptance of market forces.The Green Paper attacks employment protection as a drag on the labour market. It claims that obligations on contractors to monitor their sub-contractors discourages foreign subcontractors and presents an obstacle to the free market in services. This view permits the single market to override collective bargaining and institutionalises social dumping: simply, it drives down wages.
An example is the recent Vaxholm case, a direct challenge to collective bargaining rights. A Latvian firm, Laval, operated in Sweden using low-wage Latvian labour in breach of Swedish law. Swedish workers took industrial action to defend their pay and conditions. The Commission backed the Latvian firm against Sweden, claiming that Sweden's labour laws contravene EU laws on free movement.
...and back home in the UK
The TUC and the CBI have launched a joint campaign to encourage adoption of "flexible working practices". TUC general secretary Brendan Barber claimed that these would give employees "more choice" and "people would get to see more of their friends and families." Blair said recently, "Today's European model has to be less about traditional forms of protection and more about modern forms of empowerment."
Running away from a referendum
The government wants to avoid a referendum on any new EU treaty, and it is trying to explain how. The logic, though, is rather strange. A spokesman said, "We think the best European Constitution is a simple Constitution. The result...would be that we would not have to hold a referendum." Meanwhile, Europe Minister Geoff Hoon says there is no need to hold a referendum on "every single change in the treaty".