EUROPEAN REVIEW

ISSUE 42 - Page 2

AFTER A LONG PERIOD OF CRITICISM from European trade unionists at their lack of action on social legislation, the European Commission seems to have decided that the time is right to renew their interest. President Barroso announced a new ‘social package’ after a day of discussion with Commissioners. Health care, where the cross-border rights proposal will be re-activated, anti-discrimination, limited to disabled people (see page 4), and education will all be the subject of new legislation. The long-awaited revision of the European Works Council directive is also expected now that the social partners have run out of time to come to an agreement between themselves. The package is due to be ready by early July and the Commission hopes to get it through the legislative process before campaigning starts for the European elections in June 2009.
The reason for such urgency is thought to be Mr. Barroso’s desire to stay on as President after the elections. Following several adverse judgments in the European Court of Justice (Laval/Vaxholm etc.) which socialist candidates are likely to make much of, there is a feeling that the Commission has steered too far to the right and a win for the left will make it unlikely that his contract will be renewed. The ‘social package’ is intended to redress the balance. Trade unions remain to be convinced, describing the social dimension of the EU as being ‘becalmed’ over the last ten years. At a recent summit of employers, unions and the Commission John Monks, ETUC General Secretary declared: ‘In our view, social Europe is in retreat ... Support for the single market is dependent on support for Social Europe. That is the deal - and it is not working for us at the moment’.

ROMANIAN UNIONS ARE GRASPING THE OPPORTUNITY that a tightening labour market gives them (see our last issue) to make progress on increasing wages. Railway workers, miners and civil servants are all in dispute with both employers and government as they are part of the public sector. Trade unions recently won a 29% increase in the minimum wage to €188 a month after claiming €206 but rail employees were angered when the government announced that they would set the transport sector rate at €134 rising to €145 in the summer. The latter rise was then withdrawn in ‘public companies monitored for indebtedness’ on the advice of the International Monetary Fund. A spontaneous 3-hour strike is likely to lead to a general one if no settlement is reached. Meanwhile civil servants demanding an increase of between 20% and 30% were offered 4.5% which resulted in token strikes and a date set for general sector-wide action. The third prong of the union trident is formed by the miners who registered a 25% pay claim in February. Once again the two sides are far apart as the government have offered 10%. With national trade union confederations backing their affiliates, there is a possibility of tension spilling over into other sectors leading to a general strike in an election year.
IN HUNGARY, WHERE PRIVATISATION IS FURTHER ADVANCED, trade unions are facing up to the task of representing members in the companies that have recently been sold off. After an Austro-Hungarian consortium paid €400 million for the freight arm of the national railway MÁV, all MÁV Cargo workers received a 10% pay increase. Now the VDSZSZ union wants all employees in companies to which MÁV has outsourced work to get the same rise. They are also demanding that all railway workers get a privatisation bonus of  about €1,000. Following the failure of negotiations and arbitration a nationwide strike was called. With a referendum due on privatisation of health care the outcome of the strike is seen as crucial to the wider political scene.
‘HEAVEN OR HELL, TRADE UNION OR DEATH’ was the apt slogan of the DISK federation in Turkey after two more shipyard workers died bringing the total to 36 with 18 fatal accidents in the last eight months. They called for a strike and protests at the Tuzla yards which do not recognise unions. After 75 protesters had been arrested as ‘a threat to public order’, the government stepped in to investigate with the aim of eliminating work-related deaths according to transport minister Binali Yıldırım. The European Metalworkers Federation is to raise the matter with the EU.