A revision of the Posted Workers Directive is due to published by the European Commission on Tuesday 8 March without any prior consultation with the social partners – employers and trade unions.
A revision would be welcome given the fact that the principle of equal pay has been undermined by a series of European court cases including the notorious Laval and Viking cases.
President Juncker has promised equal pay for equal work for posted workers in the Commission Work Programme 2016 and his political programme ‘A new start for Europe’.
ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini said “President Juncker has committed to equal pay for equal work. This is what we want and expect. Anything less would be a broken promise, and completely unacceptable to workers across Europe.”
ETUC Confederal Secretary Liina Carr commented “It is a big mistake to launch this revision without a consultation on the legal text with trade unions and employers.”
The ETUC expects:
• posted workers to be guaranteed remuneration that is no less than that applied to local workers;
• posted workers to benefit from the protection of the collective agreements that are actually applied in the host country;
• trade unions to be able to collectively bargain for posted workers;
• posting to remain temporary, and the normal employment relationship to be governed by the law of the host Member State;
• main contractors to be made jointly liable with their subcontractors for respect of terms & conditions of employment;
• temporary work agency workers to be excluded from the Directive.
