http://www.planetlabor.com/newsfeed.xmlThe latest social and legal events in the European UnionSun, 06 Jul 2008 22:01:17 GMTPyRSS2Gen-1.0.0http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssAfter the BBC broadcasted a report showing female workers complaining about their working conditions, the Spanish textile group, which owns Zara, got one of its suppliers to rebuild its factory, which it owns but where none of its brands was produced. (Ref. 080560)Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:33:45 GMTSpanish unions are protesting against the partition of the freight transport from the rest of the Renfe Operadora railway, announced on June 24 by the head of State, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. This belongs to a series of measures to liberalize transportation, telecommunications and the energy sector. (Ref. 080559)Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:43:50 GMTOn Wednesday, July 2, the European Commission adopted a communication on the new European Social Agenda, which will be on the agenda of the informal Council of the social Ministers on July 10-11 in Chantilly. Taking into consideration the new facts and social challenges it is faced with (globalization, demography new technologies...), the EU has to redefine its priorities. The communication includes a series of guidelines which should guide European social policies in the coming years, as well as a package with proposals for action which draws the first outlines of these policies. (Ref. 080558)Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:16:06 GMTThe agreement reached on June 25 by the Portuguese social partners (see article n°080538) on the reform of the labor code will not be submitted to a vote by MPs' before September. This delay may leave time for a public debate whilst opposition to the reform remains strong in the country. (Ref. 080556)Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:25:47 GMTOn July 2, 2008, the European trade union federations (EPSU, EMF and EMCEF) and all the national trade unions represented within Gaz de France's EWC signed, together with the management, a CSR agreement. The management of the group takes a number of commitments regarding its employees, notably regarding employment and employability, as well as regarding third parties, with a "civic commitment." The enforcement of the agreement will be followed at the level of the group and each of its companies. (Ref. 080557)Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:43:47 GMTSeized by the Confederation of Polish employers, the Constitutional Court declared, on July 1, 2008, that the way works council members are appointed – with priority given to the company union – was unconstitutional, because it breaks the freedom not to join an organization and principle of equality before the law. Therefore, these provisions will be repealed within 12 months after the publication of the decision. (Ref. 080555)Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:38:21 GMTThe European Commission adopted today, July 2, 2008, the proposal to revise the EWC directive. The major changes compared to the previous version – which Planet Labor had obtained (see our dispatch No. 080420) – concern the definition of consultation and its scope, as well as the training of staff representatives. The governments are going to start the negotiations with, as a background, the conflicting expectations of two major role players. On the one hand, the ETUC denounces a draft which mainly serves employers' interests; on the other, BusinessEurope and German and British employers say that it adds expenses and administrative burdens for businesses. (Ref. 080553)Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:21:42 GMTThe European Commission has lowered the objective to draw up an optional framework for transnational agreements as part of the Social Agenda for 2005-10 in the working document published on July 2. Based on the Commission's previous works on that topic, the text plans to set up an expert group on transnational company agreements to support this form of social dialogue. The support will also be financial through budget headings on industrial relations. (Ref. 080554)Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:12:49 GMTOf the 80 victims of the "mercury scandal" of Danisco's Grindsted factory who met with the 3F union on June 25 in Billund, at least 50 are ready to defend their case in court. After this case, revealed at the beginning of June by a study carried out by the 3F journal, left-wing parties and unions want to amend the law on limitations of actions (forældelseslov) in the event of serious occupational disease. (Ref. 080554)Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:19:27 GMTOn June 26, 2008, Equality Minister Harriet Harman set out the main measures of the new Equalities Bill in a Commons statement. Unions are satisfied but experts criticize the introduction of positive action, which won't necessarily work and might be tough to handle for employers. (Ref. 080552)Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:28:07 GMTFirst, Labor Minister Celestino Corbacho wants to limit the possibilities of early retirement rather than delay retirement age. This is one of the major themes of the reform of the social security and pensions (the Toledo Pact), which he offered to negotiate with the social partners. (Ref. 080550)Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:15:26 GMTThe French presidency is starting today, and will last six months during which France will decide of the order of the day of political meetings. With the idea of a protective Europe against the impact of globalization, as preached by Nicolas Sarkozy the day before the beginning of the presidency, social priorities are gaining more ground, in theory, than the priorities displayed at first (environment, immigration and defense). In practice, the French presidency should tackle a number of controversial issues, such as working time, the revision of the EWC directive and patients’ mobility. (Ref. 080551)Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:01:52 GMT102 years after its creation, the Klöckner & Co company, the largest independent multi-metal distributor in the world, laid the foundation stone for its transformation into a European Company (SE). 99.9% of shareholders voted in favour of this new legal structure during the General Meeting of the group on June 20, 2008 in Duisburg. Two months earlier, the management and the special negotiating body (SNB) signed an agreement on employee representation in the new SE. (Ref. 080549)Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:58:49 GMTIn its middle evaluation, the Institute for Economic and Social Research (WSI) of the Hans Böckler Foundation presents a summary of the industry-wide collective agreements signed in the first six months of 2008. The wages negotiated increase of 4.6% in average. This is the strongest increase since 2000. (Ref. 080547)Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:25:18 GMTAccording to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), disproportionate health and safety management is much less widespread than the media suggest. The HSE mostly thinks that it is important to show common sense in the prevention of risks. (Ref. 080546)Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:28:37 GMTThe labor legislation reform installs strict control of subcontracting companies which henceforth have to demonstrate the independence of the firms employing them. The aim is to combat exploitation and illegal work. However, the new ruling, which meets workers' claims, has aroused an outcry in business companies. (Ref. 080548)Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:33:21 GMTAt Telekom Austria (TA) and Österreichische Post (ÖP), two former public companies, almost 20.000 employees kept the almost sacrosanct civil servant status they had before the privatization. To gently get rid of some of them, the two companies would like to create an external agency financed by the State, to find them a new job or redeploy them. Unions and staff representatives refused outright. (Ref. 080545)Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:09:03 GMTOn June 23, the Council of Ministers adopted the national strategy for health and safety 2008-2012. Falling within the framework of EU policies on this topic, the strategy includes a series of action with the aim to decrease the number of industrial accidents and occupational diseases, and to face new risks (psychosocial troubles, musculo-skeletal disorders, or even nanotechnologies. (Ref. 080544)Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:43:12 GMTIn 24 hours, the outgoing Slovenian presidency and the upcoming French presidency were arraigned by the members of the European Parliament's Commission on Employment and Social Affairs about the Council's political agreement on working time (see our article No. 080482). These debates foreshadow the debates that will arise from the second reading of the draft directive in the fall, during the French presidency. (Ref. 080543)Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:22:28 GMTThe Mexican and Spanish authorities have agreed to regulate the flow of immigrant workers to Spain. A pilot program for temporary employment of skilled people will enable Mexicans to have a job for a year under the same conditions of pay and social services as Spanish employees. (Ref. 080542)Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:37:51 GMTAt an interview with the daily Financial Times Deutschland on June 25, Peter Löscher, chairman of the Siemens board, considered that with over 80% of its sales abroad the management of the group is not sufficiently diversified. He intends to make internationalization one of his priorities in the years ahead. (Ref. 080541)Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:20:34 GMTThe Parliament's Committee on Petitions adopted, on June 25, an own-initiative report ordering the Commission to deal with the complaints it received for breaches of the European legislation on working time in Member States. The report should be ratified this fall, and should be quite aggressive regarding working time. Indeed, at the same time, MEPs will examine on a second reading and criticize the proposal to revise the working time Directive adopted by the Council of Ministers (see our article No. 080482). (Ref. 080540)Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:50:50 GMTDespite a working population of around 760 million, China will probably encounter recruitment problems of skilled workers in the coming years. At the same time, insufficient job creation and the new labor laws should push up wages. (Ref. 080537)Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:26:59 GMTConfemetal, the employers' federation in the iron and steel industry, and the union federations of the UGT sector and the CCOO signed on June 24 an agreement on safety-at-work training and its promotion. This agreement stipulates action and information programs on industrial risks in the very small and small-size firms. (Ref. 080539)Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:19:07 GMTThe representatives of employers (confederation of Swedish business firms Svensk Näringsliv), the blue-collar Landsorganisationen (LO) and the Federation of employees in industry and services (PTK) opened the discussions announced last May for the renegotiation of the basic agreement on social relations in Sweden, a key foundation of the Swedish model. The issue is now for the social partners to counter government wishes for more regulation by law of the labor market. (Ref. 080536)Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:04:37 GMTIn order to defend the Danish model confronted with the danger of social dumping, after the European court decision in the Laval affair, the government intends to legislate to ensure the right of unions to have recourse to collective bargaining against foreign companies sending employees to Denmark without respecting Danish collective agreements. (Ref. 080535)Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:54:39 GMTThe government, the employers and the UGT signed on June 25 the text to serve as basis for the reform of the 2003 labor code. The union confederation CGTP did not take part in the last round of social consultation. The agreement contains notably measures against job insecurity and allows business firms to have the benefit of a volume of hours which can be managed flexibly. Conversely, lay-offs for employee unsuitability requested by employers were rejected. (Ref. 080538)Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:35:24 GMT