Today, Wednesday 23 January 2013, the ETF participated in the action against cross-border social dumping and exploitation which was set up by the European Federation of Building and Wood Workers (EFBWW) and the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT). The ETF Secretariat together with its affiliates joined the demonstration calling for the need to eradicate discrimination and abuses on social rights among posted workers.
“Respect those who work equally, regardless their nationality” ETF General Secretary Eduardo Chagas, one of the guest speakers at the press conference held in the morning, explained how the European transport sector suffers from practices where workers are exploited across the border as cheap labour and deprived from social rights in order to increase profit margins of companies. “Social dumping practices are common and spreading in practically all sectors we represent, although it is in maritime and road transport and in logistics that they have reached their worst forms,” Eduardo Chagas stated at the press conference.
He continued with giving several examples. He referred to the “Flags of Convenience” system in the maritime sector and to the ETF publication “Modern slavery in modern Europe?” that highlights shocking findings in the road transport sector. The ETF General Secretary concluded his intervention by welcoming this initiative jointly launched with the EFBWW, EFFAT and the ETUC: “There is a clear need for awareness raising, in particular towards policy makers and the administrations, on the need to put an end to these practices, respecting those who work in an equal way, whatever their sector is or their nationality.”
European workers demand equal rights for equal work After the press conference, approximately 4,000 workers and activists rallied from the ETUC building in Brussels till Schuman Square where the European Commission building is located. The ETF block, supported by affiliated transport trade unions, joined the demonstration under the motto “Transport Workers – United we stand for a social Europe”. This action concurs with others that the ETF and its affiliates have been organising in the recent past, in particular in the road sector and the maritime sector.
With this action, European trade union federations together with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) want to urge the EU to tackle the crucial problem of social dumping of wages, working conditions and social protection and demand a European Enforcement Directive that contains tangible measures to eliminate these practices and guarantees equal rights and equal pay for equal work. A dedicated website has been set up by the EFBWW to collect and present testimonials from European workers and cases of social dumping: http://www.stopsocialdumping.eu/