Social Dialogue

In response to the recent CBER prolongation, social partners sent a letter to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, expressing their disapproval of the decision pointing to the negative consequences of this action. The decision was not subject to a proper prior evaluation of effects and will likely have detrimental effects on many companies and workers of the logistics and supply chains in the EU.

This morning, European Barge Union released a statement, calling for the free movement of vessels and crew members, as well as flexibility in the application of the working time directive crewing regulations. On top of that, they propose the elimination of penalties in cases where these regulations are not respected. In response, we sent out a letter to EBU and ESO, emphasising the need for social dialogue in Inland Waterways in these difficult times.

We were sad to learn about another bankruptcy in civil aviation today – UK’s regional airline Flybe. The spread of the COVID-19 has had an important impact in accelerating the process towards the bankruptcy of the airline, which represents just one of the symptoms of a Europe-wide crisis. Decisive action needs to be taken to keep Europe moving. To prevent a complete collapse of the air transport networks in the immediate future, the EU, European countries and other key authorities such as EASA need to come up with a detailed, clear and effective contingency plan.

Yesterday marked the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the EU Social Dialogue Committee for Road Transport between social partners IRU and ETF. ETF and IRU reminded the EU officials that driver shortage is alarmingly increasing in the EU, with 20% of unfilled drivers’ positions in passenger and goods transport in 2019.

ETF president Frank Moreels and General Secretary Livia Spera met with Tomas Eneroth, Swedish Minister for Infrastructure, and Mattias Landgren, his State Secretary, today in Brussels.

Obtaining a valid visa to go on shore, is an important aspect of seafarers’ wellbeing. Shore leave is a right for every seafarer and after spending many nights onboard it is paramount for maintaining good health. When ships are in ports, seafarers should, therefore, be able to easily leave the ship regardless of their nationality. Existing procedures within the EU however often impede on time granting of visas to seafarers. This has a major impact on their mental health and wellbeing. ETF, therefore, calls on EU Member States to ensure the implementation of the Code is adequately applied to seafarers.

ETF welcomes the CBA and acknowledges it as a first step in the right direction. Further positive changes are on their way as on November 7, the official negotiations for a European-wide agreement between IG River Cruise, European Barge Union (EBU) and ETF commenced. European Social Partners hope to reach a meaningful agreement by Autumn 2020.

Railway social partners and the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) gathered with ETF for the annual plenary meeting of the Rail Sectoral Social Dialogue. Social partners negotiated their joint work programme for the next two years and agreed to focus on women's employment and equal opportunities in the railway sector, ensuring railway safety in an open and competitive market, working and resting time rules, and employability in the light of digitalisation and automation.