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At a time when defence policy is increasingly prominent in the EU agenda, the European Parliament has approved a text that opens the door to derogations on workers’ rights, in particular on working time.
IndustriAll Europe, together with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the European Public Service Union (EPSU) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), issued an urgent call to the Members of the European Parliament before the crucial vote on 25 November to support the amendments protecting workers’ rights. Unfortunately, the call landed on deaf ears.
IndustriAll Europe’s Deputy General Secretary, Isabelle Barthès, criticised the outcome: “We are deeply concerned about the provisions allowing derogations from workers’ rights in the production of so-called ‘crisis-relevant defence products’ across the entire value chain. The conditions for declaring such a crisis situation remain vague - referring only broadly to internal market disruptions - and fall far short of justifying the suspension of fundamental labour protections.
“While recognising the current and difficult geopolitical situation, we are far from an emergency that would justify the limitation of workers rights across the entire value chain in a European regulation that allocates €1.5 billion for defence,” explained Isabelle Barthès.
“We fear that this dangerous precedent risks being replicated in the upcoming big defence files. The European Commission announced €800 billion in the coming years and a Defence Omnibus that targets, among others, the Working Time Directive and REACH. We call on European policymakers to be more responsible and consult trade unions in the upcoming files. Good working conditions are part of ensuring security.”
Defence must not be elevated above all other public interests, as our security goes beyond militarisation and relies also on social stability underpinned by democratic and workers’ rights. No emergency should justify lowering the protections that safeguard workers, communities and the environment.