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Social partners’ answers to the EU consultation on Working Time Directive Monday, June 28, 2010, 15:52 Hrs The ETUC, BusinessEurope and the UEAPME have given their answers to the first stage consultation on working time launched by the European Commission on March. Their positions have hardly moved from the earlier.  The ETUC will only review the 1993 directive if the opt-out is removed. ETUC thinks that the legislation isn't obsolete, even if safeguards, adjusted to new forms of labor, are needed. The ETUC stresses that protection against long and irregular working hours must continue to be the main goal of the WTD. The Employers' organizations, for their part, are calling for more flexibility, precisely because of these new forms of labor. The possibility to opt-out is crucial to companies. BusinessEurope considers that EU intervention isn't necessary for working time issues. The Executive Committee of the ETUC adopted in June the response of the ETUC to the European Commission consultation on working time. Concerning the social dialogue opportunity, the ETUC said that employers and unions’ stances are too far apart to open dialog. The ETUC stated that it “is currently not considering to initiate a dialogue with the European level employers’ organisations on the review or revision of the WTD... the positions of the European social partners are too far apart to expect a fruitful exercise. In ETUC’s view, the conditions are currently not there for addressing the matter in the social dialogue.” BusinessEurope reserved its answer for the second consultation stage. The UEAPME alone answered yes to the opportunity of negotiating the matter in the social dialogue. For the full text of the ETUC statement, click on the [link]. For the texts of the [BusinessEurope’s] and [UEAMPME’s] statements, click on the respective links. Other relevant ETUC documents on this issue can found in the following section of the [ETUC] web site. The second-phase consultation will be launched after summer. The EMCEF will keep you up-dated regarding future developments. For more information please contact: Jorma Rusanen, Political Secretary, EMCEF [jrusanen@emcef.org]
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