25 April 2008
“Social Europe” exposed by the European Court of Justice
In April 2008 the ECJ gave judgment in the third case - Rüffert - relating to collective union rights in Europe. Once again human rights and fundamental freedoms lost out to business rights in the EU.
The ETUC response to the two earlier ECJ judgments in December in the cases of Viking and Laval was to pass a resolution on 4 March calling for action to clarify the EU’s intentions about the future of “social Europe”. The ETUC says: “One thing is very clear: for the ETUC and its members the outcome of these two cases represents a major challenge...And in these cases the ECJ does not sufficiently recognise and allow trade unions to defend their members and workers in general against social dumping, to fight for equal treatment of migrant and local workers, and to take action to improve living and working conditions of workers across Europe.”
They explain the effect of the cases like this: “Put simply, the action of employers using free movement as a pretext for social dumping practices is resulting in unions having to justify, ultimately to the courts, the actions they take against those employers’ tactics.” It concludes: “It has now become urgent for the ETUC to develop a joint and coordinated strategy with its members.” We agree.
The Rüffert case made matters worse. The ECJ declared that a law in Germany providing that wage rates must be set by a collective agreement was declared by the ECJ to be of no effect in relation to a Polish subcontractor paying 46.7% of the wage under the collective agreement.
In their resolution of the 4 March, the ETUC also called for progress for a directive for equal treatment for temporary and agency workers to help avoid more social dumping and the apparently irresistible drive towards lower and lower wages. In the UK the unions are still supporting Andrew Miller’s private member’s bill – now due in Committee in May.
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