Draft resolution on working hours and work/life balance

Transcription

1 UNI Europa Commerce Breaking Through Madrid, 9 and 10 June 2011 Draft resolution on working hours and work/life balance (Resolution 1) Strategic Objective 3: Jobs with social security and justice for all Goal 3.2: Raising employment standards UNI Global Union s Strategy for action from Nagasaki to Cape Town sets 5 strategic objectives aimed at growing and strengthening affiliated unions and UNI Global Union to improve the lives of service workers. 1 Global and regional companies 2 Organising and capacity development 3 Jobs with Justice 4 Political and regional influence 5 UNI as innovative and inclusive organisation These strategic priorities and their related goals form the basis for the work of UNI Europa Commerce inspired by the UNI Commerce strategic plan. Fairer Working Time, Fairer Work-life Balance Deteriorating working conditions The endless race for maximization of profits, the current economic crisis and the member states governments austerity drive has focused on the issue of working hours. All workers are being asked to bear the brunt of the current crisis with a resulting deterioration of regulation regarding working hours, irregular hours, work life balance, retirement policies etc. The regulation of working hours is fundamental to our societies and lies at the heart of Social Europe. It recognizes the need to safeguard the health and safety of workers themselves, and the need to allow working people to raise their families, to enjoy cultural enrichment, sports, voluntary activities as crucial to the interests of workers, societies and economies. The push by many governments in the European Union for the adoption of legislation that enables shops to open on Sundays, public holidays and late evenings has direct consequences on the working conditions of commerce workers. Some Member States decisions on liberalisation of opening hours are made without prior negotiation with workers or the unions that represent them. This trend has made it even harder to reconcile work life and family life for commerce workers. There is increasing evidence that the irregularity and unpredictability of working hours is becoming an even more problematic issue from the perspective of reconciliation. Working time policies and regulation should therefore explicitly provide for clear limitations to long 1/5

2 and irregular hours, while also providing workers with instruments and tools to have a say in the scheduling of working hours, and adapt working hours to their needs Empirical studies prove that a de-synchronisation of social rhythm by working hours differing from standard working hours has a negative effect on health and safety of employees. The unsustainable working time patterns (unpredictable on call duties, broken hours, shift work, unsocial working hours like holidays, night- and weekend work) can lead to increased stress and illnesses, and absenteeism related to strong feelings of lack of control over and influence on one s work and life. Unsustainable working time patterns, especially when they do not allow for enough working hours, are a main source of the growing phenomenon of precarious work in Europe. The employers falsely believe that opening longer hours every week will develop the commerce sector and the economy as a whole. However, there is little evidence to suggest that increased opening hours result in economic growth. On the contrary this is a strategy pursued by the large retailers as a way of squeezing out competition from small and medium sized retailers. At the same time it creates a less attractive work place environment as workers have a harder time in balancing work life and private life. The consequence of these working hours is a deterioration of social and cultural cohesion. A more sustainable consumption model based on decent work is a goal that benefits society as a whole. Fighting against work on Sundays, holidays and late evenings is a priority for UNI Europa Commerce. Late night, holiday and Sunday opening creates serious social problems for commercial workers and their families, and threatens cultural values and the social fabric of our societies. Broad alliances with other stakeholders who want to protect these family values as well as the cultural heritage and social cohesion of our societies have proven to be a useful way to approach these issues. UNI-Europa Commerce confirms its opposition to late night, holiday and Sunday shop opening, and will continue to support the efforts by its affiliates to work against these developments, including through building alliances with likeminded groups on the European levels. Where the liberalisation of opening hours already has occurred, UNI Europa Commerce will support its affiliates in their fight to ensure adequate compensation taking into consideration the unsocial working hours, and press the European Union institutions to tackle the growing problems in reconciling work life and family life. Social Protection Systems Social protection systems should be designed to acknowledge and support working time adjustments and temporary exits over the life course in the broader context of helping workers to adapt to various transitions in their working life. Public authorities and employers need to assist commerce workers in better reconciling their work life and family life. 2/5

3 Adequate Child Care Facilities Increased working of irregular and unsocial hours and Sunday work creates added pressures on commerce workers ability to reconcile their work lives and family lives. Furthermore, this trend is compounded by no correlating extension of childcare facilities, making it even harder for commerce workers to uphold their family obligations. This strategy can only result in stressed and unhappy commerce workers and ultimately lead to a weakening of the commerce sectors workforce. Fighting against excessive use of irregular hours Commerce workers often have difficult working conditions including stress at work, violence from customers and frequent changes of schedules. Commerce workers require rest like all other workers. They need to see their families. They should be entitled to benefit from policies on reconciliation between family and work. Opening on Sundays, during holidays and late evenings is an open door to blur the boundaries between leisure time and shopping time. The commerce sector has a responsibility towards the society as a whole. The more shops open on Sundays, during holidays and late evenings, the more other sectors will be obliged to adapt to this deregulation. This covers, among others, cleaning and security workers, transport workers, childcare workers. UNI Europa Commerce reiterates that creating new jobs for workers is not an objective to be met in isolation. The labour movement looks for the creation of quality jobs, with decent working conditions and wages as a recipe for a sustainable economic recovery. We want to fight against precarious jobs and we do not want jobs that jeopardise the work-life balance of workers. Opening on Sundays, during holidays and late evenings means more transportation, lighting, heating, refrigeration and air conditioning. All of which contribute negatively to CO2 levels and energy conservation. The reconciliation of work and family life is also an essential element for achieving the objectives set by the European institutions, particularly for increasing the rate of employment amongst women. The aim is not only to create a more satisfactory working environment, but also to respond better to workers' demands, in particular those with family responsibilities We demand UNI Europa Commerce reminds the EU institutions of its obligations to protect the health and safety of workers and urge the EU institutions and the national authorities to recognise late evenings, holidays and Sundays work free as a principle. Any current European, national or local initiative to undermine this principle should be withdrawn. We demand that the Member States governments take actions to help workers reconcile their work-life balance by offering high-class social protection facilities. We remind employers of their responsibility to help people balance work and other aspects of their lives and urge employers to inform workers well in advance of any 3/5

4 changes in their working time pattern, and ask for a right for workers to request changes to their working hours and patterns. The amount of notification given prior to the changes is an important criterion with regard to these employees work life balance. We draw attention to the distinction between positive flexibility, where working time flexibility gives employees the possibility to tailor their working life to best meet their family and educational obligations and negative flexibility where the employers demands for working time flexibility create unsustainable demands on the workers health & safety and ability to reconcile their work lives and family lives. We point to significant evidence that shows that job satisfaction, low work force turnover, worker health & safety, access to training are all positively correlated to the prevalence of collective agreements. UNI Europa Commerce reaffirms its resistance to late night opening, holiday and Sunday work. Derogations to this principle should always be based on the following rules as a minimum: a) Derogations should be made possible only by collective agreement between recognised social partners in the commerce sector, b) Adequate notification must be given well in advance of changes to workers working time, c) Working on Sundays, during holidays and late evenings should be compensated in a significant manner for the workers concerned, in priority by free time to ensure the protection of workers health and safety, d) The number of shop openings and hours worked should be limited to protect the workers health and safety and personal life, e) All derogations should be justified by objective reasons. An assessment of their social and environmental consequences should be carried out beforehand. ACTIONS UNI Europa Commerce and its Affiliates will : Information about work on Sundays, during holidays and late evenings: To support the union's arguments, it is necessary to gather as much factual information as possible on: regulations and collective agreements, practices (legal and illegal) and the economic, social (health / safety, employment) and societal (family, environment) consequences, etc. UNI Europa Commerce affiliates will provide the secretariat with the above information which will be made available on a dedicated webpage has been established on the site in German, English, Spanish, French and Swedish, where information on countries specificities can be found. UNI Europa Commerce will use this information to develop its two pronged strategy of a) resisting legislation liberalising opening hours and b) gathering best practice of how to mitigate the negative consequences of liberalised opening hours through collective bargaining. UNI Europa Commerce will invite its employer counterpart EuroCommerce to exchange factual information on the issue and to jointly analyse future initiatives of the Commission on retail and working time. 4/5

5 Working Time Directive: There is a clear link between long and irregular working hours and increased workrelated health problems. Although the world of work has changed, this evidence has not changed since the first legislation on working time, nor since we last discussed the revision of the working time directive. Protection of the health and safety of workers must therefore remain the primary goal of any review of the working time directive. This is of crucial importance for all workers, The European Commission is currently consulting the European social partners on the revision of the Directive on working time. UNI Europa Commerce will push its claims against work on Sundays, during holidays and late openings in this debate, in coordination with UNI Europa and the ETUC. UNI Europa Commerce invites its employer counterpart EuroCommerce to explore the possibility of a common position on the working time directive and points to importance of the social partners developing views on such an important aspect of the commerce sector. European Alliance for Sundays Free of work On 24 March 2010, a European conference held in the European Parliament gathered all those, from political parties to civil society, religious organisations and trade unions, who declared their opposition to Sunday work. The supporting organisations issued a Statement handed over to the EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs and Inclusion, Mr. László Andor. In addition to the current supportive organisations, UNI Europa Commerce will seek for new contacts to support our campaign (other European trade union federations, sports associations, employers, consumers, religious, political parties) and to join the European alliance. Launch of a European campaign for a fairer work-life balance and against work on Sundays and late openings UNI Europa Commerce will organize a campaign on this theme this period. UNI Europa Commerce and its affiliates will contact members of the European Parliament and national governments about the negative consequences of work on Sundays, holidays and late openings on health and safety and the need to facilitate the reconciliation of work-life balance. In the framework of this campaign, the UNI Europa Commerce affiliates will organise an event in their own country, on the basis of their tradition and trade union culture. 5/5