In 2022, the European Parliament, led by the S&D Group, and the Council adopted a Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages. The Directive will improve the minimum wage protection for workers, by either law or collective agreements, and strengthen collective bargaining at national level to increase the number of workers protected by collective agreements. This is a major success for the S&D Group, as it constitutes a U-turn in European politics. As a reaction to the financial crisis, for years the European Commission had been advocating wage cuts, the dismantlement of collective bargaining, and a competition on wages. Now, the focus is on decent wages, strengthening of collective bargaining, the reduction of wage inequalities, and upward social convergence. Decent minimum wages benefit in particular low-income earners, many of whom are women. We call on member states to ensure that their minimum wages respond to the increasing cost of living and to put an end to variations and deductions that undermine them.
During the last plenary session of the past mandate, the European Parliament confirmed the historic law on the protection of over 30 million platform workers and the European social model. This was the last stretch on a rough journey to this new legislation, which started in 2016 in Prague, where the Socialists and Democrats first pledged to fight for the protection of all workers in the digital era. The landmark legislation is a result of the eight-year battle of the progressive family. The Socialists and Democrats led the negotiations on behalf of the European Parliament, and all this would not be possible without commissioner for jobs and social rights Nicolas Schmit who put forward a far-reaching legislative proposal. It has been a hard battle against the aggressive lobbying of platform giants, but in the end the social Europe won. This law is about protecting the people who give us rides, bring us food and perform many other services for us every day, working for Uber, Deliveroo, Amazon, Helpling and similar platforms. Many platforms hire them as bogus self-employed, depriving them of decent wages and labour rights. Now this will change. The new legislation will not only protect platform workers, but also preserve true self-employment, shield good employers against unfair competition and introduce groundbreaking rules on algorithm management; ensuring that the machines cannot fire people or spy on them. All this will make Europe the pioneer in global labour law.
Following the S&Ds’ long-standing calls for action, the European Union introduced a Pay Transparency Directive in 2023 to uphold the right to equal pay. The landmark Directive establishes pay transparency standards to empower workers to claim their right to equal pay with a view to tackling the gender pay and pension gap. In 2021, women were still earning 13% less on average per hour than men and their pensions were even 30% lower. At the same time, the employment rate of women was 11% percent lower than that of men (69% versus 80%).
After years of political pressure from the S&D Group, the European Child Guarantee was established in 2021 together with an obligation for member states with an at-risk of poverty rate above the EU average, to invest at least 5% of their European Social Fund plus (ESF+) resources in the Child Guarantee. We want to ensure that every European child at risk of poverty has access to free quality health care, free quality education, free quality childcare, decent housing and adequate nutrition. The Child Guarantee is an important investment in the future, in the stability and in the prosperity of the European Union, but requires sufficient funding. The S&D Group has therefore convinced a majority in the European Parliament to call for a dedicated budget of at least €20bn for the Child Guarantee.
There are a lack of full-time job opportunities for young people and many of them are pushed into precarious positions, such as exploitative internships, bogus traineeships, and unpaid apprenticeships. The S&D Group has led a successful campaign in the European Parliament for a Directive on Quality Traineeships setting minimum quality criteria such as fair pay, decent working conditions, access to social protection, limited duration of internships, and recognition of traineeships as work experience in recruitment processes. The European Commission is expected to finally present a proposal for a Directive on Quality Traineeships in 2024.
In view of more than 3,300 fatal and over 3 million non-fatal occupational accidents in 2018 and with more than 200,000 workers dying each year from work-related illnesses, the S&D Group has been pushing for stricter rules on health and safety at work. A Vision Zero approach to work-related accidents and diseases can only become a reality if the health of workers is put before the financial interests of companies. The S&D Group successfully initiated an ambitious revision of the Asbestos at Work Directive, including a mandatory screening of buildings and subsequent removal of asbestos and other dangerous substances before any renovation works. Moreover, the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive, to protect workers from cancer, has seen two successful revisions since 2019, including an extension to substances harmful to reproduction. Finally, the S&D Group has led the fight for a Directive on the Right to Disconnect and rules on minimum requirements for telework. As the employer organisations refused to sign up to a social partners’ agreement, we expect the European Commission to present a draft law in 2024.
Improving and strengthening European Works Councils (EWCs) has been a priority for the S&D Group together with the trade unions since 2009. It took until 2022 for a majority in the European Parliament to call for a revision of the European Works Council Directive. We want to ensure that employers cannot block the establishment of a European Works Council in a multinational company where workers’ representatives are informed and consulted well in advance, and that confidentiality clauses are not misused by the management to undermine EWCs. The European Commission has presented a proposal for a revision of the directive at the beginning of 2024.
We want a comprehensive anti-poverty strategy with binding targets to reduce poverty and put an end to homelessness, the revision of EU state aid rules with the aim of ensuring social housing and developing socially-mixed neighbourhoods, binding targets to ensure affordable housing (at least 30% of new housing for low-income groups and 30% for middle-income groups), a dedicated budget of at least €20bn for the European Child Guarantee and a doubling of the European Social Fund plus (ESF+) budget for the most deprived, and a directive on adequate minimum income schemes, ensuring the integration of persons absent from the labour market.
We want a stronger mandate for the European Labour Authority (ELA) to better protect mobile workers, third-country nationals included, the introduction of a European Social Security Pass (ESSPASS), as a Union-wide enforcement tool to co-ordinate social security and ensure fair labour mobility, and EU funding for counselling and transnational support networks for mobile workers.
We want a directive on artificial intelligence at the workplace to ensure human control of employment related decisions and to protect workers’ fundamental and social rights, a directive on quality traineeships to end the exploitation of young people and that trainees and interns are fairly paid, and a directive on workers’ information, consultation and participation applicable to all company forms, subcontracting chains and franchises, in order to anticipate changes such as restructuring, digital transformation and climate change.
We want the revision of the European Works Council Directive to improve information and consultation of workers’ representatives of multinational companies, avoid abuses of confidentiality clauses by the management and provide for effective sanctions. We also want the revision of the Temporary Agency Work Directive to put a stop to labour market intermediaries that do not comply with EU law and to ensure equal treatment of workers, including seasonal and mobile workers.
We also want a limitation of subcontracting chains and clear liability rules for subcontracting.
In our efforts to support workers, we advocate for several key directives to enhance the balance between work and personal life and to protect well-being. Firstly, we propose a directive addressing the right to disconnect and outlining clear conditions for teleworking. Recognising the significance of mental health, we advocate for a directive specifically addressing psychosocial risks and promoting overall well-being in the workplace. Additionally, we emphasise the importance of a directive focusing on work-related musculoskeletal disorders, with the goal of creating a healthier and more ergonomic working environment. Moreover, we champion a directive dedicated to ensuring the recognition and appropriate compensation for occupational diseases, such as depression, burn-out, and skin cancer.
We center our efforts on integrating the European Pillar of Social Rights and a social progress protocol in the EU Treaties to protect social rights at the same level as the economic freedoms in the single market. We also want a sustainable development and social progress pact to make sustainability and social target mandatory. Regarding public spending, we want a social conditionality, meaning that not a single euro from the EU budget can be spent on projects that do not respect social and labour rights. Overall, we want to protect people from austerity policies and prevent social risks deriving from policy actions and economic reforms.
We want the establishment of a European unemployment benefit reinsurance scheme to temporarily support national schemes in times of crises and the continuation of the European instrument for temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) as a permanent instrument to support short-time work schemes in times of crises.