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The debate in Europe before the elections saw self-employed workers,

16th July 2009, Page 28
16th July 2009
Page 28
Page 28, 16th July 2009 — The debate in Europe before the elections saw self-employed workers,
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including owner-drivers, remaining outside the scope of the directive, a position supported by the European Commission. The arguments to bring owner-drivers into scope for road safety reasons are bound to resurface. ETUC confederal secretary Catelene Passchier believes the omission encourages employers to contract out work to avoid a collective agreement. "In many countries, the collective agreement covers only the main employer and those further down the chain suffer. Many unions then have problems dealing with the employer," she says.

The unions are arming themselves with research to take the argument forward. "The Dublin Foundation has studied subcontracting in construction in eight countries. It concluded that joint and several liability should be established at European level so that everyone in the chain is responsible for paying the minimum wage and providing other recognised benefits. It's an effective solution and because it is, employers don't like it. Regardless of the employer, a workplace exists with each company having liability for a subcontractor further down the chain," Passchier insists.

She can see no good reason why self-employed drivers should not be covered by the Working Time Directive.

'The European Transport Workers' Federation, based in Brussels, defends the rights of self-employed drivers and opposes the EC's position. It's very difficult to differentiate between self-employed and employed drivers and only leads to setting workers against each other," she says


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