The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) strongly condemns plans to weaken workers’ rights contained in a leaked draft of the European Commission’s ‘Startup and Scaleup Strategy’.
The strategy, which is due to be proposed on May 28, includes the introduction of a ‘28th regime’, which would allow some companies to opt out of national labour law and instead operate under lower EU-wide standards.
The leaked strategy also attacks sectoral collective bargaining, which it blames for “uncertainty for founders and cross-border investors”. This is despite the fact that the minimum wage directive states: “Sectoral and cross-industry level collective bargaining is an essential factor for achieving adequate minimum wage protection and therefore needs to be promoted and strengthened.”
The ETUC calls again on the Commission to exempt labour law from any proposal for a ‘28th regime’ and bring its start-up strategy into line with its own minimum wage directive.
ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said:
“Unless major changes are made to the leaked draft, these measures in the Commission’s start-up strategy represents the biggest attack on workers’ rights in over a decade.
“President von der Leyen told workers that lessons have been learned from the mistakes made during the financial crisis, when workers’ rights and sectoral collective bargaining agreements were attacked with devastating results for our society and economy.
“But the draft start-up strategy is straight out of the failed Troika playbook despite the fact the Commission itself says sectoral collective bargaining needs to be strengthened.
Two-tier workforce
“The 28th company regime would also completely undermine the rights that working people stood together in their trade unions to win at national level for more than a century and create a two-tier workforce in every member state.
“If this draft has been leaked to take the temperature of the room, let me be very clear: trade unions will mobilise to fight this every step of the way at national and European level.
“Europe cannot win a race to the bottom. All of the most successful, innovative economies in Europe have strong workers’ rights and sectoral collective bargaining. The Commission must not be bullied out of our successful social-market model which is enshrined in the EU treaties by billionaire tech bros who want to re-write our democratically decided laws to put another zero on the end of their bank balances."
Notes
Leaked EU Start Up And Scale Up Strategy
Response to the Commission’s plan for a 28th company regime for Innovative Companies - Defending workers and labour law
