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European guidelines for Road transport should reinforce social needs, unions demand
18 April 2007
Challenges lie ahead for quality jobs and balanced legislation in the Road transport sector, as addressed by union representatives from 16 EU and non-EU countries during the TRUST Road Transport Workshop held in Budapest last 17-18 April. European guidelines should therefore serve to overcome social weaknesses and be rooted in an understanding of the existing constraints, they stressed.
The magnitude of restructuring across the sector was deeply analyzed together with policy makers, experts and employers. Some of the issues highlighted include:
- Industry concentration/ consolidation: big companies merging with other big companies
- Small companies struggling for survival and enjoying only big companies’ spare
- Strong concentration-profit relationship
- Trend towards logistic providers, leading to problems related to sub-contracting
- Increased mobility of workers with impact on the ‘career path’: creation of new low-skilled workforce, low paid jobs, shortage of experienced workers
Against this background, unions shared concerns over the need for strategies to expand and improve employment opportunities. They also convened that creating more and better jobs to counteract market-generated unbalances requires action on many fronts, amongst which:
- Information/statistics regarding working conditions, pay and working time
- Collective rights: revision of existing legislation; better enforcement; new legislation
- Health and safety at work
- Individual rights regarding salary warranty; working and rest time; temporary work; European definition of cabotage; securities
- Articulation between restructuring, Lisbon Strategy and environment
Environmental issues were particularly considered throughout the debate.
Coming next: Railways Workshop: 14-15 May (Warsaw); Maritime Transport Workshop: 20-21 June (Brussels); Inland Navigation Workshop: 26-27 June (Budapest).
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