Ebulletin: Issue 55, May 2008

Temporary and Agency workers deal in sight

There was warm welcome from my colleagues in the European Parliamentary Labour Party to the news that the government has reached agreement with the TUC and CBI over proposals to bring the employment conditions of temporary and agency workers into line with those of staff doing the same job on permanent contracts. We have long pressed for a deal to end the unfairness of up to 1.4 million workers in Britain receiving less pay and no holiday rights compared to colleagues doing identical jobs but on permanent contracts.

At home, the government was lobbied by trade unions who wanted equal terms and conditions for agency staff from “day one” of their contracts, and business representatives who claimed that there should be a year’s delay in employees gaining such rights in order to maintain “flexibility”. In the end, the government has decided that a three month waiting period is a suitable compromise, and some rights -including pension rights - are not to be included in the package.

The Business Secretary, John Hutton, will now take the UK’s agreement to his European colleagues in the Council of Ministers and seek to negotiate an EU-wide deal. Previous proposals for an Agency and Temporary Workers Directive have failed to achieve the necessary support amongst Europe’s national governments. Any proposals achieving this now will still be subject to approval and possible change in the European Parliament before they can be adopted into law. So we have some way to go yet before the deal is done.
However, I am confident now that agreement can be reached, and an important piece of employment protection across Europe can be put in place.

Biofuels scam “makes a mockery” of green transport pledges

Linda questioned the European Commission in Strasbourg last week over a rogue American subsidy scheme which is blamed for costing jobs and harming the environment. The "splash and dash" scam involves European biodiesel being shipped across to the US where just a “splash” of fuel is added, allowing American traders to claim subsidies from the American government for “blending” fuels. The product is then shipped back to Europe where - because of the subsidy - it can be sold more cheaply than the market price.

Biofuels are increasingly being used to replace traditional fossil fuels in the fight against climate change and have been strongly supported by governments on both sides of the Atlantic. Linda described the practice as “making a mockery” of EU attempts to make transport fuels more environmentally friendly.

The European Biodiesel Board claims the “splash and dash” has already cost jobs in Britain and Germany.

Solidarity Fund floods latest

Readers may have seen press reports suggesting that EU officials had reduced the amount of funds made available to the UK through the Solidarity Fund for flood relief. This is not really accurate. The EU has made available the full amount of £110m. The reduced figure of £31m quoted in the media is the result of the way in which the Treasury deals with EU funds. Additional funds from the EU this year will reduce next year’s rebate from Brussels. To avoid a shortfall next year, it seems the Treasury has reduced the amount of Solidarity Fund money released now.

The Floods Minister John Healey explained; “The European Union Solidarity Fund is governed by strict rules which are designed to ensure that it is used only to compensate public bodies… for the costs they incur during a major emergency. It is not and never has been available to compensate individuals… Thanks to the EUSF, Britain will benefit from an extra £31m. But rather than using this to cover the Government's own costs we will distribute it to local government to help those affected by the floods.”

MEPs back new discrimination rules

Labour Euro-MPs criticised Conservative colleagues after they failed to back a report that recommended a comprehensive “horizontal” directive to ban discrimination on grounds of age, disability, religion or sexual orientation. At present, there is a patchwork of EU and national legislation covering the different forms of discrimination.

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