Labour Standards, Employment And The Eu

EDM number 677 in 2008-09, proposed by Jon Cruddas on 03/02/2009.
Categorised under the topics of Employment and EU law and treaties.

That this House notes that global companies based in Europe are free under EU law to tender for British building and service contracts and to hire their own direct labour force; further notes that such posted workers in the UK have to be paid only the statutory minimum wage, which has the effect of undermining union negotiated collective agreements which are not recognised as `universally applicable' in the UK; further notes that since December 2007 numerous European Court judgments, including the Viking, Laval and Ruffert judgments, have all served to weaken employment standards for working people; calls on the Government to support the European TUC proposals for a Social Progress Protocol to be attached to the EU Treaty so that the internal market is not an end in itself, but helps to improve the living and working conditions of workers and citizens; also calls on the Government to initiate effective reform of the EU Posted Workers Directive so that employers posting workers to the UK are required to observe the terms of appropriate collective agreements as well as minimum terms laid down in statute; finally recognises that what motivates members of GMB, UNITE and other trade unions is not protectionism or xenophobia but a desire for fairness; and congratulates their refusal to allow the British National Party to infiltrate into the action.

This motion has been signed by a total of 99 MPs, 2 of these signatures have been withdrawn.