Portal de Archena
www.portaldearchena.com
Article submitted by Socialist Youth Archena:
Last June, the Council of Ministers of Labor adopted the text of the Working Time Directive, new legislation with the Community authorities seeking to extend the maximum weekly working time to 60 hours in general, and even 65 for certain sectors, leaving the individual bargaining between worker and employer setting specific hours of work per week, in a practice known as "opting out".
In the coming days the European Parliament will have to decide whether this new directive goes ahead or if, as has happened in other occasions, it is a mere attempt by certain European leaders to compete with countries like China , India and Taiwan, reducing social costs and cutting rights.
For Young Socialists Archena the current text of the Working Time Directive is completely intolerable.
Its adoption would be a terrible lag from the point of view of labor rights and the welfare state and a clear commitment to Europe market, and only market to the detriment of the citizens' Europe in which we believe the Most Europeans, and especially the Spanish, who have always identified the Union with the welfare state and social protection rights, not political "neoconservative," which have proved so ineffective in recent times.
A real nonsense that undermines labor right acquired over 90 years ago when the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted the maximum weekly working time would be 48 hours, thus ending a long history of long hours, and deprives workers of time to develop their life projects and social, greatly reducing their quality of life and the people around him, ultimately the whole society.
But perhaps the most serious of the "Directive of 65 hours" is that part of a concept completely wrong, unjust, unsupportive, and irresponsible on what should be the foundation of economic growth in the Union, and the basis on which should sustain the competitiveness of our economy.
Faced with competition coming from emerging countries, especially the so-called "Asian tigers", the European Union leaders decided to face them using their own weapons: disproportionate workdays, and reduction of labor rights.
An option with a low probability of success, because although that endeavor, the Europe of today can never compete with those countries using those tools.
In short, some of our leaders, most of them conservatives, choose remove one of the cornerstones of the welfare state, and they are wrong.
They are wrong because the future gains to promote education, by training workers, investing in new technologies and R + D + I, and to provide more and better welfare for citizens.
They are wrong because they opt for the easy and cheap, and thereby risking a flop, while opening the door to further cuts in the rights of citizens and workers, those who have been recognized in Europe and we have at the forefront in terms of social welfare nieveles in the world.
They are wrong because their attitude is causing the distrust of the millions of people whose work contributes every day to build a Europe which seems to turn away.
This is not the Europe that we dream and we believe.
Europe is not that we are betting the majority of citizens.
Therefore, we can not do anything to place ourselves completely against that directive, and make public our confidence in collective bargaining is recognized in the Constitution and the European tradition in labor rights, as the cornerstone of building a friendly social Europe the rights of workers and aimed at expanding them.
In this context, young socialists demand that the Spanish deputies in Parliament, regardless of ideological affiliation, to listen to citizens and vote against the measure to extend weekly working time, to undertake appropriate initiatives and necessary to lead the offense with the European political groups in order to maintain the current work week.
And in this sense, some miss an effort by the Popular Party to request their "colleagues" European vote against this directive, as a few weeks ago Secretary of PSOE Organization in Brussels called the whole European socialists.
Because in situations like this people look to politicians, and do not want to pussyfoot served or forgetfulness.
Spanish citizens, and especially the young, overwhelmingly believe that we must continue to lead the construction of a European Union that is committed to social progress in other countries, showing that there is another possible world, a world that is built by looking at citizens and not ignore them.
Young Socialists, like most citizens believe in a Europe of Citizens, in the Europe of rights and social welfare, and we reiterate our position.
No to the "Directive of 65 hours"
Source: Juventudes socialistas de Archena
Privacy policy
- Legal notice
- Cookies