Euro candidates must restore workers’ rights:
UNISON Scotland launches manifesto for Euro elections
on 4 June
by Chris Bartter
UNISON Scotland has called on Euro election candidates
to back campaigns to overturn negative European legal rulings
and restore the human rights of working people, following
backing from the Scottish TUC in Perth last week.
Along with the RMT union, UNISON called for a ‘Social Progress
Protocol’ to be inserted into the Lisbon Treaty – to hold
employers to national collective agreements and to back
the right to strike.
Jane Carolan, from UNISON’s National Executive announced
that UNISON Scotland had released a European election manifesto,
which calls for a range of measures to be introduced to
defend workers rights.
It is calling on Scottish members to judge the policies
of the political parties on a range of issues – workers’
rights, the environment, anti-racism and others - before
they cast their vote.
Jane said “Recent decisions of the European Court of Justice
have asserted the primacy of the economic freedom of business
and undermined national labour law and collective agreements.
“The Viking, Laval, Ruffert and Luxembourg judgements have
made clear that the market rules, and that public services
and employment and collective rights are therefore always
under attack. “Unless we defend our rights we will end up
in a Europe in which capital roams free and where labour
is cheap, plentiful and unprotected – neo liberalism writ
large”.
The Viking judgement said that the collective action by
the Trade Unions contravened Article 43 of the EU Treaty
- the right of business to freedom of establishment anywhere
in the EU. In Laval, the collective action of trade unions
was deemed to be in breach of business freedom to provide
services within another EU state. The same considerations
apply in Ruffert and Luxembourg. ..More
on STUC pages
The manifesto is available on the UNISON-Scotland website
www.unison-scotland.org.uk/
revitalise.
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