Young Transport Workers - Conference 2 6 – 2 7 September 2011 Riga

Young Transport Workers - Conference26 – 27 September 2011

Riga

Report on Sectoral SD recommendations

Group E & G – Road Transport

1. Key issues and demands from young workers in the sector

A. What are possible reasons why a young worker does not want to start working in the road transport sector?

Outcome group exercise:

oThe image of the transport sector

Feedback ETF Political Secretary:

•The social partners are aware that the driver’s profession is not attractive (partly due to bad work-life balance and working conditions). The topic will be discussed in the social dialogue next year (2012)


oWork life balance (working on national holidays, weekends, rest time, lack of spare time,…)


•Resting hours are regulated in road transport by regulation 561/2006 (driving and rest time) and by the sectoral working time directive (Directive 2002/15/EC) – hence, rest time is a question of enforcement;

•Much has to do with strict imposed regulations (EU and national level) aiming to improve road safety, and on which the social partners would not open any debate: amongst others, the driving and rest time regulation, working time, as well as nationally imposed week-end bans, etc.

•The social partners will discuss these aspects during 2012




oUndeclared (black) work


•ETF and IRU (International Road Transport Union) have discussed illegal employment practices at two of their recent meetings in the Social dialogue;

•ETF will provide bad practice examples to the IRU;

•This topic will be regularly discussed in the future social dialogue meetings as some of the employers are of the opinion that social dumping practices undermine fair competition and place them on a disadvantaged footing compared to those companies / operators who refuse to fulfil their social obligations;


oNo job security, lack of career opportunities


•This will be tackled by the social partners in 2012




oThe cost of education


•The question of who covers the cost for professional training (driver’s training) is a question of national competence (differs from Member State to Member State);

•Currently, the social partners ETF and IRU are working on a project on driver’s training to get more information – amongst others – how the training cost is dealt with at national level;

•It is more than likely that the social partners will make final recommendations, based on the project output;


B. What are possible reasons why a young transport worker stops working in the road transport sector?


oBad working conditions

oLack of career opportunities

oWork-life balance

oLow salaries


•First three answers: see previous slides

•Low salaries:

• the social partners at European level cannot discuss salaries as this is not their competence;

• however, the ETF will launch a campaign on recruiting international drivers, and part of that campaign will be information on social dumping and what one can do to prevent / address it;


C. What changes need to be made in order to attract more young workers to the road transport sector and increase the likelihood of a long career in this sector?


oReasonable working hours

oReasonable salary


•See feedback previous slides




oImprove the image


•The social partners ETF and IRU will be addressing this topic in 2012, as it is part of their 2-year work programme;

•For the time being, the ETF and IRU discuss the illegal employment practices in road transport and ways to address it;

•Part of the employers – particularly the ones who are complying with all existing national and EU legislation – are very much interested in the topic, as they are ‘victims’ of unfair competition;




oSafety related working conditions,


•the ETF and IRU will consider to start a joint work of cooperation with OSHA (the EU Occupational Health and Safety Agency); this may help boost the joint social partners’ work in this field;

•The ETF and IRU are very active in respect to promoting safe parking areas and rest facilities


oBetter social benefits


•The European social partners have limited possibility to discuss this, as social benefits are a matter of national (Member State) competence;

•However, the sector should comply with the minimum requirements set up at EU level, but not in terms of financial benefits as rather in terms for time-related benefits i.e. length of maternity leave, etc.

3. Recommendations for the European Sectoral Social Dialogue

A. Which topics would you recommend to discuss in the European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for Road Transport?


oCommon perspective on collective bargaining (cabotage)


•The European social partners ETF and IRU are far from negotiating a collective agreement at European level;

•with regards to cabotage, the ETF insists on the enforcement of the Posting of Workers’ directive, as an immediate solution to address distortions and social dumping;




oQuality jobs


•This will be discussed by the social partners in 2012, and it is already part of their work programme;

•In addition, the ETF Road Transport Section will organise a campaign on recruiting international drivers;

•Part of this campaign will consist in developing a dossier (including short video-s, testimonies by drivers, etc.) on the poor level of social conditions in this sector;

•The dossier will be handed out to the EU and national policy makers by the end of 2012;




oRetirement age

oRegulations (taxi drivers, lorry drivers,…)


•Retirement age: The European Social partners (ETF and IRU) have no competence to discuss the retirement age at EU or national level

•Regulations:

• the social partners only have competence to be consulted on social legislation;

• but they can use soft instruments (such as statements and joint position papers, joint actions) when EU law is being decided on;

• at the moment, the ETF and IRU try to develop some joint position on the digital tachograph;




oUnemployment rate among young workers


•This will be discussed in relation to the ageing workforce in road transport, during the social dialogue meetings of 2012

B. Which topics related to young workers would you recommend to discuss in the European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for RoadTransport?


oProfessional training and development

oRegulation concerning harrasment and discrimination

oMore regulation for job security, no longer temporary contracts

oImproved social benefits

oUnemployment rate

Young Transport Workers - Conference 2 6 – 2 7 September 2011 Riga

Documents

Transcript of Young Transport Workers - Conference 2 6 – 2 7 September 2011 Riga