Social and employment aspects of restructuring processes: the need to protect jobs and workers’ rights

Highlights that the delivery of a European industrial policy for quality jobs requires the full involvement of social partners and needs to be implemented through social dialogue and collective bargaining; calls on the Commission to present an ambitious quality jobs roadmap and to implement the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights;

calls on the Commission to ensure the full involvement and consultation of social partners in the design and implementation of the upcoming European clean industrial deal and to include the overall objective of ensuring job quality and stability at EU level;

‘Urges the Commission in the context of the forthcoming revision of the European Public Procurement Directive to further promote collective bargaining and the use of the social clause, and preferential treatment for companies whose workers are covered by collective agreements;’

‘considers, furthermore, that no EU financial support should go to undertakings that do not comply with the applicable working and employment conditions and/or employer obligations resulting from EU or national labour law or the relevant collective agreements;’

‘believes that this support should also be used to promote European industrial competiveness and the creation of quality jobs in the EU and promote collective bargaining and compliance with EU and national labour rights and laws, including decent working conditions; calls for EU funding and State aid by Member States to be aligned with a European industrial policy, in order to offer high-quality jobs, promote collective bargaining, respect of EU labour rights and standards, improve the competitiveness of European businesses and ensure improved working conditions;’

‘Acknowledges that achieving digital and green objectives will create opportunities and might at the same time require transformations or restructuring processes in many sectors; stresses that social dialogue in the anticipation and management of these processes is essential to safeguard and create quality jobs and manage unavoidable job losses with enough support and can contribute to achieving a climate-neutral economy that sustains its social, economic and environmental standards; highlights that restructuring processes must respect fundamental workers’ rights, such as the right of information and consultation;’ without the words: ‘and green’ and ‘and can contribute to achieving a climate-neutral economy that sustains its social, economic and environmental standards;’

‘calls on the Commission and the Member States to take action to reinforce and promote collective bargaining and work to increase the collective bargaining coverage to at least 80 % in all Member States, in full respect of the autonomy of the social partners and of the right of collective bargaining;’ without the words: ‘and work to increase the collective bargaining coverage to at least 80 % in all Member States’

‘emphasises that workers should be beneficiaries of restructuring, including when they transfer to a new equivalent job within their current firm or sector, or as they reskill to transfer to a job in a future-proof sector, all while being adequately assisted and compensated;’

‘Is alarmed that European company law provisions, as well as their interpretation in some legal cases, are creating loopholes and are enabling the circumvention of mandatory national board-level participation rules;’

‘reiterates its call to introduce a new framework directive on workers’ right to information, consultation and participation for European companies, in order to establish minimum standards for information, consultation and participation for those company forms, in particular at company level;’

‘Emphasises that one of the most effective ways to prevent the need for restructuring is through the proactive anticipation and management of change through collective bargaining and information and consultation;’

‘calls on the Commission to present a proposal for a directive for a just transition in the world of work to inter alia strengthen democracy at work with regards to measures concerning climate change, the digital transformation and restructuring, as well as the anticipation and management of change;’

‘urges the Member States to ensure the right to training for all workers free of cost and during working hours, to ensure quality upskilling or reskilling, life-long learning, employee training and career development support; points out that upskilling and reskilling should be prioritised as far as possible before job cuts are considered;’ without the words: ‘to ensure the right to training for all workers free of cost and during working hours,’

‘notes that, when job-to-job transition is necessary, transition to a strategic or growth sector should be promoted while allowing workers sufficient time for adjustment, while providing the necessary support to facilitate the transition and avoiding workers’ financial losses;’

‘the Member States to put in place mechanisms that help to avoid forced redundancies, such as temporary support programmes to protect employment during transitions, avoiding the loss of strategic industrial capacity and skilled workforces;’

‘whereas the transition to a green, digital and competitive European economy is necessary to maintain the European social model, but can itself only be achieved if people are sufficiently protected from the potential adverse social consequences of major economic changes;’ without the word ‘green’

‘whereas social dialogue, collective bargaining and strong trade union involvement are essential for ensuring workers’ information and consultation rights during restructuring processes; whereas workers’ involvement through information-sharing, consultation and participation in company decision-making processes is more important than ever to ensure a fair and just transition, competitiveness, and the economic growth of companies and to protect jobs and workers’ collective interests, such as decent working conditions, fair wages and equal treatment; whereas the just transition is about supporting social justice and upward social convergence and ensuring fair burden-sharing, while safeguarding a sustainable, resource-efficient and competitive economy,’

‘whereas only 40 % of European trade unions report having sufficient resources to represent workers effectively during restructuring processes; whereas trade union representatives trained in restructuring negotiations are 50 % more effective in preserving jobs; whereas, according to Eurofound, a lack of resources and skills, as well as time, have been identified as a key obstacle for social partner engagement in shaping the just transition, particularly at the local and regional levels;’

‘whereas it is essential to ensure job creation and decent working conditions, supporting the transition to a sustainable and profitable economy, long-term economic viability and environmental sustainability; whereas the transformation of our industrial base provides an opportunity to strengthen European autonomy, reverse deindustrialisation, create secure and stable jobs and help us meet climate and environmental targets, while protecting workers’ rights and people at the heart of a social Europe;’

‘whereas retraining funding for workers made redundant as a result of large-scale restructuring has been provided through the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, benefitting thousands of European workers;’