Focus: Last Chance Saloon

Abstract

Page 8 Volume 23 Issue 2 2016 INTERNATIONAL union rights FOCUS ❐ BREXIT right to take collective action, including the right to strike, is a fundamental right which forms an integral part of the general principles of Community law, the Court went on to conclude that collective actions may – at least in cross-border situations like the once in Laval and Viking – be considered a restriction on the freedom of services and the right to establishment. The result has been that the exercise of trade union rights such as the right to collective action must be justified in light of economic freedoms. This emphasis on the primacy of economic freedoms has created a fundamental in imbalance between the exercise of social rights and economic freedoms. It has had a chilling effect and has left both trade union rights and member states without the necessary tools to properly protect collective agreements. The consequence for workers, in particular posted workers has been unfair competition and exploitation. Addressing the damaging impact of fiscal measures on trade union rights Serious damage has also been done to the European Social Model by measures adopted to comply with EU fiscal rules. Many EU countries have made or have been forced financially to make significant cuts in line with various recommendations made under the framework of EU economic governance, the European Semester process and various ‘Troika’ interventions. Fiscal consolidation has involved tough adjustments aimed at reducing fiscal deficits by lowering public expenditure, raising prices of utilities, freezing or reducing public-sector pay, and capping pension payments and social benefits. Collective bargaining and industrial relations institutions have been damaged. There has been an increase in unfair and insecure working conditions, in-work poverty and in particular youth unemployment. The reduction in coverage of collective agreements , the only real counter to growing wage inequality and to depression in demand, has seen the gap between the highest and lowest paid continue to expand. Quality jobs are being hollowed out and there is an increase in unfair and insecure working conditions incomes are flat and falling. There is every indication that rising inequality is causing social and political instability and workers are losing patience and confidence in the ability of the EU to find ‘social’ solutions. The Lisbon Treaty Reforms have not lived up to expectations The Lisbon Treaty entered into force on 1 December 2009 providing a new legal context and measures for an improved balance between Both EU fiscal policies and rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union have had a negative impact on the exercise of trade union rights ESTHER LYNCH is Confederal Secretary with the European Trade Union Confederation. Esther was elected in 2015, having previously worked with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions as head of legal affairs. Esther is responsible for developing and negotiating the ETUC priorities for the European Pillar of Social Rights and for ETUC actions in the field of labour law and trade union rights. F ollowing the UK referendum the EU as a whole now faces a very difficult challenge. The anger and disillusionment of working people with the EU is not confined to the UK. Much of the criticism is in response to the measures adopted in Member States to address the economic crisis and their impact on workers’ rights. Not everyone has benefited from EU fiscal policies and much harm has been inflicted. Central to many workers’ concerns is that EU protection of their social rights, in particular their trade union rights, are not being accorded equal weight and emphasis compared with the protection and promotion of employers’ economic freedoms. It is not just fiscal rules that have had a negative impact on the exercise of trade union rights, such as the right to collective bargaining and collective action. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has demonstrated a growing preference for promoting the achievement of the single market through negative integration, by removing rules and restricting rights, in particular trade union rights whenever the exercise of these rights can be argued to represent an ‘impediment to the operation of economic freedoms’. But it is not too late to rectify the situation. Social objectives can...