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European Labour Authority, unions refer exploitation cases

'Too many posted workers underpaid and denied basic rights'

15 October, 19:08
(ANSA) - UDINE, 15 OTT - A construction worker, a Serbian citizen, was posted from Slovenia to Germany to work on pipe and heating installation on building sites in Heidelberg and Hagen between July and October 2016. He has been waiting three years for over €8,000 in unpaid wages. The employer has since gone bankrupt and the contractor is refusing to pay. This is among the cases of exploitation of posted workers which the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is today announcing will be referred to the new European Labour Authority (ELA) for investigation.

The ELA, which will be launched in Brussels tomorrow (October 16) by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, will support member states in enforcing EU employment rules including those which say workers sent temporarily from one EU country should receive the same pay and conditions as local workers. The management board of the ELA is made up of representatives of national governments, trade unions and employers organisations at EU level.

Ahead of the launch, the ETUC and the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) are publishing details of nine cases involving the abuse of hundreds of vulnerable workers which will be filed with ELA for urgent investigation.

The cases concern workers being sent from Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Slovenia to work in Germany, Austria and Denmark. "Too many posted workers find themselves being underpaid and denied basic rights. This is the downside of free movement for services on the EU internal market - said ETUC Deputy General Secretary Per Hilmersson, trade union representative on the management board of the ELA -. We need to see a crackdown on rogue employers who are making big profits from social dumping at the expense of vulnerable workers". "The cases that we are referring to the European Labour Agency are the result of hard work by trade unions to protect workers but cannot be resolved by trade unions alone. We need the European Labour Agency to investigate wrong-doing and ensure that the rules are being followed in all countries involved", EFBWW's Werner Buelen added. (ANSA).

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