We are committed to fighting in-work poverty, zero-hour contracts, unpaid internships and other forms of precarious work. 

Workers’ status must be clear either as an employee or self-employed. This is particularly important for new forms of employment such as platform work, which too often combine the obligations of the former with the risks borne by the latter.

We want common rules that do not lower national standards for decent working conditions and health and safety at work, and proper contracts, set in EU law. We are convinced that workers should have the right to disconnect communication devices outside the agreed working hours in order to ensure a good balance between professional and private life and prevent work related illnesses. We must protect worker’s privacy against invasive use of data. We cannot allow the digital revolution to become a lose-lose situation for workers.

In today’s society, most people are likely to change job several times and acquire new skills throughout their careers. While some can benefit from opportunities, the new labour market can also create real and objective difficulties for many workers and jobseekers. Strong and concrete public support must be put in place to help workers to adapt and facilitate their professional careers. This implies a push from the EU to boost social investment strategies in all Member States.

The EU must acknowledge life-long learning as a right for every worker and promote in-work education as a standard practice. This means time for training and paid educational leave must be made available for all workers, including those who care for children or dependent relatives. This also means that the rights acquired in one job must not be lost when moving to another employer, contract or country: there needs to be a European framework to make it possible to change or end career without renouncing social security and pension protection.

Strong trade unions and a strong social dialogue are crucial elements for shared prosperity in Europe. They also propose concrete solutions to the challenges workers and employers face. This is why we want to further extend collective agreements to non-standard forms of employment, widen collective bargaining coverage and allow self-employed people to unionise.

We will restart the European social dialogue and continue to support the capacity building of social partners, including both employers and trade unions at the national level and insist that EU policies not only respect but also promote agreements of social partners at EU, international and national level.