The main workplace rights to be targeted for supporters of Leaving the EU at next month’s referendum are around working time (although protection against discrimination, fairness for agency workers and health and safety are also in the frame.) Leave campaigners claim that the Working Time Directive…Read more…
Defending the European Social Model in the Netherlands
Today, British Minister for Europe David Lidington MP is in the Netherlands to meet Foreign Minister Bert Koenders. The Dutch take over the Presidency of the EU on 1 January, so they will play a crucial role in orchestrating the EU’s response to David Cameron’s pre-referendum…Read more…
EU court’s common sense decision on time spent travelling to work
The European Court ruling this week was indeed a good decision for people working long hours, a phenomenon that TUC research shows is on the rise again in Britain. But many of those commuters happily seeing the headlines saying “EU court rules travelling to work ‘is work’” could…Read more…
Cameron playing with fire on workers’ rights
The TUC has been criticised for crying wolf over the Prime Minister’s plans to use the EU renegotiation phase of the referendum strategy to attack workers’ rights. But today’s media stories suggest we are spot on the money on both working time and temporary agency workers. The…Read more…
What polling on working time shows about attitudes to Europe
The High Pay Centre launched the findings of some interesting polling yesterday, showing that social measures like the Working Time Directive and restrictions on bankers’ bonuses introduced by the European Union were popular with British people, but not well-understood to originate in Europe….Read more…
Too much unpaid overtime is bad medicine
Today mark’s the TUC’s 11th Work Your Proper Hours Day, which is a campaign against excessive unpaid overtime. This is the first day of the year when the average person who does unpaid overtime would start getting paid if they were to work all their free hours at the start of the year….Read more…