Brown’s latest U-Turn may cost us dear
Posted, June 07, 2008 @ 00:00
Brussels, Saturday 7th June 2008 -- Monday 9 June will mark the final meeting of the EU Employment and Social Affairs Council held under the Slovenian Presidency, and there is much at stake.
Under discussion will be the future of the Temporary Workers’ Directive as well as a revision of the Working Time Directive, both of which have been blocked in Council for many years. All this is about to change.
Conservative Employment Spokesman in the European Parliament, and currently Acting Leader of the Conservative Delegation Philip Bushill-Matthews commented:
“Gordon Brown’s cave-in to the trade unions in the UK to grant extra “rights” to temporary workers after 12 weeks instead of 6 months, has given the green light to other EU Member States to push for further concessions at the meeting in Luxembourg.
"UK Labour MEPs have also declared that they intend to stay off-message and to campaign for an even shorter time-period when the issue is referred to the Parliament. This will materially affect the number of job opportunities, especially for students and young mothers re-entering the workplace – exactly the sort of vulnerable groups politicians should be trying to protect.
"But an even more important issue is the status of the UK individual opt-out from the Working Time Directive. This will also be discussed at the meeting, and the acknowledged weakness of the Prime Minister will put this under real threat. Brown’s U-turn on temporary workers may permanently cost us dear.”