Our rights at work aren't red tape
We hear a lot about Europe's bureaucracy from the current government and last Friday MPs voted whether to give the British people their first say on the European Union for almost 40 years. Cameron wants to negotiate a 'new settlement' in Europe - and he's made it clear that he wants to scrap Europe-wide guarantees of minimum rights at work, quite clearly perceived as a perfect example of EU inflicted, growth-suppressing red tape by the Tories.
Decisions made in Europe have a real impact on the North East Economy; according to South Bank University there are over 140,000 North East jobs dependent on EU trade alone. While leaving the EU does not imply that these jobs would disappear overnight, the concern is that our region and its employers would certainly be at a competitive disadvantage. In the last 5 years £498 million from EU funds has been invested in the North East for local business development and training for the long term unemployed.
The facts remain:
50% of direct foreign investment to the UK comes from other EU member states, worth £351 billion a year.
51% of UK car and commercial vehicle exports in 2012 went to the EU
The EU is the largest economy in the world, worth £11 trillion. (USA is worth £10.3 trillion, China £5.4 trillion and Japan 2.7 trillion.)
This all adds up to a significant economic advantage to being part of the European Union. It would also be remiss not to emphasise the crucial employment benefits for working people it has brought - at least 1 day off a week, 20 minutes break if you work more than 6 hours, 11 hours rest from work each day, not working more than 48 hours per week if you don't want to and 4 weeks paid holiday a year. These are merely a handful of the hundreds of employment rights negotiated by European Governments and guaranteed by European Law. These currently fundamental rights are the 'bureaucracies' David Cameron wants to negotiate away from Europe, prior to a referendum.
I participated in a recent British-German Trade Union Forum aimed at strengthening alliances with German trade unions and learning more about the industrial policies of one of the strongest economies in the world. During this forum TUC General Secretary, Frances O'Grady called for a People's Plan for Europe's economy and labour market. The plan - based on the post-war Marshall Plan which rebuilt war-torn Europe - would rebalance Europe's economy towards long-term, sustainable investment.
It would involve an injection of 1-2% of European GDP in the form of infrastructure investment, skills training and research and development, minimum wages and higher pay generally. It would also introduce workers onto company boards and regulate zero hour contracts, unpaid internships and domestic workers' rights.
Contrary to anti-EU rhetoric, being part of the EU appears to be helping UK workers, employers and the economy more than its own government.
Beth Farhat
Regional Secretary
Northern TUC
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