EU working hours vote ‘too close to call’

MEPs remain sharply divided on whether to accept a controversial deal agreed by EU member states on the revision of the EU’s Working Time Directive.

Ahead of Wednesday’s decisive vote in Strasbourg, parliament insiders say the result is currently too close to call.

Parliament’s rapporteur on the proposals, Spanish Socialist deputy Alejandro Cercas, said during Tuesday’s plenary debate that the revision of the directive was worrying millions of workers and that Wednesday’s vote was an opportunity to reconnect with citizens.

The 1993 Working Time Directive set a limit to the average working week of 48 hours. However, the UK won a special derogation at the time allowing it not to apply the maximum 48-hour working week if a worker agrees to work longer, up to a maximum of 60 hours.

MEPs and member states are divided on whether ‘on call’ time (such as the time spent overnight in the workplace by hospital doctors in case they need to treat emergency cases) should be fully counted towards working time limits, and on whether the opt-out should be abolished.

The European parliament’s employment committee recently called for an end to the opt-out, as well as demanding that any on call time should count as working time.

Cercas said, “The idea of working to live and not living to work has been achieved, we cannot go backwards.”

He added that in his view, the opt-out will lead to social dumping, will harm health and safety at work and make it very difficult for people to reconcile work and family life.

The proposed council compromise makes “the opt-out a permanent general rule”, said Cercas, who also said that on-call time should be considered as working time.

UK Greens MEP Jean Lambert, who will join street protests in Strasbourg on Wednesday organised against the opt-out, said “I hope fellow MEPs will listen to the protestors who are in Strasbourg today to demand fair rules on working time.

“Council has demanded an opt-out allowing a 60-65 hour working week. Support for this is too often based on false information and false arguments. This figure – an average, not a weekly cap – would only increase the number of workers already working excessive hours, all too often without even being paid for their overtime.

“Enough is enough: the European parliament must intervene and reject an opt-out allowing a 60-65 hour average working week. Rules must allow people to work to earn a living, not work at the expense of a decent quality of life.”

Welsh MEP Jill Evans called on UK premier Gordon Brown to drop the government’s determination to keep the opt-out. “The UK government has been blocking this for four years. It’s time to give our workers proper rights. It is shameful for Gordon Brown to seek to retain this opt out in the face of massive opposition.

“Keeping the opt-out would actually be a step backwards and makes no sense at a time of increasing unemployment.”

Liz Lynne, the ALDE shadow rapporteur on the issue, backed calls to count on-call time as working time, but accepted that the UK should retain its opt-out clause.

“Workers should be allowed to earn overtime if they wish to. My fear as well is if the opt-out goes, more people could be pushed into illegal work and therefore will not be covered by health and safety legislation including the dangerous machinery directive.

“As far as on-call time is concerned it should all be classed as working time. It is unfair to count time a doctor spends on call in an on call room in hospital for instance in any other way but as working time.”

EU employment ministers, meeting in Brussels on Wednesday are expected to comment on the result of parliament’s vote.

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