Eurolink News

MEPs ask ministers to limit working week (18/12/08)

December 18, 2008 at 6:23 pm Leave a comment

Consensus reached at the European Parliament this week on the long-running dispute over working hours comes as welcome news for workers and trade unions across the EU. MEPs in Strasbourg have agreed to a revised version of the Working Time Directive, which if adopted, will soon make the 48 hour working week the legal maximum in all member states. At the moment, 15 countries including the UK avail of a special opt-out clause which allows people to work up to 60 hours a week if workers agree. The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to abolish this opt-out facility three years after the directive is adopted.
MEPs have also declared that any period of ‘on-call’ time should be counted as working time – a question of particular concern to doctors and GPs. Dublin Labour MEP Proinsias De Rossa described the agreement struck in Strasbourg as ‘a historic win on decent working hours, which will ensure that the health and safety of over 200 million workers in the EU is protected.’ Sinn Féin MEP Mary Lou McDonald paid tribute to the trade union movement for its campaign work on the issue, claiming that ‘Society as a whole will benefit from this approach.’
The revised directive will now be negotiated between the Parliament and the European Council of Ministers in a process known as ‘conciliation’.

Entry filed under: Workers' rights and the EU. Tags: .