English

Español

Français

Русский

Aerospace

Automotive

Base metals

Chemical, pharmaceutical and bio-science

Energy

Glass, cement, ceramic and associated industries

ICT, electrical and electronics

Mechanical Engineering

Mining and DGOJP

Pulp and paper

Rubber

Shipbuilding and shipbreaking

Textile, garment, shoes, leather and textile services

Sectors

Action on textile and garment industry

Clean up shipbreaking

Ratify ILO C176

United for a just future - time to pay up!

Disinvest from Myanmar

Action Plan 2021-2025

Global Framework Agreements

Union building

Women

Youth

White-collar workers

Health & safety

Industry 4.0

Just Transition

Organizing with industriALL

What we do

Affiliates

Statutes

Elected Officials

Executive Committee

Geneva head office

South East Asia

Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

Regional offices

About us

Global worker No1 2022

Global worker No2 2022

Publications

Resources

Press

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Because Brazil&rsquo;s government&rsquo;s refused to cancel an onshore oil and gas licensing round last month, 30,000 workers of Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) took action by striking on 17 December. The strike was coordinated by ICEM-affiliated Federa&ccedil;&atilde;o &Uacute;nica dos Petroleiros (FUP), the National Oil Workers&rsquo; Federation. 
 
Although FUP did not disrupt essential services of state-run Petrobras, it did call on refinery workers in nine states to strike that day. FUP joined with the Rural Landless Workers&rsquo; Movement and several other social groups in mid-December to occupy the reception of the company&rsquo;s headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the Ministry of Energy and Mines building. 
 
The protests were aimed at blocking the government&rsquo;s tenth round of bidding for oil and gas blocks, some 130 exploration tracts, covering 70,000 square kilometers in Sergipe-Alagoas, Amazon, Paran&aacute;, Potiguar, Parecis, Rec&ocirc;ncavo, and San Francisco. The union and its aligned social-group constituency, united under the banner &ldquo;Petroleum Must be Ours,&rdquo; seeks to keep oil and gas revenues inside the national economy, with the money used for social entitlements of all Brazilians. 

<img height="140" alt="" src="" width="140" />
&ldquo;We want Brazil&rsquo;s sovereignty to be preserved after the recent oil discoveries,&rdquo; stated a FUP union leader from Rio de Janeiro. &ldquo;The reserves are strategic and worth trillions of dollars and therefore should be used to improve the quality of life in Brazil and not be given over to foreign companies.&rdquo; 
 
FUP is carrying forth with legal efforts in the form of court injunctions in several jurisdictions to stop the bidding process, a process in which 48 companies were qualified by the government to bid. Those companies include Shell, Hess, Anadarko, and Devon, to name just a few. 
In other news affecting Petrobras, a 28-year-old offshore contract worker and father of one was killed on 4 January when a faulty high-pressure shut-off valve exploded on the company&rsquo;s FPSO P-34 platform. This occurred in the Jubarte field in deep-sea waters off the southwestern state of Espirito Santo. Two other workers were seriously injured. The workers were employed by UTC Engineering. FUP has been highly critical of the state company&rsquo;s safety practices, particularly in its policy of outsourcing strategic work.

Brazil’s Oil Workers Conduct 24-Hour Strike; Seek to Keep Resource Wealth at Home

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
PENGASSAN, the ICEM-affiliated senior staff union in Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas sector, is on the verge of declaring a full scale strike action nationwide. This follows a seven-day warning strike by the oil and gas labour movement, late 2008, which ended without a satisfactory result. The on-going dispute has pitted PENGASSAN and the management of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), particularly PEF Executive Secretary Adefunke Kasali. Kasali, who has been attempting to implement new regional policies which victimise workers in certain areas. 
 
&ldquo;The only thing that could avert this strike is for Kasali to drop the unpopular policy,&rdquo; stated a PENGASSAN representative. 
 
PENGASSAN union members hold significant leverage in Nigeria; its members are supervisors at each of the petroleum depots, which transport fuel and diesel throughout the country. The depots are under the control of PEF. 
<img height="162" alt="" src="" width="154" /><img height="176" alt="" src="" width="170" />
A recent action by the other ICEM affiliate in Nigeria&rsquo;s oil and gas industry, NUPENG, included a joint action with PENGASSAN against the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). Together the two unions issued a 21-day ultimatum to the federal government to rescind its decision to appoint a pre-shipment inspector, Cobalt, or risk industrial action. 
The decision to outsource this work to a foreign firm has angered the unions, especially since the pre-shipment inspection function was already being statutorily performed by Nigerian workers of the DPR. According to union statistics, the federal government will pay up to US$87,400 daily for this unneeded service. 
 
An Edo State PENGASSAN chairman insisted that the deployment of Cobalt &quot;to the country's 21 crude oil export terminals amounts to mortgaging the nation's economic heart beat. NUPENG and PENGASSAN, as responsible unions, cannot, therefore, fold their hands to see this essential sector of the nation's economy ravaged at this point in our nation's history.&quot;

Nigerian Oil Workers Move Closer to Strike

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Aqaba, Jordan, was the venue for the second seminar and workshop in 2008 that brought together Iraqi oil workers trade unions with the country&rsquo;s transport and port workers unions. The programme is part of the ICEM&ndash;International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF) Oil and Gas Workers&rsquo; Trade Union Alliance. The seminar took place from 16-December 16-20 2008. A first meeting took place in Amman, Jordan, in March. 
 
The aims of the Alliance are to discuss, evaluate, and strengthen cooperation between the two Global Union Federations across the entire oil and gas sectors, and their logistical supply chain. Further aims are to develop strategic policy and enhanced organising abilities to jointly influence major companies in the industry, and to jointly organise mutual support and solidarity in achieving these objectives. Iraq is seen as a key country for such cooperation in the Middle East region. 
<img height="170" alt="" src="" width="227" />
The seminar was supported by the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity of the AFL-CIO, which participated as part of their extensive program of assistance to the Iraqi trade union movement. Facilitators were Jim Catterson of the ICEM, Bilal Malkawi of the ITF &ndash;Arab World, and Mary Ann Forbes, Solidarity Centre Country Program Director in Jordan. 
Also participating in the discussions were three Jordanian trade unions, the Port Workers&rsquo; Union, the Petrochemical Workers&rsquo; Union, and the Mineworkers&rsquo; Union. 
The seminar sessions included interactive presentations, which allowed participants to gain a better understanding of the roles of the ICEM, ITF, and Solidarity Centre, including policies towards Iraq and Iraqi trade unions, as well as sessions where participants split into work groups and then reported back to full plenary sessions of the seminar. 
<img height="102" alt="" src="" width="102" />
Participants took time out from discussing their own problems to discuss the year-long lockout of 260 oil refinery workers at a PetroCanada refinery in Montr&eacute;al, Quebec, and sent a statement of support to the workers condemning the company&rsquo;s behaviour, declaring their full solidarity with their fellow workers in Canada and calling on the company to settle the dispute in line with the CEP National Energy &amp; Chemical Bargaining Pattern Agreement. The lockout has subsequently been settled with an agreement meeting union demands. 
 
In the concluding sessions, participants further developed an action plan to build a network between oil &amp; petrochemicals unions and ports unions to improve communication and coordination nationally, regionally, and globally. They returned to Iraq with plans to develop ongoing contacts at a regional level that will meet as a national group again inside Iraq, probably in Iraqi Kurdistan in a few months time. Another meeting will be held towards the end of 2009, again in Jordan.

ICEM, ITF ‘Well to Wheel’ Seminar held in Aqaba, Jordan

Find the following statement in Arabic <a href="/index.php?id=24&amp;la=EN&amp;doc=2957">here</a>. 

The 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers&rsquo; Union (ICEM) has added its voice to the calls for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of border crossings between Israel and Palestine to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. 
 
&ldquo;It is with shock and horror that I have seen coverage of the bombardment of Gaza in what is now four days of Israeli air strikes that have targeted both Hamas and purely civilian structures, including a major university, a television station, and mosques, as well as refugee camps, which serve as homes to many of the 1.5 million Palestinians who live in this densely populated Mediterranean coastal area,&rdquo; said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. &ldquo;The loss of innocent Palestinian lives is deplorable and an immediate and fully respected ceasefire by both Israel and Hamas is now clearly the only way forward.&rdquo; 

According to the United Nations, as well as Palestinian officials, more than 370 Palestinians have died in the air strikes, with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reporting that about a third of those killed since Sunday, 27 December - about 90 Palestinians - were civilians including more than 60 women and children. Over 1,000 Palestinians are said to have been injured, many critically, and hospitals and doctors are struggling to treat the injured in the face of chronic shortages of basic medical supplies and blood.
<img height="72" alt="" src="" width="120" border="1" />
&nbsp; 
The air strikes have been in response to rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza that have reportedly caused the death of four Israelis and followed the decision of Hamas, which controls Gaza, not to renew a six-month cease fire that had brought a semblance of temporary and relative calm to the area until it expired earlier this month. The action by Hamas is also deplorable and has been strongly criticised by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas is the Islamist movement which won Palestinian elections three years ago and then violently seized full control of Gaza last year. 

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, said Israel's use of force was &quot;disproportionate&quot; and Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories, said in a BBC interview: &quot;Israel is committing a shocking series of atrocities by using modern weaponry against a defenceless population - attacking a population that has been enduring a severe blockade for many months.&quot; 

Israel has said it is ready for weeks of action to end the threat posed by rockets, one of which on Tuesday landed in Beersheba, 46 km (28 miles) from the Gaza Strip. An extra 2,500 reservists have been called up by the Israeli army and, on the frontier with Gaza, preparations continue for a possible Israeli ground operation. Israel has declared the border area a &quot;closed military zone,&quot; which prohibits journalists and others from entering. 

There is no entry by sea possible, either. Israeli naval vessels confronted pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break the Gaza blockade by boat about 45 miles (70km) off the Israeli coast in international waters. The activists said one vessel had rammed the Palestinians&rsquo; craft without issuing a warning during the confrontation. The boat put into port in Lebanon with heavy damage on one side.
ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana, also President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in South Africa called on all parties to address the serious humanitarian needs in Gaza. He said, &ldquo;There must be the immediate opening of border crossings to ensure that the people of Gaza are supplied with food, water, fuel and medical treatment. The Israeli blockade of Gaza must be immediately lifted and full, unimpeded and urgent access for medical teams allowed.&rdquo; 

ICEM has received a message from Shaher Saed, General Secretary of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade unions (PGFTU) where he graphically details the suffering Palestinians face, and how Palestinian people only hope to live normal lives without threats of the weapons of occupation. 
 
Saed stated: &ldquo;It is the human responsibility of the international community to devote all efforts to pressure the Israeli government to stop their aggression and attacks on Palestinian people, who not only face death by the missiles, but also face hunger and death due to the lack of bread, medicine, electricity, and drinking water.&rdquo; 
 
Clearly, the ICEM believes, there is no military solution to the situation in Gaza or the wider search for peace in the Middle East. There must be a seriously increased international effort to ensure that both Israel and Palestine have the land, rights, and security to live in peace. 

ICEM fully endorses the recent statement by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and in particular the statement by ITUC General Secretary, Guy Ryder, that &ldquo;the cycle of attack and reaction must be be replaced with dialogue, to bring a definitive end to the conflict and establish the basis for the co-existence of Israel and Palestine as two democratic states in peace.&quot; 
Ryder added, &quot;The international community must bring real pressure to bear to ensure that Israel and Palestine step back from the cycle of violence and follow the path of dialogue. The UN, its Security Council members and all other countries which could use their influence to bring this about, must do so as a matter of the utmost urgency.&quot; 

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, a former General Secretary of the NUM trade union, is also commended by ICEM for having urged Israelis and Palestinians to stop the violence and asked the international community to find a solution for peace in the Middle East. 

&quot;Both parties must do everything their power to come to a solution in order to end the violence in the Middle East,&quot; Motlanthe said in a statement. &quot;Violence and counter-violence would not advance the cause of both the Israelis and the Palestinians. Strength and efforts must not be spared by the Palestinians and the Israelis to find an amicable solution to their problem.&quot; 

Motlanthe called for a two-state solution, with an independent Palestinian state co-existing with an Israel state within secure borders as a lasting solution to the ongoing Middle East conflict. 

ICEM fully agrees with this statement and will continue to work for peace in the Middle East. The Geneva-based ICEM is a Global Union Federeation representing 467 trade unions in 141 countries.

ICEM Calls for Immediate Ceasefire to Ease Gaza Hostilities

The 13-month lockout by Petro-Canada of 260 refinery workers in Montr&eacute;al, Quebec, likely will end tomorrow when unionized members of Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Local 175 vote on a new collective agreement. 
 
Since 2 December, the union and management of Canada&rsquo;s second largest oil company have been engaged in private mediation with Special Mediator Lucien Bouchard, who served as Premier of Quebec Province in Canada from 119 to 2001. That mediation apparently has paid off. The two sides agreed to a tentative agreement late last week. 
 
CEP Local 175 will ballot members tomorrow evening, 23 December. 
 
The union is not releasing terms of the proposed contract until members vote on it, but CEP Local 175 is recommending the proposal for acceptance to membership. CEP Representative Daniel Cloutier said the union&rsquo;s bargaining committee &ldquo;is glad to submit the proposal to the membership,&rdquo; and he predicted it would be accepted. 
 
Petro-Canada locked out workers at the 130,000 barrels-per-day refinery on 17 November 2007. The company was attempting to break from the collective bargaining pattern of the CEP&rsquo;s National Energy and Chemical Bargaining Programme, ironically negotiated first between the union and Petro-Canada at an oil refinery in Edmonton, Alberta, in spring 2007.

Likely End to Petro-Canada Lockout to Come Tomorrow

<img height="68" src="" width="140" alt="" />
A breakthrough came this month in the dispute over trade union rights for workers employed by subcontracting companies of Unilever at warehouses in Turkey. International pressure by three Global Union Federations (GUFs) &ndash; the ICEM, the International Transport Workers&rsquo; Federation (ITF), and the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers (IUF), together with Turkish affiliates &ndash; can be credited with this first and major step toward resolving the dispute. 
 
Management of the subcontracting companies, &Ccedil;ipa and Şimşek, agreed to a protocol agreement with T&Uuml;MTIS, the Turkish Motor Vehicles&rsquo; Workers Union, an affiliate of the ITF, which addresses some of the issues in the dispute. This occurred in December, some six weeks after the GUFs, and ICEM affiliate Petrol-&Iuml;ş and IUF affiliate Tek-Gida-&Iuml;ş, met in a summit in Turkey, and pledged to bring pressure against Unilever on behalf of T&Uuml;MTIS and the subcontracting workers.
<img height="255" src="" width="340" alt="" />
The protocol agreement does not yet give T&Uuml;MTIS recognition status for hundreds of warehouse workers in Gebze, near Istanbul, but it does resolve some issues surrounding the sacking of 87 workers who joined the union. And the employers did agree not to oppose union activity inside the warehouses. 
 
Whether or not &Ccedil;ipa and Şimşek does recognize and bargain with T&Uuml;MTIS is a now a matter that will be resolved in a Turkish labour court. The union agreed to end a continual manifestation in front of warehouses. 
 
Within the protocol agreement, some workers who were fired received payments from employers, while others &ndash; which had won court cases over unfair dismissals &ndash; received add-ons to their indemnity payments. Some workers did get reinstated, while the union is still seeking reinstatement for others. 
 
T&Uuml;MTIS General Secretary G&uuml;rel Yilmaz reported that the protests, and the global labour support, have seen the number of workers who have taken up union membership soar to over 200. He said this has given momentum and renewed motivation among the trade unionists to continue recruitment efforts. 
 
Yilmaz, however, is urging the union partners who joined hands in the 20 October summit to continue their efforts. The ITF will continue to press its trade union rights case in the matter under terms of the OECD&rsquo;s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. 
 
The ICEM, in concert with the ITF and IUF and Turkish trade unions, will continue to monitor this Unilever subcontractors&rsquo; case, and press for union recognition and a collective agreement for the subcontracting workers. &Ccedil;ipa and Şimşek are companies that handle and distribute Unilever products in Turkey and throughout the Middle East.

Joint Global Union Action Gives Contract Workers of Unilever First Grasp of Victory in Turkey

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
ICEM leaders and senior managers of French-based chemicals multinational Rhodia travelled to Brazil from 2-5 December for a second round of monitoring the Global Framework Agreement. This kind of joint mission was first realised last year in China with a view toward making sure the agreement is properly implemented at specific workplaces. 
ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda, ICEM Latin America/Caribbean Vice-President S&eacute;rgio Novais, and Chemicals and Rubber Officer Kemal &Ouml;zkan represented the ICEM, while Rhodia&rsquo;s Exeuctive Vice-President Bernard Chambon&ouml;, Sustainable Development Director Jacques Kheliff, and Communications Vice President Lucia Dumas participated, as did the Brazilian team of Rhodia, headed by Latin American President Marcos De Marchi. 
<img height="210" alt="" src="" width="280" />
The social partners discussed the global agreement in Brazil in general, and specifically, at the regional headquarters in S&atilde;o Paulo. The delegation visited plants in Paulinia, Santo Andr&eacute;, and Cubatao, and met with local trade union leaders at those worksites. 
The ICEM team was informed about products, technology, safety, health, and environmental matters, and received information on salaries, social benefits, staffing, and local community relations in the plant visits. 
In terms of trade union representation, all Rhodia workplaces are organised by six different unions, each with collective agreements. The ICEM proposed a network among these different unions so coordination can occur and a common dialogue can happen at the national level. 
<img height="210" alt="" src="" width="280" />
&ldquo;I am pleased by the positive results of our agreement with Rhodia,&rdquo; commented Warda. &ldquo;The successful visit to Brazil, coordinated effectively by management, has shown us that a GFA can be a positive tool in industrial relations at the global level. 
&ldquo;It also secures an understanding on how local and national level social dialogue can proceed in a cooperative manner,&rdquo; Warda added. The Global Framework Agreement with Rhodia was renewed in March 2008, and now contains succinct language related to union recruitment and company neutrality.

ICEM, Rhodia Monitor Global Agreement at Brazilian Plants

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
One of ICEM&rsquo;s newest affiliates held a workshop in Bandung, Indonesia, 24-26 October, and keenly identified areas of growth for the dynamic trade union. Federasi Serikat Pekerja Pulp Dan Kertas Indonesia (FSP2KI) had 30 participants from 14 mill-level trade unions attend. Six of those unions are branches of FSP2KI, with the potential great for the union to increase its membership due to unions enthusiastic attendance by the others. 
 
The workshop was sponsored by Svenska Pappers, the Swedish Pulp and Paper Workers&rsquo; Union, which has been working closely with the union. The conference heard presentations on the work of the ICEM, as well as work being done by Pappers by Bala Somahsundram, a leader in the Paper and Paper Products Manufacturing Employees&rsquo; Union of Malaysia. 
<img height="186" alt="" src="" width="230" />
From left, Malaysian Union&nbsp;Leader Bala Somahsundram; FSP2KI President Irzan Zulpakar; H.M. Mansyur; and&nbsp;FSP2KI Gen. Sec. Etin Rodiana 
Indonesian paper, packaging, and converting trade union leaders also heard from H.M. Mansyur, chairman of the Indonesian Pulp and Paper Association (AKLI). He told delegates that 50% of Indonesian pulp production is exported, while that figure for paper products is 40%. 
 
He also told of a massive new development coming &ndash; American-based International Paper Co.&rsquo;s decision to build a 1.5 million tonne-per-year pulp mill, and development of 500,000 hectares of timberlands. The US$4 billion project will be undertaken in central Kalimantan on Bornea Island, Indonesia. 
 
The conference included FSP2KI union activists from Indonesian mills of Asia&rsquo;s biggest forest companies, including PT Riau Andalan mills, owned by Singapore-based holding group Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL) and PT Lontar Papyrus&rsquo; Jambi Mill, owned by Pinto Deli Pulp and Paper. Potential affiliates consisted of workplace leaders from PT Indah Kiat&rsquo;s three mills, which are 60% owned by Asia Pulp and Pacific (APP); and PT Kertas Nusantar, owned by Anugera Investment, an Indonesian company. Leaders from several other mills, packaging plants, and tissue operations also took part. 
<img height="140" alt="" src="" width="260" />
The trade unionists forged an agenda that includes insistence that employers negotiate with the respective workers&rsquo; representatives over any negative impact from the current global economic crisis; that FSP2KI study any ambiguities in its constitution; and that the union begin an aggressive reach-out at all Indonesian pulp and paper mills. FSP2KI also will seek paper industry data from the ICEM, including information on the use of hazardous chemicals and materials used in the paper industry. 
 
Even with a global slowdown in pulp and paper, Indonesia&rsquo;s pulp and paper industry is expected to grow by 4.1% in 2009. Exports of pulp and paper from the country expanded in the first half of 2008 to US$1.9 billion, compared to US$1.6 billion for the first six months of 2007.

Indonesian Paper Union Identifies Organising Targets with Help from Sweden’s Pappers Union

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Early in 2009, collective agreements will expire for 30,000 downstream oil workers in the US. In a 45-day period from mid-September to 27 October, local branches of the United Steelworkers &ndash; representing those production workers &ndash; ratified a 12-point national pattern bargaining programme, in addition to granting the union strike authorisation. 
 
That bargaining agenda will aim to gain a share of oil industry&rsquo;s vast profits, which would help ease a US recession by putting money in the pockets of working families. It also is intended to address health, safety, and environmental requirements, grant adequate pensions, and give sufficient medical coverage to workers, their families, and retirees. 
<img height="202" alt="" src="" width="140" />
USW Vice President Gary Beevers 
&ldquo;This strong ratification of the oil policy and strike ratification shows how united and determined the membership is in getting a fair contract,&rdquo; stated USW Vice President Gary Beevers, who heads the union&rsquo;s oil bargaining programme. &ldquo;By adopting the policy, the local unions agree that their contracts will not conflict with it.&rdquo; 
 
Most of the collective agreements between the USW and oil companies expire 1 February 2009. With last month&rsquo;s overwhelming ratification, both national and local branch bargaining will begin in December with an exchange of proposals. The USW will negotiate with the industry to set a national pattern on wages, benefits, and working conditions.
The union is seeking term limits of three years, until 2012, and substantial wages increases, in addition to cost-of-living adjustments. It also seeks increases in shift differential, two added holidays, and no regression on previously agreed terms and conditions. 
 
USW will also be negotiating for union neutrality at non-union worksites, renewal and expansion of successorship language regarding new companies taking over enterprises, and additional occupational death coverage. In mid-September, the union&rsquo;s National Oil Bargaining Conference was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and shaped the agenda, which then went to branch unions for ratification, and granting of the strike sanction. 
 
The union represents workers at scores of US and Caribbean refineries, as well as pipeline, transportation, and marketing staff in the downstream sector. Employers include Shell, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, BP, ExxonMobil, and other refiners us Tosco, Tesoro, Sunoco, and LyondellBasell.

US Steelworkers Ratify Oil Bargaining Platform

<img height="39" alt="" src="" width="100" />
Political agreement was finally achieved at the European Parliament over the Directive on Temporary Agency Work. MEPs passed &ndash; without amendment &ndash; a second reading. Adoption by the plenary on 22 October in Strasbourg, France, now means that the Council of Europe will formally adopt the statute in the coming weeks. 
 
The directive gives agency workers equal protection and equal treatment from day one of employment as permanent workers receive. That covers the &ldquo;essential conditions&rdquo; of work and employment, such as hours, overtime, rest time, paid leave, and non-discriminatory policies. 

<img height="73" alt="" src="" width="110" />
The directive does grant national social partners the flexibility to set specific aspects related to temporary employment, such as equal pay and a negotiated time frame of the temporary period. This would allow collective agreements to address governance of agency work, as well as for national legislation to enact laws and work regulations. 
 
Member-states now have three years to implement the directive into their national legislations, or to ensure and enable social partners to introduce provisions through agreement. 
 
The second-reading vote took place six years after the directive had been first proposed. A first-reading vote, that included some 26 amendments, occurred in June of this year. The Council endorsed a common position on the directive in early October. 

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomed the end of a long political deadlock, and gave special praise to the strong language on equality. The equal treatment principle, said ETUC General Secretary John Monks, &ldquo;will not only apply to national situations but also to cross-border agency work. This is very important in the current times of increased mobility of workers and services.&rdquo;

EU’s Directive on Temporary Agency Work Passes Final Hurdle in Strasbourg on 22 October

Archive