Underpaid, unpaid, undeclared, and overworked. Unfortunately, this is the reality of working conditions under public procurement contracts. The current public procurement directive is not fit for purpose when it comes to ensuring dignity at work.<\/p>\n
On 15 November 2022, UNI Europa presented its campaign \u201cNo public contract without a collective agreement<\/em>\u201d to the European Parliament\u2019s trade union intergroup which included Sara Matthieu (Greens, BE), Nikolaj Villumsen (The Left, DK), Daniela Rondinelli (Independent, Italy), Marianne Vind (S&D, DK), Marc Angel (S&D, LU), Ilan De Basso (S&D, SE), Marc Botenga (The Left, BE), Leila Chaibi (The Left, FR), Estrella Dura (S&D, ES), and Milan Brglez (S&D, SI).<\/p>\n A worker experience in working for a public contract<\/strong><\/p>\n Nordine Amghar, who works as a cleaner in the European Institutions through a public contract, told the MEPs his experience of how public procurement affects both his wage and working conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cWith public contracts awarded to the lowest bidding company it is the companies that promise to do the most with the least resources that win the bid,<\/em>\u201d explained Nordine.<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies might get less money, but the cleaning work for us cleaners remain the same. What happens is that ultimately we are the ones who pay for this,<\/em>\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n In Belgium, a company taking over a contract needs to keep the same workers and working conditions for at least 6 months. After 6 months, the companies generally reduce the working hours. That means that you need to do the same job, in less hours and thus for less pay. For example, if a company receives a certain budget for 300 m2<\/sup> cleaning, after 6 months the contractor needs to stretch that same budget to cover a much bigger surface: 1000 m2<\/sup>. It is the workers who pay for this with higher workloads. When employees complain, the companies simply state that if they don\u2019t offer to work at low prices, other companies will, and the reality for the workers stays the same. It is obvious that the system is to blame.<\/p>\n Several MEPs reacted, Nikolaj Villumsen (The Left, DK) and Daniela Rondinelli (Independent, Italy) agreed that there is an important role for the EMPL committee and that we must take the opportunity to push the European Commission:<\/p>\n \u201cPublic money should not go to social dumping. We need better working conditions and decent pay. That is why we need to change the rules,<\/em>\u201d said MEP Nikolaj Villumsen (The Left, DK)<\/p>\n \u201cI support the revision of the directive, underlining how the current legislation, focused only on price, is detrimental for workers’ rights, pay and working conditions. Only by aligning the public procurement directive with other EU legislations, such as the minimum wage directive and ensuring that all workers are covered by the most representative collective agreements, we can ensure that workers are adequately protected and fairly remunerated,\u201d<\/em> said MEP Daniela Rondinelli (Independent, Italy)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ?\u200d? Key messages from today’s Trade Union Intergroup of @Europarl_EN<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u2705 No public money via public procurement to companies that do not respect workers’ rights. \u2014 Marc Angel (@MarcAngel_lu) November 15, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
\n\u2705 We defend the Single Market in crisis times, but never give up on fundamental rights, such as the right to strike. pic.twitter.com\/0w7VCODhiW<\/a><\/p>\n