***TRADE UNIONS STILL CONCERNED OVER FUTURE OF AIR TRAFIC CONTROL
European trade unions are still up in arms over the reduction of air traffic control budgets proposed for the 2015-2019 period. These cuts were ratified by member state experts during the Single Sky Committee meeting, on 4 February (see Europolitics 4803). The reductions are less than those initially proposed by the European Commission but are still “very challenging for air navigation service providers (ANSPs) and their workers,” says Riccardo Rubini, chair of the Air Traffic Management Committee of the European Transport Workers‘ Federation (ETF).
The Commission initially proposed to reduce global air traffic control costs in Europe by 2.5% a year between 2015 and 2019 – in other words, a reduction of 12.5% for the whole period. Experts from the member states finally settled on 10%. The experts also reviewed air traffic control unit costs – the cost of air traffic control per plane – and agreed on a 15% reduction over the five-year period, even though the Commission proposed 22.41%. However, opposition from member states (France, Spain and Italy) allowed for some of the EU executive’s original proposals to be adjusted.
The ETF’s Political Secretary for Aviation, François Ballestero, told Europolitics that “We’re annoyed because [the figure] is still very high but at least we have achieved something”. To recall, these cost reductions form part of the performance targets that have been placed side by side with air navigation in the single European sky framework. The ETF organised an action day, on 30 January this year, to oppose it, which ruffled a few feathers in the European sky. The next move? “We’re going to assess it. An ETF committee will meet up next week,” Ballestero stated.
The ball is now in the member states’ court, which are likely to turn down the EU’s proposals for national targets, which will in turn be re-assessed by the Commission.
The ETF committee will use the meeting on performance targets as an opportunity to review the single sky legislation reform, which is expected to be adopted at the European Parliament’s plenary session on 13 March. It is a touchy subject for trade unions, seeing as Parliament’s Committee on Ttransport (TRAN) has proposed to open support services for air navigation, such as meteorology information, up to competition. Very often, these services still fall within the existing monopolies. But according to MEPs, air navigation service providers will in the future have to compare offers from various support service companies, and decide on the most advantageous one in terms of financial viability and quality. The ETF is against opening up to competition and is considering the idea of supporting an amendment that would make tendering procedures optional.
FROM THE ITUC:
Qatar World Cup Workers’ Standards: no legal enforcement, no worker rights
Brussels, 11 February 2014: Qatar’s new World Cup worker welfare standards do not deliver fundamental rights for workers and merely reinforce the discredited kafala system of employer control over workers, warned the International Trade Union Confederation.
Forced labour continues in Qatar today with no workers’ rights. No migrant worker can be protected by any safety standard unless they have the right to collectively speak out about wages and conditions at work, said Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, ITUC.
The kafala visa sponsorship system ties workers to their employers, as they cannot leave the country or move to another employer without permission. Qatari law denies migrant workers the right to form or join trade unions.
“Not a single change has been made or recommended to Qatar’s laws that deny workers their fundamental rights. No workplace voice or representative is allowed for migrant workers in Qatar. A worker welfare officer appointed by the employer is no substitute for a duly nominated worker representative.
The promise to provide freedom of movement for workers is a sham, as Qatar enforces segregation of workers on a racial basis.
These standards are built on an old, discredited self-monitoring system which has failed in the past in Bangladesh and other countries where thousands of workers have died.
With no legal compliance mechanism such as a tribunal, there is no possibility of enforcing even these provisions,” said Sharan Burrow.
The Supreme Committee Welfare Charter:
· Foresees the use of illiterate workers who can use a thumb print to sign documents;
· Provides one social worker for 3500 employees, who is able to spend at most 41 seconds per week dealing with each worker;
· Sets up a telephone hot line for worker complaints with no detail of who will answer the phones, or the process as to how grievances will be handled. The existing hotline has been a complete failure;
· Would mean labour camps with a total area of 8 million square meters are needed for the 500,000 extra workers that Qatar says will be required to build the World Cup;
· Fails to set up a system to record deaths of workers or to ensure autopsies;
· Recommends recruitment agencies approved by the Ministry of Labour, who routinely charge fees despite laws that prohibit these practices;
· Has no reference to ‘heat’ in regard to working conditions in a country where workers toil in up to 50 degrees for half the year;
· Indicates no intention to prosecute contractors for breaches; instead workers are simply sent home to their country;
· Only applies to a limited number of workers in Qatar.
“If FIFA are serious about Qatar continuing to host the World Cup in 2022, they will demand freedom of association such that workers can be represented by those they choose.
They will demand immediate steps to end kafala, immediate steps to give workers the rights to negotiate wages and conditions and set up effective legal compliance through a tribunal system for complaints,” said Sharan Burrow.
“This charter is a sham for workers. It promises health and safety but provides no credible enforcement. It promises employment standards but gives migrant workers no rights to collectively bargain or join a trade union. It promises equality but does not provide a guarantee of a minimum wage.
Unlawful practices will only continue with these provisions, which reinforce a system of forced labour with kafala. Qatar’s announcement is reaction to public pressure, but it won’t take the pressure off workers.
Similar provisions announced by the Qatar Foundation nearly a year ago have made no difference. The death toll of workers in Qatar has increased. Qatar has to change its laws, nothing else will do,” said Sharan Burrow.