On Thursday 9th February 2012 MUBE General Secretary Dr. Adrian Borg LL.D. attended and participated in a meeting of the EU Social Dialogue Committee on behalf of the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions (CMTU) – this Committee brings together representatives of the European Trade Unions and employers’ organizations, these two entities in EU jargon are called the social partners. It is pertinent to note that through these social dialogue meetings the social partners have managed to negotiate a considerable number of autonomous agreements at European level which they implement themselves, and in the same way in which a private writing would be legally binding between the parties to the agreement. Some of the agreements between the social partners have been transformed into binding EU legislation.

The European Commission via its Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, promotes social dialogue in the EU.  European social dialogue is a term that is used to describe the vast network of discussions, negotiations, consultations and joint actions or any other type of intercourse between the two sides of industry – employers and workers.  There are two main forms of social dialogue – a tripartite social dialogue that also includes public/governmental/EU authorities, and a bipartite social dialogue involving European employers and trade union organizations.

MUBE recently participated in a conference organised by the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) launching the Research Report emanating from the European Social Fund co-funded project ‘Unlocking The Female Potential’ ESF3.47.  This is the result of two years’ research wherein a total of 6,300 people were interviewed.

The study involved research activities which focused on learning and understanding what hinders women to get involved in training and employment.

Topics covered in the report were:

• The Situation of the Male and Female Entrepreneurs and Vulnerable Workers in Malta
• The Relevance of Economic Independence to the Maltese Female
• Analysing Inactivity from a Gender Perspective
• Gozitan Women in Employment

The minimum wage is usually established by law but in certain countries collective agreements are being used as a mechanism to regulate the minimum amount of money that a worker must receive in exchange for his work. The level of wages plays a crucial role in the economy. Not just a cost to business, wages and salaries give consumers the spending power needed to purchase goods and services. The amount of the minimum wage it is not updated every year, and does not always increase. 21 of the 27 EU countries have a statutory minimum wage in force. This sets a floor below which wages can not fall, and may help to boost wage equality during the recession. Most of the countries without the national minimum wages have actual minimum wages which are agreed through collective agreements.

The purpose of this meeting is for UNI Europa to influence the decision making, to better understand Commission initiatives and to work for results that are in line with UNI Europa Finance policies. These meetings should be win–win in nature and this is achieved by

(i) Receiving relevant information on the content and impact of EU initiatives,
(ii) Receive information and advice on decision making,
(iii) Give advice and share in depth knowledge on financial services, employment and social issues and
(iv) Give in-depth presentations on issues of particular interest or concern.

On the 22-23 November 2011 MUBE  attended an International Labour Organisation (ILO) conference, organized by their International Training Centre  in conjunction with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the EC/DG Employment, Social Affairs and Integration, on the ‘Conversion of Precarious Work into Work with Rights’ which was held in Budapest, Hungary. This was the final conference of 3 previous seminars which dealt with the different aspects of precarious work. Precarious work, in its wide sense, is defined as covering all types of employment relationships which are atypical in the sense that they differ from the open-ended, full-time employment contract, in particular part-time contracts, fixed-term contracts, zero hour contracts and temporary agency work.  Undeclared work in the meaning of paid, lawful activities that are not declared to the public authorities is also to be considered as a type of precarious work. Those among the self-employed who are in fact bogus self-employed or are economically dependent workers in spite of their being formally self-employed are covered as well. In short the main characteristics are fewer rights and less protection than their permanently employed counterparts.

MANAGING ANTI-DISCRIMINATION AT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

At a recent concluding seminar held in Brussels and coordinated by Federazione Autonoma Bancari Italiani (FABI), it was stressed that anti-discrimination practices should come more to light on the place of work.  The Malta Union of Bank Employees – MUBE partnered eight other European Banking Unions which were invited to attend workshop and training sessions with the intention of testing levels of knowledge and approach seeking best practices in managing anti-discrimination at financial institutions.  For this concluding session, the employers present for the roundtable discussions where represented by the Diversity managers of two global Banks through UNICREDIT Austria and HSBC Group Malta. This project was funded by the EU – Director General - Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.

Definition:

When writing about European Works Councils EWCs), it must be said at the outset what in fact the EWCs are and what are theirs legal basis. They are several existing definitions of EWCs but in fact they mean the same thing. One of them says that European Works Councils are “ bodies representing employees of companies operating across borders in different (EU) Member States. Another states that “The institution of the European Works Council is one of the possible, and most frequently used in practice, forms and information system - the consultation on transnational company operating in the European Community” In the context of understanding what the EWCs are and what is their role, it is worth to quote Mr Vladimir Špidla (European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities) who said in Brussels in February 2008 that ‘European Works Councils have a key role to play in anticipating and managing the social dimension of change in large enterprises Europe-wide. They also contribute to improving corporate governance – a key factor in sustaining competitiveness’

European Trade Unions Initiatives on New Skills and New Jobs for Europe

A conference organized by the European Trade Union Confederation - ETUC was held recently in Brussels entitled “For a Trade Union version of the New Skills, New Jobs Initiative”.  The central theme of the conference was that the severity of the financial crisis has introduced a considerable degree of uncertainty about the future of the world’s economy.  In order to put Europe on the road to recovery it is essential to enhance human capital and employability by upgrading skills.  However, the upgrading of skills is not enough, ensuring a better match between the supply of skills and labour demand is equally important.

The conference was opened by John Monks, ETUC General Secretary who stated that it is quite difficult to attract trade union interest to skills and training, however, it is becoming an increasingly crucial subject for the trade union movement.  The topic was first launched by the European Union in 2008 and is one of the seven flagship initiatives in the EU’s 2020 strategy.  The ETUC has been critical of the strategy, stating that it is too long-term and the ETUC would have preferred a shorter five-year strategy.

The project aims at the activation on the ECVET network in order to set ground and create realistic opportunities to apply the ECVET in the BIF sector which employees more then 6 million people in Europe. It clearly addresses the need, as stated in the ECVET consultation document, of "a system whereby people can follow through the process of qualification while moving from one learning context to another. ECVET thus aspires to be an information exchange tool to help individuals take full advantage of learning acquired, in particular as a result of transnational mobility, whether the context was formal, non-formal or informal."