TRADE unions said yesterday that ending “social dumping” now depends on the European Parliament after Monday night’s “disappointing” deal in Brussels.
Employment ministers from the 28 member states agreed limited rights for “posted workers” imported from low-wage countries to the pay and conditions of their host country.
The agreement, which must now be approved by MEPs, includes equal treatment for temporary workers and limits the terms of posting from 24 to 12 months — with a possible six-month extension.
The biggest strike in global history is a template for our future. The silence tells you all you need to know, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
MARTYN GRAY asks TUC congress to endorse measures that would help stop the present exploitation of seafarers
The Bill addresses some exploitation but leaves trade unions heavily regulated, most workers without collective bargaining coverage, and fails to tackle the balance of power that enables constant mutation of bad practice, write KEITH EWING and LORD JOHN HENDY KC
It is only trade union power at work that will materially improve the lot of working people as a class but without sector-wide collective bargaining and a right to take sympathetic strike action, we are hamstrung in the fight to tilt back the balance of power, argues ADRIAN WEIR


