Date: Day #9 of the “Stop pay fo fly“ campaign, (May 7th, 2015), 1500-1700.
Event: European Parliament (EP) meeting – Committee on Employment and Social Affairs – Current situation of employment and working conditions in the European civil aviation sector. –Exchange of views with experts. EMPL(2015)0507_1
[ECA vice president John Horn (second from the right) at the EP with his team and a SNPL member_picture courtesy ECA]
Since only Irish Examiner covered the event, the following is our best attempt to do so from the inside in the most suitable way.
Backstage plot – politics
–MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) from the EMPLOYMENT & TRANSPORT Committee of the European Parliament to put a parliamentary question before the European Commission on P2F–
Awareness on the P2F issue is growing in the European Parliament following the growing success of our petition and the latest events (ECA Conference on Atypical Work, hearing at the Transport Commitee, personal contacts with members of the European parliament).
German MEP Ms Jutta Steinruck has been present in many of these events and made several interventions pleading for the end of abusive employment practices in aviation, highlighting P2F in particular.
We have learned that she has now put a written parliamentary question to the Commission, co-signed with other MEPs.
Stakeholders – defending general interest
[Mrs Chicca, Mr Horne and Mr Turnbull from foreground to background]
During the EP meeting, in order, intervened among the expert speakers:
- Emmanuelle Jahan, European and International Social Dialogue Commitee Chairman and permanent social affairs representative of Air France-KLM in Brussels (1)
- Elisabetta Chicca, Chair of the Cabin Crew Committee for the ETF (European Transport workers Federation) (2),
- John Horne, ECA Vice-President and professional pilot (3)
- Peter Turnbull, Professor of Human Resource Management and Labour Relations at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, (4)
- Lien Valcke and Dirk Gillis, Coordinator of IRIS (International Research Institute on Social fraud), both European study co-authors (5)
Were voiced clearly, the aviation sector challenges, namely:
- Unfair competition due to labour outsourcing, social contribution evasion and subsidy bias; flags of convenience with intermediary businesses setups, fiscal imbalance (1);
- Social security rules for mobile staff, abnormal use of precarious and temporary workers that ultimately endangers European jobs, wages and safety (2);
- Atypical employment (zero hours contracts, P2F…), authorities rules enforcement and oversight, home base, visa rules for air crew (3);
- Social dumping through fake independent workers (Ireland, Ryanair & bogus self employment) (4);
- European study proceedings & findings presentation (5).
[full video transcript available at europarl.europa.eu]
More than voicing concerns, our stakeholder representatives issued solutions and alternatives, which should be praised and looked at very carefully (apprenticeship instead of p2f?).
Together with the recent Danish report on “social dumping & rule shopping in aviation” where, quote:
“The EASA has also, following a Danish submission and at the request of the European Commission, initiated an analysis of the possible impact of the new business and employment models on aviation safety”._page 7
…that complements fairly well 2014’s French National Assembly report on passengers’ safety in air transport, we are now looking forward to said EASA findings…
