34 Amendments of Brando BENIFEI related to 2021/2005(INI)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
— having regard to Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 b (new)
Citation 6 b (new)
— having regard to Regulation (EU) No 492/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on freedom of movement for workers within the Union,
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 14 a (new)
Citation 14 a (new)
— having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 9 June2021 on no green deal without a social deal10new, __________________ 10newINT/903-EESC-2020, adopted on 09/06/2021
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 15 a (new)
Citation 15 a (new)
— having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 29 October 2020 on social dialogue as an important pillar of economic sustainability and the resilience of economies taking into account the influence of lively public debate in the Member States11new, __________________ 11new OJ C 10, 11.1.2021, p. 14
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16
Citation 16
— having regard to the opinionstudy of the European Economic and Social Committee of 31 August 2020 on an EU legal framework on safeguarding and strengthening workers’ information, consultation and participation,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 27 a (new)
Citation 27 a (new)
— having regard to the position of the European Trade Union Confederation of 9-10 December 2020 on a new EU framework on information, consultation and board-level representation for European company forms and for companies making use of EU company law instruments enabling company mobility,
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the regulatory landscape of the Union in the field of employment law and company law remains excessively fragmented, which could results in a lack of legal certainty on applicable rules and rights for both employers and employees; whereas it is essential to reinforce the Union’s toolkit in these fields by introducing an ambitious framework Directive that streamlines and simplifies the applicable legislation and that reinforces workers' rights, notably the right to information, consultation and participation;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas democracy at work plays a key role in strengthening human rights in the workplace and society, not least when trade unions and workers’ representatives are actively involved in business due diligence processes; whereas more democracy at work would be an effective way of addressing the inequalities at work and in society; whereas workers in democratically organised workplaces would have a greater trust in democratic values and motivate them to engage actively in political activities that could lead to a more robust democratic culture; acknowledges that democracy must be lived by citizens, also at work;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas social justice and in particular democracy at work are firmly embedded in international and European human rights instruments and standards; whereas democracy at work has enlightened social progress in Europe and in the world for more than a century, whereas the ILO was precisely founded in 1919 in the belief that social justice was essential to reach universal and long- lasting peace22a; whereas social dialogue, collective bargaining and workers’ representation form core ILO values and rights and are provided for in numerous ILO Conventions and Recommendations23a, whereas also the Council of Europe counts democracy at work amongst its core values as expressed by the European Convention of Human Rights24a and the European Social Charter25a; __________________ 22a ILO Constitution (1919), ILO Declaration of Philadelphia (1944). 23aReferences to ILO Conventions No. 87, 98, 135, 141, 151 and 154 and related Recommendations. 24aArticle 11 Freedom of assembly and association. 25a Articles 5 (Right to organise), 6 (right to collective bargaining), 21 (right to information and consultation), 22 right to take part in the determination and improvement of the working conditions and working environment), 28 (right of workers' representatives to protection in the undertaking and facilities to be accorded to them) and 29 (right to information and consultation in collective redundancy procedures).
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas workers’ participation and collective bargaining are essential to address the complex impact of restructuring in the challenging recovery that lies ahead; whereas a significant number of restructuring processes are currently ongoing because of the Covid- 19 crisis; whereas the disruptive impact of the pandemic has accelerated the pace and enlarged the scope of company restructuring; whereas restructuring has become a permanent feature of company life;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas companies with a higher- level of worker participation have survived the last economic and financial crisis better than others in regards to operating profits, capital market valuation, employment development and investment in plant and machinery and research and innovation;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
Ec. whereas research shows that participation at the workplace contributes to company performance, job quality and well-being; whereas according to Eurofound21a, fewer than one-third (31%) of companies in the EU27facilitated the regular direct participation of employees in organisational decision-making and that the strength of worker participation in the EU has declined over the past decade22a; whereas over half of establishments in Sweden (56%) and Denmark (55%) were characterised by regular, high influence direct engagement with employees, but only around a fifth in Poland (20%) and the Netherlands (21%); __________________ 21a European Company Survey 2019. 22a ETUI contributors. "Benchmarking Working Europe 2020" ETUI, The European Trade Union Institute. ETUI, The European Trade Union Institute, 01 Feb. 2021. Web. 08 Jul. 2021.
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E d (new)
Recital E d (new)
Ed. whereas the COVID-19 crisis, like no other previous global threat, has laid bare the structural nature of gender-based inequality and discrimination along with its consequences, with a large number of women working on the frontline as health professionals, care workers, cleaning and maintenance workers, domestic workers, and in other jobs, fighting the virus while often having to balance family responsibilities during lockdowns;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas studies have shown that worker participation enhances productivity, innovation, work organisation, gender equality, decision-making and alternatives to crisis-induced employment reduction22 ; __________________ 22FitzRoy, F., Kraft, K., ‘Co- determination, Efficiency and Productivity’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 43, Issue 2, June 2005, pp. 233-247; Kraft K., Stank J., Dewenter R., ‘Co-determination and innovation’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Vol 35, Issue 1, 2011, pp. 145-172; Jirjahn U. (2016), ‘Works Councils and Employer Attitudes toward the Incentive Effects of HRM Practices’, Research Papers in Economics n°7; Wheeler J. (2002), ‘Employee Involvement in Action: Reviewing Swedish Codetermination’, Labor Studies Journal, Vol 26, Issue 4, pp. 71-97; Gregorič A, Rapp M. S. (2018), ‘Board-Level Employee Representation and Firms' Responses to Crisis’, available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=3012999 (Scandinavia).
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas the Recovery Plan offers to both employers and workers an unprecedented opportunity for innovation to finance sustainable and digital investments and projects; whereas the timely and effective employees' involvement in the programming and in the carrying out of these projects is essential in order to adequately identify, anticipate and manage their potential transformative effects on the workplace and on the relations between social partners;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Acknowledges the different legal frameworks for board-level worker participation in 18 EU Member States and Norway; highlights that the scope and intensity of worker participation in company boardrooms varies greatly; highlights that digital and green transitions are greatly affecting the world of work and that the more resilient and sustainable companies are those with well-established systems of workers participation in company matters;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes that divergence persists between EU countries regarding the quality, timing and effectiveness of information and consultation before corporate decisions are made. Restructuring processes are not carried out equally across Europe. Dialogue about alternatives to redundancies and plant closures could range to none up to genuine exchange of views depending on the EU country where it takes place;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Regrets that the 2002/14/EC establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees, and the 2009/38/EC European Works Council Directive(Recast) did not help to close the gaps as the impact of information and consultation on company decisions remain limited;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to establish the necessary conditions and requirements in order to have at least 80 % of corporations covered by sustainable corporate governance agreements by 2030, establishing strategies agreed with workers in order to positively influence environmental, social and economic development through governance practices and market presence, improve directors’ accountability as regards integrating sustainability into corporate decision- making, and promote corporate governance practices that contribute to company sustainability, with reference inter alia to corporate reporting, board remuneration, maximum wage ratio difference, board composition and stakeholder involvement;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Stresses that workers representatives must have the right to be informed about the use of posted workers in subcontracting chains and be able to contact these workers, in line with the obligation established on article 8 of the Temporary Agency work Directive, which obliges the user undertaking to provide information on the use of temporary agency workers to bodies representing workers;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission to make the necessary improvements to the frameworks regulating SEs and European Cooperative Societies and to the Company Law Package, and to amend Council Directive 2001/86/EC to introduce minimum EU rules governing employee representation on supervisory boards; including the need to adapt to new thresholds;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission to deliver on its commitment to put forward without further delay a directive on binding human rights due diligence and responsible business conduct, including workers’ rights such as the right to organise and collectively bargain and worker's participation rights, health and safety, social protection and working conditions; stresses that this directive should establish mandatory due diligence covering companies’ activities and their business relationships, including supply and subcontracting chains, and should ensure the full involvement of trade unions and workers’ representatives throughout the whole due diligence process; underlines that both national labour inspectorates and the ELA must be able to conduct inspections throughout the chain, are open to file complaints, and can offer mediation, on all EU companies and companies wanting to access the internal market;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Is convinced that introducing and monitoring new digital technologies in the workplace successfully and in a trustworthy manner will require timely and meaningful information for and consultation withof trade unions and workers’ representatives to ensure full respect for their health, safety, data protection, equal treatment and well-being at work and prevent undue exploitation and surveillance of workers, in particular via management by algorithms; underlines the fact that trade unions and workers’ representatives should have the necessary access and means to assess and evaluate digital technology; stresses that social dialogue structures, collective bargaining, information, consultation and participation of trade unions and workers’ representatives are key to provide the necessary support for workers to better build and be part of the uptake and monitoring of sustainable digital technology at the workplace;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Believes that a consistent EU strategy is required to equip companies and workers to cope with a fair green and digital transition. The European Parliament already proposed in 2013 a legal framework for the anticipation and management of change that must secure that meaningful workers’ information and consultation take place with a view to shape sustainable and socially acceptable restructuring and leaves no worker behind33a; __________________ 33aEuropean Parliament resolution of 15 January 2013 with recommendations to the Commission on information and consultation of workers, anticipation and management of restructuring.
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11b. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, together with social partners, to commit to reaching collective bargaining coverage of 90 % by 2030 in those national systems that combine statutory and social partners’ regulation of employment and working conditions; stresses that collective bargaining contributes to the social market economy, as aimed for in the Lisbon Treaty; reiterates that the European treaties, which explicitly protect the autonomy of social partners, and the self-regulatory systems in place in some Member States, must be protected in order for social partners to regulate autonomously, ensuring strong legitimacy and collective agreement coverage progress; calls on the Member States to remove any national legislation that hampers collective bargaining, including by ensuring trade unions’ access to workplaces for the purpose of organising;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)
Paragraph 11 c (new)
11c. Workers’ rights to organise, to union representation, to freedom of assembly and to collectively call for reforms within their workplaces are fundamental aspects of the European project and core principles of the social model that are affirmed and legally upheld by the European institutions; calls on the Commission to complement the activities of Member States to protect workers in the exercise of these rights and to prevent and sanction union busting practices, including by proposing minimum requirements for gradual implementation according to the procedures provided for in the Treaties.
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 d (new)
Paragraph 11 d (new)
11d. Underlines that reforms in Member States should not negatively affect collective bargaining and that it needs to be promoted at sectoral level, including by supporting the capacity- building of social partners; urges the Commission and the Member States to fully involve social partners in European policymaking, including in the European Semester process; stresses that labour reforms at national level have to contribute to the implementation of the EPSR, including principle 8 on social dialogue and involvement of workers, collective bargaining and respect of the social partners autonomy, the right to collective action and to be informed and consulted in good time on the transfer, restructuring and merger of undertakings and on collective redundancies; calls on the Commission to analyse labour reforms in the NRRPs on these specific aspects and to reject those that might be counterproductive to this principle;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses the need to strengthen, enforce and consolidate all the relevant EU laws to ensure that information and consultation is an integral part of company decision-making at all levels within companies, from each local workplace to the transnational level in companies that are active on a European scale;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls on the Commission to undertake urgent and decisive actions towards Member States and European companies to make sure that workers’ information, consultation and participation rights are respected and that companies comply with legal requirements;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses the importance of ensuring timely and meaningful information and consultation across the EU before any decisions are made about policies or measures, including those with cross- border implications; emphasises that trade unions and workers’ representatives must have access to the requisite expertise to assess the implications of these cross- border policies and processes for the workforce and to develop alternatives; stresses that a genuine dialogue must take place on those alternatives between trade unions and workers’ representatives on the one hand, and company decision-makers on the other hand;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Highlights the importance for employees’ representation, in particular, the European Works Councils, to participate meaningfully, with an effective information and consultation, in the drawing up and in the implementation of new business plans with a transnational impact on workers, including any digital innovation processes; stresses also that workers' representation should take part in the elaboration of social plans, which should be an integral part of such business plan, aimed at governing changes that may affect workers and generate redundancies;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Calls on the Commission to systemically include workers’ participation as relevant aspect in European company law initiatives and establish a "participation- mainstreaming" in order to introduce information, consultation and participation elements into European law;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. Employees’ right of information should always be ensured in a timely manner and should also address the potential quantitative and qualitative effects on jobs, working time and work organisation, and the changes deriving from the digital innovation processes and products, for example, with regard to smart or remote working;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Considers that companies should make progress in guaranteeing diversity and gender equality including equal pay at the workplace; urges the Council to make progress on the so-called women on boards Directive34a; calls for application of the 40% quota to both non-executive and executive boards (independently considered), both in private and public- owned companies, with progressive adaptation of the national legislation; __________________ 34a Commission proposal of 14 November 2012 for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on improving the gender balance among non-executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges and related measures (Women on boards directive)