Activities of Elżbieta RAFALSKA related to 2019/2188(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Reducing inequalities with a special focus on in-work poverty (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on reducing inequalities with a special focus on in-work poverty
Amendments (29)
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the risk of the phenomenon of income exclusion among workers accelerating particularly affects not only low-skilled people, but also graduates (including of universities) entering the labour market; whereas the income gap between the highest and lowest earners is set to widen;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas there are numerous economic and social consequences of the existence of the ‘precariat’, such as the collapse of fertility, emigration, the spread of the economically dictated model of young people living with their parents, or stress resulting from a precarious existence, the rise in which significantly increases the risk of numerous diseases, crimes and social problems;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas the spread of the ‘precariat’ may be associated with a fall in work efficiency due to the associated short-term prospects of an individual's activity and lower loyalty to the employer, as well as low wages, and as a consequence may lead to an increase in the budget deficit due to a fall in revenues going to the pension system and public healthcare, as well as to a simultaneous increase in expenditure related to the implementation of social policy;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas homelessness is increasing everywhere, with the exception of Finlandthroughout Europe, and around 700 000 people are homeless14; __________________ 14 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/ag enda/briefing/2020-01-13/11/housing- urgent-action-needed-to-address- homelessness-in-europe
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas old-age poverty continues to increase also in combination with fundamental pension reforms:changes in pension systems, increased healthcare spending, demographic changes and the fact that more and more older people are living in single-person households; whereas the at-risk- of-poverty rate for people over 65 was on average 16.1 % (EU-28); whereas this figure will continue to grow due to precarious and atypical employment15; __________________ 15 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/v iew/tessi012/default/table?lang=en
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas in-work poverty causes work to lose its basic sense of being able to provide a decent life for employees and their families, preventing them from becoming economically independent;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas the number of countries worldwide in which unions and workers are subject to repression increased from 92 in 2018 to 107 in 2019; whereas the increase was highest in EU-28, at 40 %40 % of European countries do not allow workers to join trade unions, and whereas 68 % of countries violated the right to strike and 50 % the right to collective bargaining; __________________ 17https://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/2019- 06-ituc-global-rights-index-2019-report- en-2.pdf
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M a (new)
Recital M a (new)
Ma. whereas making working time more flexible should protect workers from redundancies during downturns and make it possible to employ more workers;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas minimum wage systems vary widely in size, scope and coverage across Member States; whereas the minimum wage is consistently above the defined poverty threshold (60 % gross median) in only three Member States and does not consistently provide protection against poverty in other Member States; whereas some sectors, groups of workers and forms of work are sometimes not included or covered by minimum wage arrangements;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O a (new)
Recital O a (new)
Oa. whereas precarious employment is particularly prevalent among the young and the elderly;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O b (new)
Recital O b (new)
Ob. whereas short-term employment is not conducive to investment in employee development, training and adaptation to the needs of the changing labour market;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P a (new)
Recital P a (new)
Pa. whereas the greatest fluctuations in the number of workers performing precarious work in the EU occur in wholesale and retail trade, transport, hotels and catering services; whereas in these sectors, the number of precarious jobs in the third quarter of 2019 compared to the second quarter of 2019 increased on average by 30 percent.1a; __________________ 1a https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/product s-eurostat-news/-/DDN-20200511-1
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q
Recital Q
Q. whereas unemployment, precarious and atypical employment rose sharpignificantly during the 2008 financial crisis, and in the COVID‑19 crisis the focus is also on social issues with job losses, short-time work, threats to economic survival, e.g. in small craft industries; whereas the middle class is shrinking, the gap between rich and poor is widensocial stratification is accelerating and the disparities within and between Member States are being exacerbated by the COVID‑19 crisis;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Reminds the Commission and the Member States to achieve the goal of comparable living conditions through upward convergence and to counter the increasing inequality and de-solidarisation within and between Member States through appropriate measures, such as the strengthening of collective systems and a coordinated approach to minimum security systems for all age groups, a minimum income, minimum wages and minimum pensions; stresses that these objectives can be achieved through the establishment of instruments such as a national minimum income, minimum wages and minimum pensions, in accordance with the competences and laws of each Member State;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is convinced that the axiom that ‘work is the best remedy for poverty’ no longer applies today in the face of low- wage sectors, atypical and precarious working conditions and the dismantling of social security systems and that a poverty- free life can only be secured by effective collective agreements and minimum wage systems;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, on the basis of their obligations under the ILO Conventions, the revised European Social Charter and the European Pillar of Social Rights, to promote collective bargaining, as well as the right to associate, negotiate and conclude collective agreements, and to respect and enforce the right to fair minimum wages;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the Commission’s plan to promptly propose a legal instrument to ensure that every worker in the Union receives a fair minimum wage21; calls also for this plan to ensure, through legislation or collective agreements, that nobody is at risk of poverty and that everyone can live from their work and participate in society; underlines that the floor should be at least 60 % of the national gross median wage; stresses that if this is too low to live on in relation to standards in a given country, an additional mechanism based on objective criteria should be used to calculate a supplement that ensures a decent lifunderlines that the floor should be at least 60 % of the national gross median wage; __________________ 21 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta- political/files/political-guidelines-next- commission_en.pdf
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the CommissionMember States to ensure mandatory minimum working conditions for all workers, in particular for those employed in atypical and precarious work or the bogus self-employed, either by improving existing directives or through new legal acts, and to ban zero-hour contracts;
Amendment 307 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Urges the Member States to pursue flexicurity policies by strengthening the social security pillar and the pillar of genuine opportunities for upskilling;
Amendment 344 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 347 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
Amendment 351 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 366 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
Amendment 374 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
Amendment 383 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Proposes to the CommissionMember states to change Europeanthe rules so that solo self- employed and non-standard workers can unite and conclude collective agreements;
Amendment 419 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Calls on the Commission and Member States to mitigate the worst consequences of COVID-19 through European and national support, with the allocation of public money, e.g. through SURE, being linked to a ban on shedding existing jobs;:
Amendment 426 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Urges the Member States to invest in the workforce by providing incentives for the organisation of personalised training and courses that enhance, inter alia, digital skills in order to adapt the workforce to the needs of the changing labour market and to counteract the digital exclusion of older workers;
Amendment 427 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 b (new)
Paragraph 22 b (new)
22b. Encourages Member States to invest in increasing access to broadband internet, remote education and learning in rural areas at risk of depopulation and generational poverty;