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The ETF and several of its affiliates joined two other European union federations and the ETUC to urge the eradication of discrimination and abuses of social rights among posted workers.
Some 4,000 workers and activists held a rally outside the European Commission building in Brussels on 23 January. The protest, against cross-border social dumping and exploitation, was organised by the European Federation of Building and Wood Workers (EFBWW) and the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT).
The unions are campaigning against European transport sector practices which exploit workers across the border as cheap labour and deprive them of their social rights, in order to increase companies’ profit margins.
The unions are urging the EU to tackle the crucial problem of social dumping of wages, working conditions and social protection. They are also calling for a European Enforcement Directive that contains tangible measures to eliminate these practices and which guarantees equal rights and equal pay for equal work.
Speaking at a press conference the same day, ETF General Secretary Eduardo Chagas said: “Social dumping practices are common and spreading in practically all sectors we represent, although it is in maritime and road transport and in logistics that they have reached their worst forms.
“There is a clear need for awareness raising, in particular towards policy makers and the administrations, on the need to put an end to these practices, respecting those who work in an equal way, whatever their sector is or their nationality.”
A dedicated website has been set up by the EFBWW to collect and present testimonials from European workers and cases of social dumping: http://www.stopsocialdumping.eu/
In the past year, the ETF and its affiliates have also organised actions on the issue as it affects workers in the road and maritime sectors.