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| Europe | ||
| EU calls for shorter work week to create jobs | ||
| 2009-05-08 | ||
| EU leaders on Thursday called for a shorter working week and extra state-funded retraining programmes as recession threatens millions of jobs. However, the results of a special EU meeting on the continent's labour crisis failed to impress union leaders who are increasingly concerned about mass lay-offs. With the recession expected to wipe out 8.5 million European jobs over two years, top officials from the Czech Republic, Sweden and Spain -- the current and future EU presidencies -- agreed to focus on identifying job opportunities, upgrading skills and encouraging labour mobility. "We haven't signed up to those conclusions. They are not enough, it's very general," John Monks, secretary general of the European Trade Union Confederation, told AFP. The talks also revealed more philosphical rifts as the free-market friendly approach of Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and Sweden's Fredrik Reinfeldt clashed with calls for a social market economy from European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso. "We all agree on the goals, but we may not always agree on the means," Topolanek, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, said. In one of the more specific conclusions, the EU said in a statement that member states should "maintain as many people as possible in jobs, with temporary adjustment of working hours combined with retraining and supported by public funding."
"We have to work through businesses and employees to try to develop our welfare model and create an atmosphere conducive to investment and jobs," added Reinfeldt, whose country will take the EU presidency on July 1. The meeting proposed stepping up training for young unemployed, less red tape and more encouragement for people to move to where jobs can be found. Barroso highlighted the "changing social situation" and added "there can be no economic recovery on the foundations of social collapse just as there can be no social progress in an economic desert." The "troika" style meeting was a much-reduced version of the full-scale EU jobs summit with all 27 heads of state and government that the Czech Republic had envisaged. Union leaders said the shrunken attendance was a sign of a lack of interest. "It's a pity it's not the major social summit which we would have preferred," said Wanja Lundby-Wedin, European Trade Union Confederation president. However Spanish Labour Minister Celestino Corbacho declared that "this is the first time during the crisis that we are going to deal specifically with the issue of unemployment." Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister and chairman of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, warned recently that the EU faced a "social crisis" if EU leaders failed to respond to the economic slump and job cuts. Lamenting that the summit had been downgraded, Juncker said: "Even if you don't have any ideas at this stage, that doesn't mean you should not get down to tackling the problem."
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| Posted by:Beavis |
| #5 This just in: The EU is full of morons with no concept of how wealth is created. |
| Posted by: ChrisW. 2009-05-08 13:55 |
| #4 Given the difficulties of firing unwanted or unneeded employees in the EU, companies are not likely to hire very many, even with a shortened work week. They'll just make the remainder more efficient. The only companies who'll hire more will be shops and restaurants, who need bodies to cover hours... of course, that's where increased employment is visible, so it's a win/win, I s'pose. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-05-08 13:12 |
| #3 Fwance already tried this. Wanna tell us how that worked out? Idiots. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-05-08 12:21 |
| #2 If there is no work/demand, it doesn't matter how short the bureaucrats want to make the work week. The employer will only 'tool up' and hire when demand increases. Decreeing a shorter work week only makes the loss of assets/costs lesser, it doesn't create more product or service. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-05-08 10:12 |
| #1 Pretty much how we got the 40 hour, 5 day workeweek 70 years ago. They could cut the work week to 4 hours, one day, and they'd still have swarms of unemployed immigrants on the dole. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-05-08 10:07 |