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In June this year the Council adopted a common position on the Working Time Directive. According to the common position the so-called opt-out is kept in place, inactive on-call time in the workplace is not defined as working time and it makes annualisation of working hours possible without safeguard for workers.



The Council position is currently being discussed in the European Parliament (EP) in second reading. On 5 November, the Employment Committee of the EP adopted the report of the socialist Spanish rapporteur Alejandro Cercas with a great majority. His report amends the Council's position on all key points.



The vote in plenary will take place on 17 December in Strasbourg. In plenary Cercas will need an absolute majority on every single amendment in order to vote down the Council's position on the various issues. If he does not get absolute majority, it is the Council's position that will become law.



Although Cercas is working closely together with other political groups, it is not for certain that he will get the absolute majority on 17 December. Therefore it is necessary that MEP's, from right to left, are contacted to ensure that they understand the seriousness of this fight, and the procedural pitfalls.



The European trade union movement will keep up the pressure on this issue before and after the vote on 17 December. On 16 December there will be a demonstration in Strasbourg for "Priority to workers’ rights, not longer working hours". It will be the launch of a broader campaign initiated by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) in the run-up to the 2009 European Parliament elections. The campaign is aimed at fighting the crisis and give priority to jobs, wages and workers’ rights.