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UNI Europa Hair & Beauty and Coiffure EU signed a European Framework Agreement on the Protection off Occupational Health and Safety in the Hairdressing Sector. They jointly requested that the European Commission asks the Council of Minister to make the agreement legally binding through an EU directive in line with Art. 155 of the EU Treaty.

The Dutch government has proposed a joint letter by all Member States that the Commission denies the request by the social partners. So far apparently, Great Britain, Germany, Estonia, Finland and Poland have agreed to sign such a letter.

Oliver Roethig, UNI Europa Regional Secretary, said, “We need to be very clear: we will defend our commitment for a stronger and healthier hairdressing sector against this unprecedented attack! The Dutch and British(?) initiative is driven by the political will to undermine the EU’s social dimension. It is using the current crisis as a pretext to dismantle achievements that have been at the very core of the EU’s success and are so much needed in turning towards a new policy for growth, jobs and social inclusion. This attack by the Dutch government shows total disrespect for the work done by social partners! This must stop!”

At European level, UNI Europa has already written a letter to Laszlo Andor, the European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, together with the ETUC and other European trade union federations. We asked him to intervene and protect social Europe against this attack. We also requested an urgent meeting. (For the letter to Andor, see related files).

We have also contacted several governments and will be talking to Members of the European Parliament.

UNI Europa has asked its affiliates to join force to stop this initiatives. Unions are contacting their governments, national parliament and MEPs, often together with their counterparts on the employers’ side.

This initiative is part of a wider attack on social Europe, on the EU’s objective to promote social dialogue and improve the working conditions of its citizens.

Indeed, the entire European trade union movement is also concerned to hear that the Commission is apparently considering excluding social matters from its work programme for 2013. This seems to cover not only the hairdressing agreement but similar agreements under consideration by the Commission. This is unacceptable!

Roethig in addressing Andor wrote: “Europe is facing a challenging situation in this time of crisis. The Commission has an important role in ensuring that we all pull together rather than become ever more divided. There is a clear need to recognise the role of social dialogue as a means to exit the economic and social crisis the EU is in.”

Some key points of the hairdressing agreement:

· The aim of the framework agreement is to prevent serious occupational health risks in the sector.

· Hairdressing is the most high-risk profession for occupational skin-diseases. For instance, up to 70% of hairdressers suffer from work-related skin damage, which is at least ten times more than the average for workers generally. Such conditions undermine the quality of life for these workers; create extra costs for employers and social security systems.

· The agreement is based on intensive dialogue between the social partners and grounded in scientific expertise.

· We signed this agreement based on the joint experience of the social partners and existing best practices. It is a tailor-made solution for small business and embodies the principle of subsidiarity.

· Ignoring the mutual will of the two sides of industry – the actors concerned – is not only to the detriment of workers and the hairdressing industry but also of European citizens and social progress within the EU.