News

The Executive Committee of UNI Europa adopted yesterday a resolution on the European framework agreement voicing its demands that the Commission and the Council respect the Lisbon Treaty (art. 155 TFEU), European social dialogue, and the autonomy of social partners.



The European Commission is currently considering the request of social partners in the hairdressing sector to implement their European framework agreement on health and safety in hairdressing through a Council decision. However, inside the Commission and within certain Member States the hairdressing agreement has become a highly politicised vehicle for those who oppose any EU legislation in the field of social policy and a viable, independent role for social partners.



UNI Europa considers the hairdressing agreement a test case for social dialogue and the EU’s commitment towards social Europe.



In its resolution, adopted by unanimity by all delegations of the UNI Europa Executive Committee, UNI Europa raises three demands:



1. UNI Europa urges the European Commission and the Council to honour the request of UNI Europa and Coiffure EU to give legal force to the “European Framework Agreement on the Protection of Occupational Health and Safety in the Hairdressing sector” by means of a Council decision. 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.



2. UNI Europa condemns the unprecedented attack of several Member States, supported by parts of the Commission, against the hairdressing agreement. Technical issues are used as an excuse for a wider assault on social Europe, on the EU’s objectives to promote social dialogue and improve working conditions of its citizens. It is an attempt to undermine both the rights of the social partners as guaranteed by the EU Treaty for binding agreements (Art. 155) and the EU’s competencies in the field of health and safety at the work place – an area where EU law has made a major difference for forty years.



3. UNI Europa regards the hairdressing agreement as a test case for the Commission’s and the Member States’ commitment towards social dialogue and social Europe. We request both institutions to give a strong and unequivocal endorsement of the right of sectoral social dialogue to conclude sectoral agreements that, as a matter of principle, are made legally binding by a Council decision.





Background

Social partners in the hairdressing sector (UNI Europa and Coiffure EU) took two years to negotiate an agreement which represents and takes account of the interest of workers. 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 and create extra costs for employers and social security systems - unlike the agreement which helps to cut these costs.

The agreement was signed in April 2012, based on trade unions’ and employers’ joint experience and existing best practices. It is a tailor-made solution for small business and embodies the principle of subsidiarity. In accordance with the Lisbon Treaty (Article 155 TFEU), social partners have requested the implementation of this agreement by a Council of Ministers decision. The Commission’s services are currently assessing the framework agreement, before deciding if it will be presented to the Council. However, already at an early stage opposition was voiced against the agreement: in October 2012 nine Member States, led by the Netherlands and the UK, officially asked the European Commission not to forward the framework agreement to the Council of Ministers for adoption as a legally binding decision. The same approach was pursued by Member States and parts of the Commission against two other sectoral social dialogue agreements concluded by ETF, one on working time in inland waterway transport and one on the implementation of the 2007 ILO “Work in Fishing Convention”.



The Hairdressing Resolution can be viewed in the Related Files tab.