European Union: towards an absolute ban on strikes
For the new generations, born in comfort and in the strange feeling of living in a realized world, the rights and freedoms won, are taken for granted. This substantial distraction has been exploited by governments, especially in the world of work, to gradually make rights as privileges. The European Union, which with the policies of flexibilisation of the labor market had already generated numerous damages, today seems to be returning to the attack.
The potentially dangerous situation was highlighted by the European Trade Union Confederation, the ETUC, in view of the imminent introduction of the "European emergency instrument for the single market". This is the Single market emergency instrument, the SMEI, announced by Ursula von der Leyen already in February 2021 and which will see the light in the next few days. This instrument, with the now customary excuse of a permanent state of emergency, would jeopardize the right to strike.
The ETUC, raising strong concerns, sent a letter to the European Commission, claiming that the SMEI would affect the exercise of fundamental trade union rights, especially the right to take collective action, including the right to strike.
But what is this instrument for the single market? The SMEI is a law, proposed by the EU Commission, which introduces a series of measures capable of facilitating the monitoring of supply chains in critical sectors and, in the event of an emergency, allows intervention on the markets. As we have seen in 2020 and as we will most likely see at the end of 2022 and the beginning of the new year, in the event of an emergency, the European response is to close everything. The lockdowns of the past have in fact created numerous critical issues on the availability of goods and services of strategic importance, the goal is therefore to prevent.
In non-emergency situations, the SMEI activates an early warning system and crisis protocols. Strategic reserves are prepared, EU countries are asked to inventories of essential goods and the obligation for companies to provide information on the availability of essential goods and services. In essence, companies are forced to produce and accumulate goods. If the companies do not comply with the orders, there is the threat of a fine, 300,000 euros.
If the crisis worsens, with the unanimous agreement of the council, the emergency mode is triggered. The intra-EU export of goods relevant to the crisis is prohibited and any restrictions on the free movement of workers involved in the supply are also prohibited. In addition, companies may be obliged to favor certain orders and suppliers. An example is given of a pharmaceutical company, which could be forced to deliver vaccines first to Europe. To do all this, the 1998 regulation that ensures the right to strike would be repealed. Brussels with the SMEI would undermine this right, without being able to restore it.
References:
https://www.etuc.org/en/pressrelease/right-strike-risk-new-eu-law
