The European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) welcomes the European Commission's second-phase consultation on the Quality Jobs Act and supports the objectives to strengthen quality jobs across the European Union. Quality jobs are under pressure. Precarious working conditions and working arrangements are increasingly replacing direct, quality employment. As a result, certain sectors and professions are today facing important labour shortages. Policies aimed at tackling labour shortages should be part of a larger discussion on how to address the attractiveness of the sectors concerned. The quality of jobs is central in this discussion. In that sense the EFBWW welcomes the European Commission’s focus on quality jobs. In the sectors covered by the EFBWW this means to focus on high occupational safety and health standards and ambitious legislative action to regulate and limit subcontracting.
Following this second phase consultation, the EFBWW calls on the European Commission to propose an ambitious Subcontracting Directive in line with available evidence and calls for action. Another focus area should be the OSH legislative framework that is up-to-date and can adequately address new risks such as climate change and resulting challenges related to heat at work and extreme weather events, and new materials and new working methods. No effective legislation without effective enforcement. In this regard the EFBWW welcomes the Commission’s attention for strong inspection bodies at national level, with the support of a strong European Labour Authority at EU level.
In the reply (see download), we focus on subcontracting and occupational safety & health (OSH) as well as on enforcement, areas that are of particular importance to workers in the building and wood sectors.