Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-30-Speech-3-138"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20051130.13.3-138"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, I would like to comment on what was said by some of the earlier speakers here. Those colleagues who are concerned about flags should bear in mind that if you could eat flags, there would not be a hungry child in the world. We have too many flags as far as I am concerned.
Mr President, I should like to ask you to inform the Commission that the Irish Ferries company is looking to fire its entire workforce and replace it with cheaper labour using the device of reflagging in Cyprus in order to avoid Irish, British and French labour law. Last weekend the company placed security men on board its vessels as a bullyboy tactic seeking to force the changeover of staff.
Contrary to IMO conventions, the company refused to allow trade union representatives to visit the crew on board. This issue has grave implications for every maritime state in the EU and it has resulted in the cancellation in Ireland of social partnership negotiations. There is real fear among workers of a race to the bottom in Europe. They have heard with alarm the attack by Commissioner McCreevy on the Swedish social model, they are deeply concerned about the country of origin principle in the Services Directive and now they see a profitable company pushing wages down to EUR 3.60 per hour: half the legal minimum wage in Ireland.
In this crisis the European Commission must move immediately to reintroduce to Parliament and Council the draft directive on manning conditions for ferries, which this Parliament approved in its first stage in 1999 and which has since been blocked by the Council. They should do this next Tuesday at the meeting of the Transport Council. It is really an important issue and, unless the Commission deals with it as a matter of priority, we are going to see a deepening crisis in Europe."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples