Company Rights not Superior to Workers' Rights
23 May 2007
Congress has broadly welcomed the publication today of the Advocate General's opinion in the Laval case particularly the confirmation that private companies do not enjoy greater rights than workers.
Speaking after the publication, Congress Legislation & Social Affairs Officer, Esther Lynch said: "This is an extremely complex and lengthy Opinion, which needs to be studied very closely. Nonetheless we welcome the fact that in a core issue in this case - workers rights versus companies' rights - the Advocate General has reaffirmed that workers enjoy a fundamental right to collective action, which is not trumped by the entitlements of private companies.
"Indeed, in the words of the Advocate General's, 'it is incontestably incumbent on the Member States to ensure that trade unions are able to defend their members' interests by collective action within their territory.'"
Ms Lynch also welcomed the fact that the Advocate General's Opinion stated that the right to take collective action is allowed: "...not only in order to defend the interests of trade union members but also to enable them to pursue legitimate objectives recognised by Community law, such as the protection of workers in general and the fight against social dumping in the Member State concerned."
However, Ms Lynch said Congress had some concerns about the statement in the Opinion that the objective of collective action must be 'proportionate' and whether the test for 'proportionality', contained in the Opinion, could actually work in practice.
Ends