SIPTU members will join with construction workers from across the EU in a call for the European Commission to take action to limit and curtail exploitation in sub-contracting chains in the construction sector at a protest in Brussels, Belgium, tomorrow (Wednesday, 7th June). SIPTU TEAC Division Organiser, Adrian Kane, said: “At the protest, construction workers will call on the European Commission to take firm action against exploitation in sub-contracting chains. The event is part of a wider campaign by the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) with which SIPTU is affiliated. “A recent study, carried out by the European Commission, shows that sub-contracting is a major risk factor for the exploitation of workers. The longer and more complex the chain is, the higher the probability of crime and abuse.” He added: “Often, companies use sub-contracting chains to disguise employment relationships, circumvent tax and social security payments and hide from controls by labour inspection bodies. Sometimes, sub-contractors vanish without paying the workers the wages due to them after months of working. It is time to put an end to this.” SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Gerry McCormack, said: “This year we mark 30 years of the EU internal market. From the point of view of construction workers there is not much to celebrate. The last three decades have meant less social protection, more precarious jobs, increasingly unsafe and unhealthy working conditions and inhumane competition between workers based on employment status.” He added: “It is time to limit sub-contracting and to promote direct jobs with good working conditions. We also need mandatory social criteria in public procurement processes. No public money should ever go to the exploitation of workers.” The EFBWW has 77 affiliated unions in 36 countries and represents 1.5 million members.
SIPTU joins unions across EU to demand end to exploitation of construction workers
