The Belgian Economy Minister, Johan Vande Lanotte and his counterpart, Monica De Connick, Employment Minister from SPA, the Flemish socialist party, filed a complaint for social dumping against the German authorities before the European Commission last week.
Belgian companies in the meat sector are restructuring and relocating to Germany in order to survive.
This is the last straw for Mr. Vande Lanotte and Ms. De Coninck.
In Germany, workers from Eastern Europe, mainly Romanians and Bulgarians, work legally for extremely low wages, less than 5 euro per hour, in excess of 10 hours per day in the abattoirs. They are not covered by social security or health insurance.
Belgian companies in the meat sector feel powerless in the face of this competition which they consider unfair. The majority of them have no choice but to restructure and/or relocate a part of their activities to Germany.
Johan Vande Lanotte explained in the Belgian daily newspaper, Le Soir on the 19 March last that “one of them (a company in the meat sector) does not cut up the meat in Belgium but cuts the carcasses into quarters and sends them to Germany. There, workers on very low wages cut up the meat and it is much more cost-effective. These practices are unacceptable”.
The ministers’ initiative was welcomed by the Collective against social dumping in Europe that filed a similar complaint in 2011 on behalf of the French sector.
To date, the only response from the European Commission is a proposed new directive on the implementation of provisions concerning the posting of workers.
This response is considered to be fairly inadequate by many observers who expect more from Europe.
Germany defends itself by explaining that it complies with all the European directives that authorise workers from the East to work in Germany as “seconded” workers on a temporary basis.
According to the Belgian authorities however, there is a huge amount of fraud and large numbers of Romanians and Bulgarians are there on a permanent basis and are subjected to deplorable conditions.
Also in Le Soir, the Minister of the Economy in Lower Saxony, Olaf Lies, admitted his helplessness: “this problem has existed for four years, but it is now taking on enormous proportions”.
The minister applauds the Belgian ministers’ initiative to lodge a complaint before the European Commission: “If the problem becomes a European one, the pressure will increase and the situation might change. It is high time. A social Europe is supposed to reduce divergence, not increase it as is the case here”.
Until then, German trade unions, particularly the NGG, are fighting to defend these Eastern European workers who are submitted to appalling working conditions.
It is not an easy battle in view of the reluctance of the German authorities and the legislation which does not facilitate the implementation of effective controls.
Germany, and in particular its economy is often held up as an example. We realise after scratching the surface a little that certain work-related practices are comparable to what is taking place in China.
Has Germany become a colossus with feet of clay?
