Belgium : the FGTB states its claims in the negotiations on the revision of legislation on temporary work

The FGTB has expressed its claims in the framework of current negotiations on the subject within the National Work Council: 1/ Leave it to the social partners in each sector to decide whether the limits or prohibition of temporary work should be maintained or not. 2/ Improve the information communicated to union delegations for better supervision of recourse to temporary work. 3/ Reinforce union supervision of recourse to temporary work through the maintenance and redefinition of the grounds for the recourse. Prior consultation of union delegates is required for temporary work intended to “increase the flexibility or competitiveness of the firm”. 4/ Impose an obligation for results on temporary work agencies so that their recruitment and selection procedures allow temporary workers to achieve full-time jobs. 5/ Reject “the idea of employers to tie a temporary worker to his agency by a contract of unlimited duration”. “The firm using a temporary worker must pay him the same wage as to any full-time worker doing the same job, explained the FGTB. A contract with an agency would not offer this guarantee and would create only an unhealthy climate of competition between wage levels”. 6/ Demand that the social rights of temporary workers be respected and improved.  “Temporary workers do not have the security of a full-time contract, emphasized the FGTB. Nor do they have the benefit of any form of prior severance notice or length of service. Correct unemployment allocations also raise a problem. During sick leave, wages are guaranteed only until the end of the assignment, frequently a weekly contract. They have no hospitalization insurance through the company…”