Recruitment and organising in logistics (2009)

Description

This ETUI-ETF course examined how best to organise the workforce in logistics. This was no simple matter owing to the wide range of contracts in the logistics industry, with many workers having short-term contracts or being pressed by employers to work on an independent and/or subcontracting basis, and the need to organise both white- and blue-collar workers. The conclusion was that a general collective agreement was needed at European level, which covered all the sectors involved in logistics and all the categories of workers and laid down a series of key rights, including: maximum working hours, minimum rest periods, health and safety regulations, minimum wages, minimum social benefits and equal rights for third country nationals. In order to work out the details of the proposed agreement, good cooperation would be needed between unions in many different countries, so improving networking and cross-border structures was essential.