Frank Moreels of the European Transport Workers’ Union believes Europe should hunt down the organisers of fraud and exploitation. He calls for fair working conditions and equal protection for all workers within the EU. He shares his personal point of view in this contribution.
In the text below, Frank Moreels, president of the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), makes the case for tackling exploitation and injustice in the transport sector. This contribution was written without interference the editors and expresses Moreels’ personal opinion.
Europe is not doing well. While countries like France and Germany reintroduce border controls within the Schengen zone, one of the biggest problems for the transport sector remains unanswered: social dumping. Instead of undermining the core of the European project by introducing controls at internal borders, EU member states would do better to focus their energy on tackling exploitation and injustice in the transport sector.
Social dumping: open borders for exploitation
Recently, Norway, Austria, Germany, Denmark, France, Sweden, Slovenia and Italy reintroduced border controls. Soon, trucks will be forced to dock at internal borders again.
At the same time, truck drivers from Europe or third countries, many of whom are away from home for weeks or months at a time, are being exploited by rogue employers. Those drivers often live and work in inhuman conditions, while receiving a pittance that barely meets basic rights. The strike by truck drivers from third countries last year in Gräfenhausen underlines the desperation and frustration of those workers. They revolted against employers who treat them as modern-day slaves, with no respect for European rules that should protect their working conditions.
The Mobility Package provides for measures around driving and rest times, fair wages and basic labour rights, but compliance with these rules is totally inadequate. In Belgium, where only a handful of inspectors oversee hundreds of thousands of trucks, enforcement is often lacking, giving exploiters free rein. It is no different in other European member states. Without strict controls and sanctions, the Mobility Package remains a paper promise, while social dumping and exploitation increase.
Useless symbol politics
Reintroducing border controls under the guise of security is an expensive, useless and misguided measure that plays into the right-wing extremist narrative. That narrative reduces migrants and cross-border traffic to a threat and mainly plays on gut feelings, without offering real solutions. It presents the image of decisiveness but does not solve any structural problems, such as the exploitation and lack of protection of migrant workers.
While releasing resources to facilitate useless border controls, Europe falls short on social justice. Indeed, the failure to combat exploitation and social dumping is a greater threat to European society. The problem of exploitation in the transport sector requires effective European cooperation and inspection, not rolling back the Schengen spirit.
Call for European solidarity
Europe must focus on fair working conditions for all. The real problem we face today has its roots in the fact that the European Union was created primarily as a large common market, without adequate measures to address the imbalances created by such a large, diverse market.
The answer to the challenges in the transport sector lies not in the reintroduction of borders, but in strengthening cooperation, enforcement and solidarity and a return to the basic principles that inspired this European project.
In cross-border transport operations, this means deploying more inspectors, both at national and European level, and strengthening the European Labour Authority (ELA) with a mandate to actually organise checks. The priority should be to protect those rights instead of blindly focusing on symbol politics.
Instead of hunting down people fleeing war, hunger and violence, Europe would be better off hunting down the organisers of fraud and exploitation. No return to closed borders, but fair working conditions.
It is time for Europe not to follow the rhetoric of division but to make a determined commitment to social and solidarity policies. We must strive for fair working conditions and equal protection for all workers within our Union, regardless of their origin. Only by tackling social dumping across borders can we ensure a transport sector that is fair, honest and future-proof. A return to closed borders is not a solution to the challenges of the future – a united Europe that protects its workers is.
Author: Frank Moreels, president of the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF)
