14 Amendments of Andrea COZZOLINO related to 2013/2093(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes the importance of the retail sector, which accounts for almost 15 % of the EU’s total employment, skilled as well as unskilled, and in particular its importance for young people; notes as well that 29 % of all EU enterprises, including a very high share of SMEs, are engaged in this sector; considers, therefore, that measures of a more practical nature are needed to bolster and promote quality employment in the sector;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Considers that, due to the economic recession, there has been a significant loss of employment in the sector, including among large retailers, and that it has had to resort more than previously to compelling employees to work shorter hours; observes that some multinationals, while maintaining positive levels of profitability, have used the crisis as a pretext for reducing staffing levels, increasing workloads, using wage subsidy schemes and reducing working hours;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Highlights the importance of addressing the mismatch between labour force skills and the requirements of the retail sector, so as to enhance employability, especially of young people, the long-term unemployed, older workers and the disabled, as well as to consider the need to update skills frequently in order both to allow employees to take on new tasks resulting from innovation and to enable them to work in traditional trades, practitioners of which are in short supply;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Considers that wages are generally lower in the retail trade than, on average, in other sectors and that this results in skills shortages, as the low wages discourage highly skilled workers from remaining in the trade and regarding it as a sector where it is possible to make a career; recommends therefore that Member States and businesses adopt wage rates in the sector that provide employees with a decent living, which should always be done in agreement with the social partners;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Deplores the fact that the sector employs a high proportion of young staff, which is combined with a rapid staff turnover, the tendency being to recruit young people at low cost, on flexible contracts, and then replace them as soon as they are a little older, as well as to replace staff who have more permanent and expensive contracts; calls on Member States to adopt plans providing for incentives for training and retraining of older workers; considers there to be an urgent need to support this sector in order to provide lasting and decent employment;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Considers the sector to be characterised by considerable flexibility, with fixed-term contracts or the use of temporary agency workers even to perform ordinary work and entailing work on public holidays and Sundays, as well as night and evening work, which has a serious impact on workers' health and social life; calls on Member States to adopt strict legislation on Sunday opening and evening working hours in the retail sector in order to improve the work-life balance of workers and ensure that SMEs in the sector can survive; calls, alternatively, on Member States and the social partners to regard Sunday work as always being voluntary, adequately paid, balanced by compensatory time off and limited in the course of the year, with exceptions having to be sufficiently justified;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Calls on the social partners to take as a model the many intra-company agreements which have promoted self- managed work schedules so that staff can plan overtime or additional working hours a week in advance rather than being called upon to perform such work at short notice and to make it possible to choose to work at sales outlets other than those where they usually work, for personal reasons;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for increased support for and encouragement of innovative SMEs and cooperatives that address new market needs and promote environmentally friendly and socially responsible activities;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Points out that large retailers have reaped the greater part of the benefits, at the expense of small and micro enterprises, thanks to their ability to exploit economies of scale, increase productivity and offer lower prices; observes that this is grounds for concern with regard to social and local cohesion, with the disappearance of small shops from city centres, from smaller settlements and from rural areas, and their transference to out-of-town shopping centres, which makes it difficult, particularly for older and disabled people, to gain access to basic necessities; observes that, as a result of this, many jobs have been lost with small retailers; calls on the Commission and Member States to provide investment and incentives to support SMEs in the sector and to adopt strict legislation on opening hours in order to ensure fair competition;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that undeclared work represents an important issue in the retail sector, entailing high social risks and low income for workers, who are excluded from health coverage and social benefits, and calls for a proper implementation of existing social and labour legislation; welcomes the Commission’s initiative to engage in dialogue with stakeholders in the retail sector, under the European Platform to fight undeclared work, to assess the impact of the informal economy on working conditions and to identify an EU approach to combat it; considers that it would be desirable for employers’ associations to expel employers who use undeclared employees.
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – point 1 (new)
Paragraph 6 – point 1 (new)
(1) Welcomes the call for safety at work in the Commission communication by means of the development of intelligent warehouses which reduce the risk of accidents arising from the moving of heavy loads in one of the most dangerous sectors with reference, in particular, to work-related stress and musculoskeletal disorders due to poor postures; with regard to the latter aspect, calls on the Commission to take action by once again taking up the proposal for a directive which was abandoned some time ago;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – point 2 (new)
Paragraph 6 – point 2 (new)
(2) Deplores the fact that, while it considers franchising to be a useful tool for generating growth in the sector and creating jobs, in some cases the corporate contracts in force at the franchisor company have not been applied to employees of the franchisee company;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – point 3 (new)
Paragraph 6 – point 3 (new)
(3) Considers that social dialogue in the retail sector has attained satisfactory levels and therefore welcomes the Commission’s decision to set up a permanent Group on Retail Competitiveness involving EU Member States and relevant stakeholders;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – point 4 (new)
Paragraph 6 – point 4 (new)
(4) Deplores the omission from the Commission’s communication of any reference to the social dumping phenomena which exist in the sector and which induce some multinationals to invest in countries where freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are thwarted;