Earlier this month, in its Action Plan for the European automotive sector and the subsequent European Steel and Metals Action Plan, the European Commission proposed the amendment of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EAGF) as a tool to address the immediate crisis facing workers, namely the threat of restructuring and job losses.
This week, industriAll Europe has made it clear to the Commission that the amendment of the scope of the EU fund, to make it a proactive rather than reactive instrument, and the speeding up of decisions on applications is welcomed by industrial workers. But a fund without funds would be a slap in the face.
Currently, €190m are allocated (in principle) to the Fund. However, this is not sufficient to deal with the threat of mass layoffs faced by working communities across Europe. Funding must be massively scaled up to meet the challenges the EU is tackling in the current, turbulent geopolitical context. Unspent money in the European Social Fund destined for upskilling and retraining could be repurposed to reinforce the EAGF in the short term.
Today, the Globalisation Adjustment Fund provides vital support to workers in companies where layoffs have been announced. IndustriAll Europe’s affiliates and members have been the beneficiaries of a number of past applications. Yesterday, the ETUC also called on the Commission to expand the EAGF and transform it into a pre-emptive tool to save jobs. The ETUC is calling for support to also be made available to save jobs, on the basis of social conditionalities, in companies that have agreed on Just Transition plans with their workforce in order to anticipate and manage change.
Esther Lynch, ETUC General Secretary, said: “EU action must be tailored so that support kicks in before jobs are lost. Supporting collectively agreed Just Transition plans would turn the Globalisation Adjustment Fund into a forward-looking tool that can also save jobs. By identifying joint needs from the workplace up, and agreeing to a Just Transition action plan, management and unions can work together to steer companies out of trouble and protect livelihoods.”
For industriAll Europe, a targeted amendment of the EAGF to make it a proactive tool to support the retaining of workers while re- or upskilling in the context of threat of restructuring, rather than a reactive (support after restructuring and layoffs) is a step in the right direction to address the risk of massive industrial layoffs.
Judith Kirton-Darling, industriAll Europe’s General Secretary, says: “To date, the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund has been hampered in achieving its stated aims – of supporting workers impacted by restructuring – by the long and bureaucratic application process, which has been politicised in the past. Workers deserve a simplified system, in which decisions can be made rapidly to ensure that unemployment is avoided and workers are guaranteed retraining opportunities and job-to-job transitions in a timely fashion.
“IndustriAll Europe would support such a reform of the current fund. However, decision-makers must also put their money where their promises are and ensure that adequate funds are available, not just an empty pot.”