Speeches

Mr President, the eight-hour workday, holiday allowances, the weekends: we all owe a big thanks to trade unions for these rights. We have to stand up for workers’ rights to organise or the freedom to collective bargaining, as they are under attack. Even though we guaranteed the fundamental workers’ rights in the directive on adequate minimum wages, the right-wing forces in this House still try to attack them, trying to harm the autonomy of social partners. And it’s not only in this House; it’s also in many workplaces: there is an increase of union busting led by companies such as Amazon and Starbucks. And therefore, we need to turn the tide. Therefore, I call upon the Commission to show a little bit more commitment than just in the speech of Commissioner Hahn and invest in more financial, legal and technical support for the sectoral social dialogue to strengthen the social partners. We can only reach the aim of 80% collective bargaining coverage when we strengthen the social partnership and especially the trade unions. In addition, I’m calling upon employers’ organisations to come back to the table. Yes, they are at the table on the right to disconnect, but they are not at the table on many other topics. And you cannot have a social dialogue if you only say no. To have a true social dialogue, both sides of the table must invest and must show up. As they put it, it takes two to tango.

Madam President, dear colleagues, since 24 April 2013, we have held a speech here every year to ask attention for the Rana Plaza disaster. Every year we commemorate this disaster and we remember the more than 1 100 deaths and the 2 000 people injured. And every year we say ‘no more yet’ and ‘this no more’. The media are covering the topic. They are writing articles. They are showing that there has not been enough progress made, showing that the accord which has been put in place to protect the workers is under pressure. We always call upon the Bangladeshi Government to do better. We sometimes manage to strong—arm them by making it conditional that the accord must stay, in order to keep the Everything But Arms arrangements – and using the threat of withdrawing these trade preferences has helped, as the Bangladeshi Government did not want to lose access to our markets. Thereby, it’s shown that laws, rules and conditions help. Today I’m hopeful that not only can we grant the workers in Bangladesh help, but also help all the workers of the world. This year we can really do something besides calling for better and safer working conditions. Tomorrow, we can ensure that companies, employers are held accountable. We can do this by voting. Let us vote in favour of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence. Let’s help all the workers of the world. I think that will be the best response to the Rana Plaza disaster.

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, let me be the first to congratulate the employees of a certain Dutch large supermarket. And yes, it is the parent company whose employees in Belgium protest against closures. But these people, working at Ahold, have proven once again this week: The strike helps. Everywhere in Europe you hear about large-scale strikes in hospitals, public transport and employees of supermarkets. People don't take it anymore. And I think that is right, because employers and shareholders have gone through Europe in recent years as a kind of Caterpillar Never Enough. While companies made millions or billions of extra profits in recent years and distributed them to shareholders, employees had to be happy if they could earn a dime extra. In Dutch we now have a word for this: We don't call it inflation, we call it gravitational inflation. I do not know if the interpreters can translate it, but the bottom line is that the wage-price spiral story has to be contradicted and – as the Commissioner just said – the dynamics in profits have been much greater than the dynamics on wages for us. We are talking about the ECB, and in the Netherlands we are talking about Klaas Knot, the president of De Nederlandsche Bank, also a member of the Governing Council of the ECB. He asserts with great firmness, including on Dutch TV, that we should watch out for that wage-price spiral. And I'd like to say from here: You seem to have missed the international consensus. It is not wages but prices that drive inflation. It's time to wake up in the new world. And so I say from here: Get up with those wages!

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, a decent minimum wage with which you can fill a well-stocked shopping basket, or parental leave so that both parents have the opportunity to spend time with their children, or as an employee do not have to work between carcinogens: That all sounds very logical. It all sounds very obvious, but that was not the case at all not so long ago. There are people in this Chamber who would like to see Europe as a mere economic union, as a common market, as a common currency, but fortunately Europe is much more now. At the first Social Summit in Gothenburg six years ago, for the first time, we anchored the social promise to all Europeans with the European Pillar of Social Rights. This booklet summarizes what a Europe that works for people consists of, neatly worked out in twenty pillars. But with this book you can't go to the bakery and say: Can I have some bread from you? And you can't send it in the mail to the energy company in the hope that it will pay your energy bill. So, fortunately, two years ago in Porto, we decided that we needed an action plan so that the principles of the Pillar were also translated into concrete goals. Goals to fight poverty and goals to promote employment. But since this summit in Porto – it has already been said – a war, an energy crisis, a purchasing power crisis has passed, and so we have to say: More is needed. Let me give you some examples from the resolution. The cleaner, the nurse in home care, the garbage collector – in short, people who are paid from public money – must also be paid decently. Public money should not go to shady temporary workers or to worthless and poorly paid jobs. Or another example: energy bills rose to unprecedented levels over the past winter. But that should never mean that people get stuck in the cold. Electricity and water must always be affordable for everyone. Suppliers should never shut people down. And one last example: every European resident must have access to a decent social base to fall back on. Because we have to be honest: not all Europeans benefit from economic cooperation. Europe must be more than market and currency, and so it is high time to deliver on this promise for people in practice.

Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear Minister, we have to avoid making the same mistakes as in the past. Austerity, an old-school, outdated, neoliberal narrative on economic governance is not what we need. The current proposed reform will not provide the necessary leeway for increasing public investment and enhancing social policies. We need an exclusion of the investment in social protection systems from the deficit calculation, because we need to learn the lessons from the past and re-establish the positive link between public expenditure and economic growth as a way to regain economic sovereignty and fiscal sustainability, while preparing the future for the next generations. Ensuring social convergence and quality job creation is the EU’s top political priority.

Mr President, Renew wants to have more Europe and more jobs. But we want well-paid quality jobs. Renew and the EPP and even the Swedish Presidency pretend to create jobs only by focusing on competitiveness. And it seems to be the new buzzword. They combine this with a focus on the green and the digital transition, and at the same time, some Member States are pushing to have these investments excluded from the deficit calculations. But this by itself doesn’t create well-paid quality jobs and we will not allow these investments to be used as an excuse to cut down our work on the social dimension. We cannot allow cuts on social investments because to be truly competitive, we need to pursue well-paid quality jobs. Biden did this in the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act). He went for good paying union jobs by that companies pay their fair share. I think we can do this too. We have to put the money from taxing companies to good use by creating well-paid, quality jobs. We don’t have to put the burden of the green transition on the back of the workers again.

Mr President, the prices of groceries have also risen for the elderly with a small pension. The rent has also increased for the disabled. And also for the people with welfare benefits, the energy bill can no longer be paid. Payment problems are on the rise across Europe. And poverty rates are skyrocketing, along with rising prices. Minimum incomes are therefore no longer sufficient to pay the bills and live a decent life. Not only the minimum wage, but also the minimum income must be sufficient for people. We must dare to ask the Member States to do so. We must dare to demand this from the Member States. That is why I am in favour of a directive on minimum income. If anyone tells me this is impossible, I say: “We will see that again”. We don't have time to turn our thumbs. Don't tell me it's impossible. Let's go for it: a ‘minimum income’ directive.

Madam President, over the last few months I feel like I have been visited by the ghost of Christmas past. But of course, this ghost is not about Christmas. It’s about the ghost of the 2008 financial crisis. Talking about a danger of higher wages in time of inflation. And I think it’s high time to say good-bye to this old school, outdated neoliberal narrative. It’s the profits, not the wages that are pushing up inflation. So let me repeat that again: it’s the profit, not wages that are pushing up inflation. We cannot have the EU hit by austerity again, for we really need a true convergence of the social and economic policies. So when the Commission is going to propose its plan for the revision of the economic governance framework, I expect a mandatory social objective. I expect a social dimension before we all expect a visit of the ghost of austerity yet to come.

Mr President, I think we can say it has been years since we were able to look at the United States for inspiration. But Biden did it. His plans guarantee good paying union jobs. And we as the EU should not lower the bar. It would be a missed opportunity if we didn't invest in quality jobs now. And therefore, I must say, I was a little bit disappointed that the Commission didn't take the lead on this, because in the Directive on adequate minimum wages in the EU, we aimed for a collective bargaining coverage rate of 80%. And I should say any spending of public money should go only to companies that are covered by collective bargaining. We should put our money whether the law is.

Mr President, and for information to the translators: I'm going to confuse Dutch and English –, ‘We’ve weaponised our drivers, we’ve weaponised our customers. All that was needed to get governments out of the way. Our driving mantra was: do whatever it takes.’ The testimony of Uber whistleblower and ex-lobbyist Mark MacGann in the Social Affairs Committee in October exposed how Uber was trying to get a foothold in Europe by pressuring and even pushing governments aside. Uber uses dubious lobbying practices to maintain its revenue model for as long as possible. In his testimony, Mark MacGann said: ‘When politicians try to stop us or slow us down, we co-opted democracy itself by leveraging consumers’ political power, putting very public pressures on elected officials to back off, drowning them in millions of riders’ petitions.’ The company prefers profit over everything else, even if it comes at the expense of their drivers. Uber can offer cheap prices, make high profits, dominate the market because it exploits and underpays its drivers. In the words of MacGann: ‘The policy team was ordered to talk about ‘creating economic opportunities’. On no account was the word “jobs” ever to be spoken or written. For the business model to succeed, someone would have to lose for others to succeed. And it turned out that we sold people a lie. Governments, the media, and especially the drivers.’ Uber's lobby hasn't stopped since MacGann left. On the contrary, over the past year we have been overwhelmed by lobbyists who stubbornly try to push through the model of Uber and other platforms. That is why my call is: Let us not only look at the interference by foreign powers, but let us also look here in the European Parliament at the excessive influence of large technology companies. Because no one has an interest in a labour market in which employees are not protected and in which employers do not pay contributions, pay taxes or respect the right to dismiss. If we don't get it right once and for all, this labour market model could contaminate the entire economy like an oil slick. We must prevent this at all costs. The Commission is ready. Parliament is ready. So, Minister, there's no more reason to slow down. A final quote from MacGann: ‘When tech companies have disproportionate financial resources to push their message at the expense of far less powerful workers upon whom their model is built, there is something truly undemocratic happening.’

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, Brussels is spawning billions of dollars in support for businesses. Businesses and people have been struggling since the invasion of Ukraine and since the energy crisis. And there will also be an American mega support package. European support must ensure that our companies take the lead. That's important. In fact, that's essential. Because without help, our economy will soon have a check, the European Commission warned – rightly so. But let me, in turn, warn the European Commission. Public money can only be invested where decent working conditions are respected, where people are paid decently. Public money should not go to creating lousy jobs that exploit people. In these times, let's not overdo our values, because this race will be a race to the top instead of a race to the bottom.

Mr President, people get the costs for choosing more expensive groceries, for higher energy bills and for considerably higher rents. This is a real purchasing power crisis. Not only have wages lagged behind rising productivity for years, but inflation has not been tracked for years. That really has to be different. The minimum wage should be raised faster. I would like the Commission to call on the Council and the Member States to swiftly introduce the directive on minimum wages. Our Dutch government would rather have a tangle of allowances and benefits that people have to struggle through than a minimum wage at a truly adequate level. But you shouldn't be dependent on allowances when you work. Now that I'm here, I'm also taking this moment to launch the next call. It's time to push back. Join a union. It pays to act together.

Mr President, it does indeed look like a surreal Netflix movie, but it is waking up to a harsh reality. Colleagues in our Parliament and among NGOs have engaged in corruption. In our worst dreams, we couldn't have imagined that. Confidence in European democracy has been eroded and there is only one answer. We can only condemn this harshly. There is no room for corruption here. Not now and never not. At the same time, it is not the moment of mere words, but also of deeds. And those actions must begin with ourselves. This means that, in addition to setting up our own committee of inquiry, we also want to argue here for the establishment of an independent investigation into these events. At the same time, I also say, we support the call for a review of the rules on lobbying, starting with the third countries, which have unhindered access to Parliament. It's time for action. It's time for action.

Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear Minister, one out of four children in the EU is at risk of poverty or social exclusion. And this means children going to school without a breakfast, lacking proper health care or even a safe roof above their heads, which also leads to much stress, often not performing very well at school. And there we are missing opportunities for these children and facing lifelong disadvantages. With the rising inflation, with the energy crisis and the war on our continent, it will even get worse and therefore, we as Social Democrats, the European Parliament, have demanded over and over again that the Council and the Commission have to act and create a dedicated budget of at least 20 million to eradicate child poverty by establishing the child guarantee. It’s now time to act.

I think we cannot underestimate the social consequences of the present economic crisis. So I will solely focus on how do these rules help us in this social crisis. And I would like to start by reading from the European Pillar of Social Rights, Pillar 20, which says ‘everyone has the right to access of essential services of good quality, including water, sanitation, energy, transport, financial services and digital communications. Support for access to such services shall be available for those in need’. My question would be how can the Commission push for implementation enforcement of these rights in the national action plans, taking into account the potential negative consequences of the measures you are presenting? My second question would be on the action plan of the social pillar, because in Porto we promise that we would set concrete targets and measures to reduce inequality and tackle poverty. So my question would be, how will these new financial fiscal rules complement and maintain these goals?

Mr President, it was nothing unexpected, but I was disappointed in the Commission's new work programme. Social legislation is clearly not a priority, while we are in the worst socio-economic crisis of all time. Now I can blame the Commission for that, but you and I both know, of course, that the Council is the biggest thwarter when it comes to social legislation. For example, a temporary part-time WW has been possible, but the promised permanent arrangement remains unfulfilled. There will be a proposal for more social safety nets, but it will not go beyond a recommendation. My appeal to the Council, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, is as follows: raise wages, invest more in a social climate fund and reform the energy market. Let's put people first, not the market.

Mr President, the verb is ‘live’ and not ‘survive’, while survival is the reality for more and more people. More and more people at the beginning of the month do not know how to pay their rent, their bills or their groceries at the end of the month. The current crisis shows the fragility of our essential services. Energy prices are exposed to the power of the market and to the whims of autocrats. The European plans for an energy cap and a tax on usury profits help to cope with the worst blows, but I think we should look not only at the symptoms, but also at the underlying disease. The European Pillar of Social Rights states that we all have the right to decent access to essential services such as energy, water and transport. Europe must guarantee this, because that is a solid foundation on which people can build their lives.

Mr President, Commissioner, today's labour market is no longer the labour market of two years ago. A lot has changed. The COVID crisis has accelerated digitalisation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine is putting enormous pressure on workers and businesses today. This situation requires action. Europe must support workers in need and ensure decent working conditions that better reflect the realities of today's world of work. I call on the Member States from this place to comply with the European standard of decency. So: Increase minimum wages, forbid zero-hour contracts and regulate AI in the workplace. Extend SURE and make it a permanent support programme. In this way, we can maintain employment and companies do not go under. I think we really need to offer support in order to maintain employment. We don't want people to go down. We also don't want companies to go down unnecessarily. And if we want to combat growing inequality, the social safety nets in Europe must be stronger than they are now.

Mr President, children faint in class because they go to school without breakfast. While energy companies make mega-profits, people turn off the heating at home. It's been said before. In Porto last year, the Heads of Government made binding commitments to combat poverty. While we agreed there that poverty should be reduced, we now see that the figures are rising again. The current energy crisis should not be used to lower the targets. In fact, we all need to step up our efforts to achieve these objectives. Thousands of people are at risk of poverty and all the Commission puts on the table are recommendations to the Member States. To be honest: People in poverty don't buy anything for that. We need a robust package of measures and resources to strengthen social safety nets.

Mr President, families torn apart and children removed from their homes. There are more than 25 000 victims and the counter is still running up. "We didn't mean it that way" is called a book about the surcharge scandal, but in fact everything shows that this was exactly what was intended. While we know that the rule of law is there to protect the weak, not to fuel mistrust. We believe that there should be no room for racism. We must always stand up to that – I will always stand up to that. But the cause of this scandal is clear: discrimination on the basis of nationality. We must not shove this inconvenient truth under the carpet. That is why, Commissioner, I believe that you too can do more at European level than is currently the case. My first question is: Do you agree with me that we should ban the use by governments of algorithms that process dual nationality? This can be done, for example, through the European AI Act that is currently being worked on. It seems to me that this is something on which the Commissioner could make a statement. Secondly: Compensation will take far too long for many victims. What happened to these parents and children is also contrary to point 11 of the European Pillar of Social Rights. It is nice that the surcharge scandal is mentioned in the Rule of Law Report, but I would also like you to speak out in favour of faster compensation for parents and children, now.

Madam President, I think it should be said that thousands of lives were ruined by the Dutch tax authorities due to institutional racism, known as the ‘child care benefit scandal’. And not even all victims have been accounted for. But at the moment, they estimate that 26,  people were hurt and families were destroyed. And it took years to uncover the truth. And now the EPP, with their friends on the right, is again trying to bury this scandal. And I ask for support to keep the original debates about the oral question instead of the newly proposed Commission statement. I think we should shed light on the truth and not try to bury it. And therefore, pursuant to Rule 158, the S&D Group would like to replace the Commission statement ‘Institutional racism in the EU and the breach of fundamental rights of EU citizens’, Wednesday evening - last item, with the oral question on the Dutch child care benefits scandal, institutional racism and algorithms.

(NL) Mr President, knowing at the beginning of the month that you are not financially viable – and that is a reality for many Europeans – eats uncertainty on people. The Dutch government lacks the urgency to really tackle the purchasing power crisis. They say: ‘Governing is foresight’, but at Rutte IV we are actually bumping backwards. And in these times we can't use that, because I think the fair story is that there could be a recession following this purchasing power crisis. And that recession can then be a breeding ground for unrest, a breeding ground for populist parties. That is why, Madam President-in-Office of the Commission, I appeal to you. Encourage Member States to now comply with European standards of decency and increase their minimum wages. And make sure that there is a permanent part-time WW, a permanent SURE programme, because that is how we keep employment up and the companies do not go under.

Mr President, Commissioner, it is time for us to act. More and more people are coming to the lips. If we want to prevent thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people from falling through the poverty line because of the high energy bill, we must now take control of the energy market. Put a limit on the energy bill for ordinary households, because heating a house is not an unnecessary luxury. But also make sure that people can stay at work. So please, also present tomorrow the renewal of the SURE programme as the European part-time unemployment law. We cannot afford not to take action. We have no time to lose, because there are too many people waiting for a bad wind. So I really hope for action from the European Commission.

Mr President, colleagues have already said that Dennis and I had such a great cooperation. That now leads him to ask me if I would also like to speak on his behalf, because he is in another meeting, on the equally important platform directive. I would like to do that, because earlier people have also said that we are going to vote on this directive tomorrow because we have shown teamwork here. I wanted to underline that myself. It was teamwork. It was the teamwork of our teams, of the Chair of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and of the shadow rapporteurs, of all the people who took part in our working groups on what possible solutions could be, of the Commissioner and his staff and of the Presidency. We have indeed made very grateful use of the preliminary work of previous Presidencies, but also of the commitment of the French President in the previous six months. I'm grateful for that. On behalf of Dennis, I would like to thank everyone involved. Tomorrow we will vote. If you press the voting button, I don't know what you're thinking about, but I'm thinking about Jolanda tomorrow. She works in a factory. I'm thinking about Fleur. She works in home care. And I'm thinking warehouse worker Alexandra. I think of those people who keep our society running in times of pandemic. Maybe we needed that pandemic to know how important their work is. If I impress ‘for’ tomorrow, I will think of these women. They are people who keep our society running and who deserve better than they have so far. Our law advances them, for the law contains two spearheads. First, you have to be able to live decently from the statutory minimum wage, so we have included a new standard of decency for an adequate minimum wage. That standard also checks that minimum wage against the developments of other wages in the country. In addition, workers must be protected by a good collective agreement. Countries are required to draw up an action plan with their social partners. We are therefore also strengthening workers' rights in order to make a fist together for better working conditions. Member States must take active action against the repression of trade unions. In this way, this law not only boosts the minimum wage, but also the wages of everyone in the Member States. It is clear to me, and fortunately many of you have said here in the debate that we should not sit on our hands for two years because we have two years to transpose the law into national laws and regulations. Let us not only vote in favour tomorrow, but let us also ensure that the Member States quickly transpose this agreement into national laws and regulations when it comes to minimum wages, but also when it comes to those action plans for more collective bargaining. Let's call for the law to be implemented as soon as possible. That is a milestone for millions of workers in Europe, a milestone that makes work actually pay again.

Mr President, Commissioner, for an increasing number of people, work is not a way out of poverty. If the energy bill consumes a third of your salary, if the rent is increasingly pressing on your shoulders and if you are not sure if you can still do your shopping at the end of the month, then it is ready. I think we can say that our law on fair minimum wages in Europe does not come a moment too early. Almost one in five employees earn the minimum wage or just a little more. It is often women, people with a migrant background or young people who do low-paid work. Higher wages and livelihood security are needed to make their dreams come true. They are people who work in home care, prepare orders in the distribution centers, or stand behind the counter in the store. They deserve our respect, they deserve our appreciation. It is time for a change, because I believe a hot autumn full of tensions and strikes awaits us. But even more so, I fear the harsh winter, in which people have to choose between eating on the table or heating up. We can't let that happen. Our law sets conditions for a fair minimum wage. She formulates a lower limit for decency. The minimum wage must provide an income from which you can live and it must take into account inflation. Only four European countries currently meet this new standard of decency. As far as we are concerned, all Member States should do so as soon as possible. Germany has already made a huge blow last year. Belgium is taking action to close the gap even before our law is in force. The minimum wage in the Netherlands must also be raised, and not with a euro, but with four or five euros. Our neighbours do opt for measures, while the Dutch government mainly shows its own powerlessness. Only next year will the minimum wage go up slightly, but then it is still doubling, while at least 14 euros is needed. Earlier, Commissioner Schmit justified higher wages in this Parliament with the communication “Because it makes economic sense!’ After all, small and medium-sized enterprises also take the hit as soon as people no longer have money to do groceries. Let us avoid sinking into a deep crisis. People just need to be able to buy bread at the bakery around the corner. Together with my co-rapporteur, I call on all MEPs to vote for the European law on fair minimum wages tomorrow. I'm counting on your vote.