LETTER: Safeguards for our workers
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Unfortunately, we’re not going to hear these arguments from David Cameron. In fact, with the Trade Union Bill on the table, it is safe to assume he sees these workers’ safeguards as a continental inconvenience, in spite of his wish for the UK to remain in the EU.
We’ve heard how the free movement of people across the continent helps ensure we’re able to holiday with ease in Spain, France, Germany, and all over mainland Europe, completely visa-free. What we’ve not heard enough about, perhaps, is how the fundamental right to a paid holiday from work is protected by the EU.
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Hide AdIt is EU legislation, agreed with our European partners, that also gives us maternity and paternity rights at work. Additionally, it is the laws we created, with trade unions and alongside our European neighbours, that give us our robust health and safety rules. Rules which go a long way in reducing injuries and deaths.
As the fight for gender equality continues, it’s also important to note that it is the EU that has enshrined the right to equal pay for equal work for men and women. Similarly, it’s European legislation that protects us from workplace discrimination on the grounds of age, sexual orientation or religion.
As a worker in the South East, I would feel safer knowing that there is EU legislation safeguarding my basic rights, regardless of the party in power in Westminster.
That’s one of the reasons why I’m campaigning for Britain to Remain in the EU.
KEITH TAYLOR
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Hide AdGreen Party MEP for the South East, European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium
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