Pressemitteilung der ÖDP (Özgürlük ve Dayanışma Partisi - Partei für Freiheit und Solidarität), Türkei, vom 14.02.2006

ÖDP: We are with the European Labour Forces against the Bolkenstein Directive!

We are with the European Labour Forces against the Bolkenstein Directive! The Bolkenstein Directive, which means low salaries, longer and worse working conditions for millions of workers across Europe will be discussed in European Parliament on February 14. The Directive is paving the way for the providers to provide services in all member countries, according to the laws and terms of the country in which their headquarters are established. This situation will open the way for the Western European Firms to damage the conditions in the countries with higher workforce through the subcontractor firms from countries with cheaper workforce. By increasing the competition between workers, this will trigger a spiral leading to worse working conditions. Also the Bolkenstein Directive aims to liberalise the basic public services, health and education in the first place, and to make them profitable for private sector. When the Directive was brought to the agenda for the first time, it was met with a great reaction of European workers and the neoliberal powers was forced to withdraw their demands after the great demonstration that gathered a hundred thousand people in Brussels in March 2005. As a response to the powerful reaction of the workers, before the referendums of European constitution, many governments in European countries gave the impression that they will not accept this directive. Now, not even one year after that, the directive is being brought to the European parliament again.

This time on February 14, in Strasbourg, European workers will ask for the rejection of the directive with the call of the ETUC.

ÖDP supports all the labour forces struggling for the “Europe of Labour” against the “Neoliberal Europe”, and struggles with the forces for creating “Another Europe”. This directive, which means a critical point for the liquidation of the acquired rights, should be taken out of the agenda; and public services should be equal, free and of high quality for all citizens.

Hayri Kozanoglu
President
14 February 2006