BRUSSELS (Brussels Morning): More than 1,000 cleaners, security guards and food service workers will gather in Brussels on October 1 to demand reform of EU public procurement directives that affect their pay and working conditions.
More than 1,000 cleaners, security guards and food service workers will gather at Place Jean Rey in Brussels on October 1st from 12:00. They are there to demand immediate changes to EU public procurement directives, which require public bodies to hire private companies to provide goods and services, which directly affects their wages and working conditions.
How do EU procurement rules affect wages and the quality of public services?
These rules basically mean that when public bodies hire private companies to do work, they can influence the pay and working conditions that people receive. Because of the rules that prioritize the cheapest option, almost half of public contracts in the EU are awarded to the lowest bidder. This information comes from a study by UNI Europa, the European trade union federation, one of the groups that helped organize the event.
The trade unions see this as directly damaging the quality and standards of public services in the EU. Public authorities, noting the financial pressures imposed by procurement rules, exclude social aspects when awarding contracts. These contracts provide jobs to millions of workers in the EU, which constitutes around 14% of the EU’s total GDP output. In 2022, health spending would have been 15.3% of GDP, compared to the OECD average of 14.55% at the time. Total government spending in Belgium was 28.6% of GDP, lower than the average for the same period.
