Police raids revealed that migrants working in the Netherlands were forced to live in unacceptable conditions in Germany, right next to the Dutch border. Better cross-border cooperation and joint action at European level are needed to avoid abuses.
During a series of searches along the Dutch-German border on Wednesday (14 December), police forces in both countries reported the appalling living conditions of migrant workers.
“Conditions were so deplorable that there was a danger to the life and health of the tenants”, the construction ministry of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia told the press. Lack of emergency exit or heating, built-in wardrobes in the bedroom… there are many abuses.
At the same time, the Dutch authorities noted “flagrant violations of the legislation on labor protection”, in particular with regard to the minimum wage, working hours and the protection against unfair dismissal, adds the ministry.
Many migrant workers come from other EU Member States, such as Romania or Poland, and are hired by temporary agencies to come and work in meat factories or construction sites in the Netherlands.
«[Ces agences]buying or renting low-cost housing on the German side, trying to bring in temporary workers from Eastern and South-Eastern Europe with often false promises and then hosting them in questionable conditions”concluded the ministry.
Although the director of the food industry at the Dutch Federation of Trade Unions, Ilja Philippen-Nijssen, prefers not to comment on the current case, she specifies that in the collective labor agreement for the meat sector, “we have included an agreement that clients guarantee to only work with contractors using certified housing”in order to avoid abuse.
At the same time, the agencies take advantage of lax Dutch labor laws, Pagonis Pagonakis, who was present during some raids and leads a project on labor rights for migrant workers at the EU, funded by the German Trade Union Confederation.
“They exploit the positioning of the border for their own ends and seek to maximize profits on both sides”he exclaimed.
Cross-border cooperation is needed
For Pagonakis, part of the problem is that the free movement of workers in the EU’s common market makes it difficult for the authorities to control where and under what conditions workers are housed. This situation can be exploited by “very organized facilities”He added.
The Deputy Secretary General of the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT), Enrico Somaglia, shares these sentiments. He told EURACTIV that there are loopholes in the Dutch temporary work directive. He urgently calls for a reform of his grades.
In particular, the international nature of the police intervention has forced several countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania, to work side by side. These countries have also benefited from the assistance of the European Labor Authority (ELA), a European agency responsible for coordinating the implementation of the European legislation on posted workers.
“Several companies are trying to evade the controls of the authorities of an EU Member State by hosting workers across the border in another EU country, but on unacceptable conditions”ELA Executive Director Cosmin Boiangiu said in a statement.
Cross-border joint checks can help “prosecuting these cross-border violations of labor rights and making labor mobility in the EU fairer”He added.
The EU needs to get its hands dirty
For Mr. Pagonakis, we need to redouble our efforts. While he said recent police raids are proof that cooperation between law enforcement agencies in different countries is improving, he added that data sharing between countries needs to be improved.
He added that while joint operations such as the recent raids help bring specific cases to light, “they can’t fix the problem” in general. To do this, greater political awareness of the enablers of operating systems is needed in the EU, he concluded.
As for Somaglia, he told EURACTIV that his union has drawn up a list of demands that the EU should take into consideration to avoid any exploitation of migrant workers. These demands also include an increase in EU-wide labor inspections.
