The posting of workers in the European road transport industry: An approach based on the discourses of social and institutional stakeholders

Abstract

The posting of workers is a challenge for national regulatory and job protection frameworks in the EU. We address the specific case of road transport, analysing the discourses of the principal social and institutional stakeholders (trade unions, employers’ associations, European institutions and labour inspectors) and identify the controversies that have arisen around the definition, regulation and assessment of worker posting. We consider, more generally, the direction in which the European unification project is heading.

An ‘East-West split’ about the posting of workers? Questioning the representation of socio-economic interests in the European Parliament

“…The subject also divides management and the workforce, both between and within trade unions and employers' associations alike (Seeliger & Wagner, 2018). Representatives of some of the most impacted sectors, such as international road transport, are very reluctant towards the PWD (Riesco-Sanz et al, 2019). As we will see, these tensions are refracted within the EP.…”

“…Besides social dumping, importing countries' MEPs denounce legal ambiguities favouring fraud, such as bogus subcontracting, or the non-respect of posted workers' rights, by transnational temporary work agencies (Novitz & Andrijasevic, 2020). As regards exporting countries' representatives, they are less focused on the respect of posted workers' rights than on national firms' competitiveness, especially in the construction industry (Wagner, 2018) and the road transport sector (Riesco-Sanz et al, 2019).…”

The different faces of international posting: Why do companies use posting of workers?

“…Companies are seen to ‘consciously strategize across sovereign sites and arenas of regulation to take advantage of lower cost structures and less strict regulatory environments’ (Berntsen and Lillie, 2015: 1). Riesco-Sanz et al (2020: 6), who interviewed European employer associations, conclude that for employers ‘posting of workers constitutes a fundamental tool for ensuring business competitiveness, the correct functioning of the single market and, in short, European prosperity’. We nevertheless observe that we cannot fully answer the question of what exactly motivates businesses to make use of posted workers.…”

“…This article addresses this underexamined but crucial issue. We do this from an obvious – yet understudied – perspective: employers’ motives (Riesco-Sanz et al, 2020). This article is primarily based on qualitative data obtained for Belgium from in-depth interviews with representatives of sectors of the economy where the use of posting is prevalent, as well as individual companies.…”

S'approprier une politique européenne à l'Assemblée nationale

“…17 Le « cabotage » est le fait, pour un transporteur routier de marchandises établi dans un État d'effectuer à titre temporaire des transports pour compte d'autrui dans un autre État. L'application de cette activité au régime du travail détaché constitue un enjeu majeur des débats européens depuis la fin des années 2000(Riesco-Sanz et al, 2019).…”