Services directive - Draft EU law must protect our workers

The warning issued by SIPTU president Jack O’Connor yesterday in relation to the proposed EU Services Directive is well-advised, if somewhat pre-emptive.

Certainly, he was correct to spell out at a seminar organised by the union the threat to Irish workers’ pay and conditions posed by the directive in its present form, choosing to describe the document as a “blank cheque for exploitation”.

Despite the fact that the Austrian presidency of the EU has declared that working on the directive is a priority, as did the British presidency, member states would be well-advised to adopt Mr O’Connor’s advice that there is an urgent need for serious public debate on the implications of the services directive.