A thousand European workers from cleaning, security and catering services are protesting in Brussels to demand that the €2 trillion public procurement market (14% of EU GDP) funds good working conditions and environmental targets.
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00:00Cleaners, security guards and food service employees gathered in Brussels on Tuesday
00:05to ask for a higher minimum wage and better work conditions. After being named as the
00:11COVID pandemic heroes, these essential workers complain about a lack of recognition and want
00:16reform on the EU Public Procurement Directive, the law that sets out the criteria for contracting
00:23public services.
00:24Nowadays, public money often goes to the cheapest bid, says the Unitrade Union.
00:54Among the examples provided, there are Dutch call centre operators who are underpaid and
00:59with no right to toilet breaks, or cleaning workers in Finland's kindergartens forced
01:04to sleep in their workplace. Even in European institutions, there are unsatisfied workers
01:10who, during their shifts, are forbidden to talk with EU officials. One of them spoke
01:15to Euronews on condition of anonymity.
01:24We can't take it anymore. The years have changed. We are getting more work with very
01:33few hours, with very strict requirements. They take the contract at low prices. As a
01:43consequence, workload, hours reduced, and sometimes even subcontracting. Subcontracting
01:51is also a bit lower.
01:54The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised to change the EU Public
01:59Procurement Directive, but it's not clear if and when workers' demands will be answered.
02:05But what she has not said is how, what she wants to change. And that's why I also think
02:11it's the perfect timing for a campaign and demonstration here, and also for concrete
02:16proposals on how we can strengthen the social criteria, how we can strengthen criteria related
02:22to collective bargaining, fair working conditions in the Public Procurement Directive.
02:28Indeed, the key demand of the protest is to be able to have collective bargaining as a
02:33premium criterion to allocate public procurement contracts.