The Union of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia (ZSSS) has criticised an increase in funding by the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs for workers who want to become self-employed. The ZSSS claims that the ministry is promoting a precarious form of work, and that the ministry needs to focus on training for self-employed people. It also argues that the ministry is allowing the practice of bogus self-employment, which is rife in the construction sector, to go unchecked.
While the Europe 2020 strategy actively promotes entrepreneurial self-employment as a means to create good jobs, policy makers at national and EU level are actively looking at better social protection for self-employed workers. Understanding this paradox requires looking beyond the ‘self-employed’ label and acknowledging it as an umbrella term covering a widely differing group of workers.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomed a decision today by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe that should put an end to restrictions on collective bargaining for self-employed persons. The Ministers’ Committee’s decision endorses an earlier ruling by the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) following pressure by the Irish Trade Union Confederation (ICTU) and its affiliates, SIPTU, Equity, the Musicians Union of Ireland and National Union of Journalists, and supported by the ETUC.