From 27 to 30 September 2023 took place a seminar about “Mobility and social security for the young workers in the hospitality branch”, organised by IFES in cooperation with KIKEA-DEOK, under the coordination of EZA and funded by the European Union.
The mobility of young workers is one of the topics of great interest for the states of the European Union. Some of them send workers to work, others receive these workers. The topic is not new, but so far there are no sustainable solutions.
Hospitality is a branch with a high rate of worker mobility. Inside the borders of their own country or abroad, workers are beginning their professional life very early. At this point of their life, young workers feel very distant from retirement or from disease (especially that caused by professional reasons).
On the other hand, in this branch it is almost a custom to earn low wages, oftentimes because tips and other sources of income are added to these wages. More than that the labour force is considerably more exposed to illegalities in labour relations, poor health and safety at work, discrimination.
It is the responsibility of trade unions to overcome the challenges of a very low rate of unionisation in the sector and a very high level of distrust among young people in professional, associative organisations. It is also in their responsibility to inform workers about the legal way of working and about the dangers that exist when they are not included in the social security systems.
The implementation of the project was made in Cyprus, a country where a large number of workers in the hospitality branch come from abroad. Among them many Romanian young workers.
The seminar received 50 representatives of workers’ organisations from Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, Serbia, Republic of Moldavia and Romania.
The topics considered during the seminar were:
Challenges for the hospitality branch in the post-pandemic Europe
Challenges for the Cyprus hospitality industry in the post pandemic era (Cyprus Hotel Association Famagusta - Panayiotis CONSTANTINOU)
Mobility for better jobs (CNS Cartel Alfa branch in Caras-Severin – Marian APOSTOL)
Mobility and social security in the hospitality sector
Social security for (almost) everyone in the Cyprus hospitality branch (Labour Relations Department, Cyprus Labor Minister - Xenios MAMAS)
An overview of the hospitality branch in European Union countries (Movimento Cristiano dei Lavoratori – Marco BOLEO)
Mobility and social security in the hospitality branch. A Spanish perspective (University of Seville - Maria Jose RODRIGUEZ RAMOS)
Specific working conditions and legal bindings in the branch (Romanian Labor Minister, Labour Inspection Cluj – Emilia LUMEI}
The representation of (young) workers. Specific aspects for the field of hospitality. How much are the workers covered through national and European social security provisions and specific collective agreements. Realities and challenges in various European countries.
Reports from France (CFTC - Joseph THOUVENEL), Serbia (BOFOS – Mara Erdelj), Bulgaria (Natalia TSVETKOVA - CL PODKREPA), Lithuania (Daiva PAKULIENA – LDF), Republic of Moldavia (Sergiu COCOS – PPA)
The role of trade unions and of social dialogue in the fair inclusion of (young) workers on the hospitality labour market.
Inclusion of the young workers on the labour market in Romania. What is the situation in the hotel and restaurant sector (CNS Cartel Alfa Gorj - Gore VARTAN
Social dialog in the Cyprus hospitality sector (Trade Union in the Hospitality branch, DEOK - Kyriakos EFTHYMIOU
A very important moment of the seminar was the panel, moderated by Maya STOYKOVA [Youth Network CL Podkrepa – BG] and Alin-Valentin DATCU [Mass Media Trade Union @ CNS Cartel Alfa branch in Caraș–Severin - RO], on The representation of (young) workers in the hospitality branch. How effective the (young) workers coming from other countries are covered through national legal provisions.
The participants had the opportunity to hear testimonies from young workers from Bulgaria and Romania in the hospitality sector in Cyprus. They were within the seminar following the invitation of the DEOK activists. After testimonies from where we found what they are working, how they are integrated in the Cypriot society, how they became DEOK members, it was a sustained dialogue between the panelists and the participants about the working and living conditions, about the social security, about their connection with the countries they left (for a while or definitively).
A special lecture was given by Anna KOBYLECKA. Anna is pastoral worker at the Diocese of Aachen. She presented Good practices in managing worker mobility. She also mentioned the Experience of cooperation between EZA member organizations.
The conclusive topic of the seminar was: Mobility and social security for (young) workers in the hospitality sector. How it can be better? It was a very good opportunity for most of the participants to express their opinions in regards the mobility, the young workers abroad, the social security.
In the final discussion of the seminar, under the moderation of Iulian GAVRILA [Youth Committee @ CNS Cartel Alfa branch in Brașov – RO], were introduced ideas to be considered for a paper drafted to inform young workers who choose to work in another country as an exercise of their professional mobility right: good knowledge of the working environment in the destination country, identification of the trade unions and/or other defending of the workers’ rights organisations, minimal knowledge of the language in the destination country, etc.
This kind of seminar should be organized regularly in the framework of EZA’s social dialogue program. The participants claimed for a close cooperation and for sharing of good or bad examples from different countries.