Jean has responded to the UK Government’s Building Our Industrial Strategy green paper.

You can read her submission to the consultation here. It focuses on the following key issues, which the current proposals do not sufficiently address:

• A 21st century industrial strategy must put climate change and resource limits at its heart.
• The strategy’s overarching objective should be the transition towards a sustainable zero-carbon economy that affords genuine and more equitably distributed prosperity to the country.
• There needs to be greater recognition of the potential of the green economy – for jobs and economic renewal.
• In accelerating the transition towards a zero-carbon future, innovations and transformation in three sectors will have the greatest impact. These are: energy, transport and buildings.
• A regional focus is needed.
• We need to create secure jobs, not just any jobs – and especially in those regions with high levels of insecure employment.
• A broader range of indicators of success is needed than GDP growth.
• Concerns about productivity need to be broadened to focus on improving resource productivity/resource efficiency and strengthening the ‘circular economy’.
• We need a central, strategic role for public funding.
• Brexit and our regulatory environment. The EU27 is the second largest economy in the world (after the US) and it is inevitable that UK-based industry will seek to trade with the EU27 on favourable terms. This will only be possible if our economy and regulatory environment is kept in step with the EU27. We need to keep pace with EU standards in a broad range of areas, such as environmental and emissions standards, product safety, energy efficiency, labelling and animal welfare. We need to maintain a clear commitment to the precautionary principle.
• We need a flexible migration policy.
• There is need to foster social partnerships, work with trade unions and include workforce participation in industry.

ENDS

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The European Parliament today adopted the Balas report on ‘social dumping within the European Union’.

Today’s decision is significant in the context of the forthcoming negotiations on the controversial directive on posted workers.

Commenting after the vote, Greens/EFA member of the Committee for Employment and Social Affairs Jean Lambert said:

“The social exploitation of cross-border workers must end. As European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker correctly noted in his State of the European Union speech, the EU is not social enough. The European Commission now has an opportunity to show that it is serious about delivering a more social union.

“It is the sad reality that many workers today, especially in agriculture, catering, and health and care services, are experiencing what amounts to systematic exploitation. This has to end and we need EU-wide rules to ensure adequate remuneration, better inspection, cross-border cooperation and an EU-wide blacklist of exploitative companies.”

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The European Parliament this afternoon adopted a report on ‘integrating refugees into the labour market’.

This is an important issue for the Greens who see the refugee situation first and foremost as a humanitarian crisis.

Jean Lambert MEP was the shadow rapporteur for the Greens/EFA groups in the European Parliament on the report. She made this comment:

“I’m very pleased the European Parliament has got behind measures which would help refugees who come to Europe to integrate and to find work. All European countries should extend a warm welcome to refugees and help them build new lives and contribute to European society – the proposals in this report would go a long way to achieving that.

“For once I am happy to see support for cutting ‘red tape’ in the form of anything that hinders refugees and asylum seekers from getting into work quickly.

“It is important that governments do not undermine these efforts by issuing short-term residence permits only, as these make employers reluctant to offer training or long-term contracts. We must not risk unnecessary delays in giving refugees full access to the labour market – this is a waste of their skills and puts unnecessary burden on the state.”

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At an event yesterday in the European Parliament to launch a new report, [1] Jean Lambert said of the study:

‘This study shows, yet again, that the Government’s portrayal of EU nationals in the UK as being takers rather than givers is just not backed by evidence.’

Covering the period from 2007 – 2013, the findings from four countries: the UK, Austria, Germany and The Netherlands shows that EU migrants made a positive contribution to their respective state budgets. The total taxes paid in exceeded the total benefits received by EU migrants by between 0.2 and 0.9 % of GDP, on conservative estimates.

Directly responding to some member states, the UK included, who want to restrict the right to free movement of people in the EU, the new report from the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) [2] further showed that:

• EU migrants received, on average, 50% less in terms of social benefit expenditure than the average citizen of the countries studied

• Even when pension-related benefits and contributions are not taken into account, the net positive contribution remains for the UK

Hosting the launch event in the European Parliament, Green London MEP Jean Lambert concluded:

‘While these findings are welcome the conclusion isn’t new, and you certainly wouldn’t know it based on the reporting of the mainstream UK press.

‘If the Prime Minister really wants to reduce benefit payments, he should concentrate on ensuring people are paid decent wages so they don’t need state top-ups. Pay is a national responsibility.’

-ends-

Notes To Editors

[1] http://www.ecas.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Fiscal-Impact-of-EU-migrants.pdf

[2] http://www.ecas.org/

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ISDS-Consulation-JL-response

To take part in the consultation, click here.

To read ‘From your dinner plate to your pay packet’, a briefing on TTIP by Jean and Keith Taylor, South East England’s Green Party MEP, click here.

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She made the call after it emerged that cleaners at the chain are still paid less than the living wage – an hourly rate calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK, currently standing at £7.65 in the UK and £8.80 in London.

Although the John Lewis Partnership is widely considered to be a model of ethical employment, with a profit-share scheme that saw most staff receive a 14% bonus last year, its cleaners are not directly employed by the firm and, as well as being paid less than a living wage, are entitled to neither bonus payments nor a share in the firm’s profits.

Ms Lambert said: “The John Lewis Partnership is one of the most successful retailers in the UK: a trip to the firm’s flagship store in Oxford Street is, for many, synonymous with a central London shopping trip.

“It’s shocking then that it chooses to have it’s stores cleaned by people who aren’t paid enough to live on, and I hope this attention will persuade them to change their minds.

“The Green Party believes that the minimum wage should be replaced with a living wage, and that the last well-paid workers in the UK should all earn a greater share of the nation’s wealth.

“A more equal society is better for everyone, not just the least well-off, and all employers – especially one, like John Lewis, which is widely-regarded as one which treats its staff fairly – must do their bit by increasing pay at ‘the bottom’ and bringing in a ‘pay ratio’ to make sure its Chief Executive and best paid staff earn no more than ten times the amount taken home by its staff, often its cleaners, earning the least.”

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The move comes as new government statistics show rising income inequality in the UK – with the richest 1% of households in the UK having greater wealth than half the UK population.

In the meantime the estimated gap between the pay of CEOs and employees has doubled in ten years.

Ms Lambert was joined outside the RBS building, in the heart of the City of London, by fellow Green candidates and campaigners to highlight the growing issue of income inequality in the capital.

Ms Lambert said: “Income inequality in the UK is amongst the highest in the developed world – and it’s getting worse.

“At the lower end of the scale, three quarter of a million Londoners earn less than the “living wage” – leaving them struggling to feed their families or pay the rent despite putting in the graft. This is unacceptable – the minimum wage should be a living wage.

“But it’s not just the lowest paid – average wages across the capital have been falling in real terms – while those at the top continue to reward themselves disproportionate sums.

“We need to rebalance the scales – to cap the earning of the elite few, and bring in fairer wages across the board.

“Bankers are the prime example of a pay system which is out of step with society. As a largely taxpayer owned company, RBS should lead from the front on this issue and introduce a maximum ratio of ten to one from the top to the bottom.

“Greens are the only group in Europe who are committed to ending this absurd concentration of wealth for a tiny elite.

“It was Greens who brought in the cap on bankers’ bonuses – something supported by three out of five Londoners, but fought tooth and nail by the UK Government.

“It shows the flawed priorities of our out-of-touch Tory-Lib Dem coalition that they won’t fight for fair pay for all Londoners, but they’ll go to court to protect bankers bonuses.

“It’s time to bring this inequality to halt, and make sure every wage is at least a living wage.”

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LONDON Euro-MP Jean Lambert has joined forces with the only female candidate to be the next President of the European Commission – German Green MEP Ska Keller – to call for the abolition of all university and college tuition fees.

Ms Lambert and Ms Keller – speaking in London after a YouGov poll revealed that only 41% of 17-21 year olds are planning to vote in the upcoming elections – were being hosted by the youth-wing of the Green Party of England and Wales, as it launched its manifesto ahead of next week’s election to the European Parliament.

Ska Keller, now 32, was one of the youngest MEPs to be elected to the European Parliament in 2009.

Ms Lambert, who is a member of the European Parliament’s cross-party Intergroup on Youth Issues, said: “Across the UK young people are really feeling the squeeze, and they’re fed up with politicians turning their backs on them.

“I’m here with Ska today to try to demonstrate that some politicians do care, and are calling for policies deigned to improve the lives of younger people.

“I hope everyone will vote next Thursday, and have their say on the future of Europe.”

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Speaking after an event to mark the 40th anniversary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Ms Lambert criticised David Cameron’s position that the EU should be all about promoting the interests of big business rather than people.

She said: “Giving working people the freedom to live and ply their trade anywhere in the EU, safe in the knowledge that their workplace rights are the same across the union, and will be upheld, is a cornerstone of what the EU’s all about.

“But David Cameron wants to repatriate workers’ rights: by branding them as a a ‘burden on business’ he wants to see a race to the bottom in which every EU nation makes up its own rules on workers’ rights – and standards for everyone fall as a result.

“Greens and trade unionists have a very different vision: one in which the EU is based on a shared, robust, set of core standards on such matters as protecting the health and safety of workers, rights for part-time and agency workers, time spent at work, and so on.

“I’m delighted to be at this ETUC conference in Madrid today, along with hundreds who want to see moves towards a more equal Europe and investment in creating new jobs for a sustainable future, rather than pushing austerity.”

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Campaigners from PCS and JustPay!, the national campaign for Living Wage standards at FTSE 100 companies, will meet in Sheffield to urge all employers to pay the Living Wage rate; the minimum hourly wage necessary for housing, food and other basic needs for an individual and their family. The Living Wage currently stands at £8.30 per hour in London and £7.20 per hour for regions outside of the capital (1).

JustPay! estimates that there are currently some 3.5 million people in the UK over the age of 22 earning less than £7 an hour, with the proportion of people on low pay steadily increasing.

Jean, who will be speaking at the event, said: “Low paid workers in Britain are blighted by an ever-growing wage inequality which endangers health and has a detrimental impact on family life.  British people work some of the longest hours in Europe, yet many simply cannot afford to work less.  Everyone deserves a fair wage for their time without having to resort to working 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Jean continued: “The application of Living Wage standards has already lifted 8,000 people out of working poverty in London yet there are still millions of workers waiting to be rescued from a life on low pay.  Even in time of economic difficulty, we need to tackle poverty.”

Notes to Editors

1. The Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University has calculated the Living Wage rate outside of London at £7.20 per hour.

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