Opinion
SHONA MAIN
shonamain@holyrood.com
The Italian job
STREETVIEW
N
o one wants to see British workers and lobbying MEPs and MPs, the Brit-
missing out on jobs sarely needed ish Government backed the EC in the
in times like these but that shouldn’t stop case against Italy: a case they won. Yet
Do you agree with the striking workers
at the Lindsey Oil Refi nery in North
us extending a welcome to the Italian when the Italian government ignored
Lincolnshire that there should be ‘British
workers, exercising their rights to sell the judgement, it meant the commission jobs for British workers’?
their labour in the single market. had to go back to the court to seek sanc-
May they delight in our pints, Radio tions to make the Italian state comply. At
No. I just think protectionism is quite
1, Coronation Street, fi sh suppers and per- this, the very moment when you want
dangerous and we should be doing
what we can to support employment
haps the opportunity to let one of our your own government behind you or at
opportunities throughout Europe. The
lovely ladies drop her chips. And here’s least making phonecalls, the British Gov-
way things are at the moment people
hoping that when the stoor falls, they ernment wimped out. Apparently, there
should be grateful for the jobs they
can enjoy the benefi ts of working in the are other, British ways of seeking a reso- have, and concerned more with that,
UK and enrich our culture, as Italian lution. If indeed there are, they haven’t
than going out on strike.
immigrants have always done. Fair play worked. Only two out of 25 univerisities
Linda Martin
to them. have buckled.
Edinburgh, 49, local government offi cer

Lord Mandelson has sought to con- Equal treatment, as espoused by
●
vince us that this benefi t cuts both ways. Mandelson, is enshrined in the EU
Whilst stopping short of urging us to Treaty but enforcing an indivdual’s right They don’t have to give all the jobs to
get on our bikes, he said that EU laws to equal treatment is up to the member
foreign workers, couldn’t they share
protected the rights of British workers to states – and where does that leave you
it some way? It doesn’t sound good
It’s a
null
crying seek jobs on the continent. or me? Beholden to them, their politcal
in the papers, that there are all these
demonstrators in a protest about
shame if
Mandy, not long back from lording it agendas and their lily livers. The Lettori
foreign workers. It seems a bit wrong,
the current
up around Europe, seems to have forgot- case shows that there may be fi ne words
not encouraging people to come and
economic
ten the case of the Lettori, the 1,200 for- in the treaty and just judgments in the
work here, a bit racist. I don’t think it’s
eign language lecturers working within legal institutions of the EU but they good to exclude someone just because
conditions
the Italian university system who, despite mean nothing if a nation state ignores
they’re foreign.
turn worker
20 years of litigation and fi ve judgments them – and the pursuer’s state bottles it.
Tonya McMullan
against from the European Court of Justice in For the Lettori, the treaty and the
Northern Ireland, 27, self-employed

worker
their favour, still have to sue to get their judgments of the European Court of
●
monthly wages and their pensions. Justice are bits of paper stuffed in the
null
The Lettori, or ALLSI, is the back of a drawer when they should be There’s no easy yes or no answer to that,
trade union founded by David Petrie, waved in the faces of those who want to but on balance I don’t agree. They’re
a Dumbarton boy who got a job as a forget their existence.
members of a union and the union
teacher of English in Verona University It’s a crying shame if the current
hasn’t supported or discussed it fully
yet. Also, you can’t become members
in 1984. It didn’t take long before he economic conditions turn worker against
of the EU and expect to get everything
clocked that, despite doing the same job, worker. But the tears will be all the more
you do when you go to EU countries
his wages and conditions were different bitter if the great ideal of the EU, sold
and not expect the same here. But I
to his Italian counterparts. His attempts to us as a union that benefi ts all of us think they’re beginning to get their
to get his employer to follow European equally, becomes a nonsense because the
heads round that, which is good, but I
law were unsuccessful. As an individual politicians haven’t the moral courage to
think they should have done it sooner.
he could not take his case directly to the make the words of the treaty a reality.
Edith
Edinburgh, ‘over 70’, retired
European Court of Justice. His choice? If Brown and his chums want to bol-

To convince a local (Italian) judge to ster the powers of the European Union
●
refer his case to Luxembourg, persuade they need to get on their feet and enforce
the European Commission to take up it. They also need to seek a total revamp Yes, I can see their point. I think making
the case in the way it saw fi t or convince of how we individuals can enforce our
sure that everyone who has paid
the British Government to plead it on rights given to us by the treaty. The cur-
national insurance in this country has the
the Lettori’s behalf. That’s ok if you have rent arrangements are supposed to pre-
opportunity to get a job is important, and
not be undercut by cheap labour because
twenty years to spare and a full head of vent vexatious litigation. However, with-
I think the big companies will always go
hair. Petrie has lost both in his long slog out the guts needed to make this union
for cheap labour to pay minimum wage.
for justice for the Lettori but the laddie work, all that is left is useless litigation – Lauren Heatherl
hasn’t given up. and people who have spent too much of Edinburgh, 27, student
In 2001, after years of court cases their lives trying to be treated fairly. HM
| www.holyrood.com | Holyrood magazine | 9 February 2009 |
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