The DGB demands better maternity protection

The DGB demands better maternity protection: standards of the International Labor Organization must also apply to the European Union.

„We call on German parliamentarians in the European Parliament to use their voices to help bring about better maternity protection: they should join in the call for motherhood protection periods to be extended from 14 to 18 weeks“, Deputy DGB leader Ingrid Sehrbrock declared on Monday in Berlin, on the occasion of the forthcoming vote in the European Parliament on the revision of the maternity protection directive. The current amendments to the Employment Committee on 18-week maternity leave are a proper and necessary compromise, supporting the EU Commission's proposal.

„If the adjustment does not succeed now, the topic will be postponed. That is irresponsible“, said Ingrid Sehrbrock. A protection period of 18 weeks complies with the International Labor Organization (ILO) standard in Geneva since 2000. Europe would finally make the necessary adjustment to this minimum standard with this step. Such an extension would only impact in a few European countries, as deadlines are already longer than 14 weeks in many countries (eg Spain, France). Germany would be directly affected by this and would have to raise its deadlines by four weeks. The DGB assumes that the national implementation of this new standard would be carried out in conjunction with the existing pay-as-you-go financing in Germany and would thus bring no financial deterioration for women.

„Improved maternity protection in Europe, in times of intense controversy over demographic change, is a clear sign of social and labor law progress in Europe, which must be linked to strengthening the partnership-based sharing of working and family time in families. The revision of European parental leave, which took place last year, provides ample opportunity to reconcile these aspects with national implementation“, continued Ingrid Sehrbrock. The last DGB Federal Congress in May 2010 clearly positioned itself in this spirit after dedicated discussions. (pm, 18.10.2010)