The LCGB, the majority trade union in the transport sector in Luxembourg, has demanded a solution to the problem of (a lack of) coordination of social security for cross-border workers.
On Friday 21 January 2022, the LCGB met with the French MP for Meurthe-et-Moselle, Xavier Paluszkiewicz, to discuss the issue of social security coordination related to European regulation 883/2004. According to the union, the meeting came in response to "the inaction and lack of political will of the competent Luxembourg authorities" to resolve this issue.
According to the coordination rules in Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, any employee who works more than 25% of the time in his / her country of residence is subject to the social security legislation of that country. The LCGB has argued that this provision "seriously harms" cross-border workers who are employed in the Grand Duchy as professional drivers in the international transport sector.
The union added that these employees are "exposed to the real and recurring risk of being disaffiliated from Luxembourg social security and of losing all rights to Luxembourg social benefits for the simple fact that a European regulation [...] is not adapted to the daily reality of their job".
The LCGB noted that, in order to remedy this situation, it has reached out to several officials, including Luxembourg's Minister of Social Security at the time, Romain Schneider, Luxembourg's Minister for Mobility and Public Works, François Bausch, and the European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit. The union argued that "these political decision-makers are hiding behind European regulations to justify their inaction, respectively their lack of political will to implement a solution for the employees concerned, whose total workforce is around 10,000 people".
In order to increase the pressure on political actors, the LCGB requested the support of the European transport union ETF ROAD, the Belgian union CSC and the French union CFDT. Moreover, the LCGB is now seeking the support of MPs from the border region and MEPs from the countries concerned.
It is in this context that the LCGB met with Xavier Paluszkiewicz, who, according to the union, shares its desire to resolve the issue by concluding a bilateral agreement between Luxembourg and its neighbouring countries as provided for in article 16 of the European regulation.
The LCGB added that Mr Paluszkiewicz has undertaken to intervene with the competent French authorities in order to initiate discussions on the conclusion of a bilateral Franco-Luxembourg agreement derogating from the European rule of 25% for affiliation to social security.
