SOCIAL DIALOGUE ..
This photograph shows the imposing facade of Malcolm`s Hair Studio in nearby Larkfield. It`s conveniently located between the AutoCraft Garage and Morrison`s supermarket. And it`s where ace crimper, Chris of Larkfield, plies her trade as my personal stylist. For years it has been a relaxing venue for letting Chris loose on what`s left of my folically challenged head.
But things are changing, thanks to our friends in the European Union who seem quite unable to resist interfering in all corners of our everyday lives. They have just issued E-fact 34 - Risk Assessment for Hairdressers - Case Study Branch Codes for Skilled Trades, aka The Dresden Agreement, after the city where it was signed. These new Directives have been drawn up by the twin forces of the Python-esque EU Coiffeure and UNI Europa Hair and Beauty, which represent employers and workers in that line of business across the EU.
Under the Directive, the crimpers of this world will be banned from wearing high heels, jewellery and watches, they will be required to wear `suitable clothes` and face a limit on the number of `clients` they can see to each day. And they will be told to have regular `social dialogue to encourage mental well being in the workplace.` Chris tells me she will also have to wear rubber gloves whilst she is my cutting hair, which sounds a tad dangerous to me.
If these d(r)aft proposals are agreed by the European Commission they will then be submitted to the European Council to become an EU-wide Directive, binding on all 27 states, including the People`s Republic of Larkfield. Here in the UK, the Department for Work and Pensions confess to being confused by the odd wording of just some of the plans. For example, the agreement concludes: "To contribute to a healthy and balanced mental environment, the employer shall ensure a careful preparation of work....and work organisation aiming at optimising resource management and preventing emotional collapse." DWP Officials in Whitehall admit to being `not entirely clear what this means` but suspect it is likely to be used to restrict working times.
A couple of things occur to me about all this. The first is to ask you to imagine a meeting all those years ago between the `founding fathers` of the EU - those such as Konrad Adenauer of Germany, Jean Monet of France, Alcide De Gasperi of Italy and the rest of that magnificent seven. As they are thrashing out the meaty bits of the Treaty of Rome, it occurs to them that here is their opportunity to ensure that the hairdressers of Europe will one day be united by a common bond which means they can crimp away unshackled by high heels, jewellery or watches whilst joyfully donning their rubber gloves and engaging in meaningful social dialogue with their captive audience. Truly, we have much to thank them for.
And finally, as the terror rages in Syria, the conflict in Afghanistan continues to claim young lives and the uncertainties of the Arab Spring remain unresolved, about all of which we have heard not a peep from Baroness Ashton, the £328,000 a year EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy or her 7,000 strong army of EU bureaucrats. Maybe that`s just as well; for it says everything about the EU`s priorities that they are more concerned that Chris of Larkfield and I can have some `social dialogue` than how the real issues of the world might be tackled.
And you wonder why I remain profoundly skeptical about the EU and all its works........especially as I`ll miss the stilettos!
Under the Directive, the crimpers of this world will be banned from wearing high heels, jewellery and watches, they will be required to wear `suitable clothes` and face a limit on the number of `clients` they can see to each day. And they will be told to have regular `social dialogue to encourage mental well being in the workplace.` Chris tells me she will also have to wear rubber gloves whilst she is my cutting hair, which sounds a tad dangerous to me.
If these d(r)aft proposals are agreed by the European Commission they will then be submitted to the European Council to become an EU-wide Directive, binding on all 27 states, including the People`s Republic of Larkfield. Here in the UK, the Department for Work and Pensions confess to being confused by the odd wording of just some of the plans. For example, the agreement concludes: "To contribute to a healthy and balanced mental environment, the employer shall ensure a careful preparation of work....and work organisation aiming at optimising resource management and preventing emotional collapse." DWP Officials in Whitehall admit to being `not entirely clear what this means` but suspect it is likely to be used to restrict working times.A couple of things occur to me about all this. The first is to ask you to imagine a meeting all those years ago between the `founding fathers` of the EU - those such as Konrad Adenauer of Germany, Jean Monet of France, Alcide De Gasperi of Italy and the rest of that magnificent seven. As they are thrashing out the meaty bits of the Treaty of Rome, it occurs to them that here is their opportunity to ensure that the hairdressers of Europe will one day be united by a common bond which means they can crimp away unshackled by high heels, jewellery or watches whilst joyfully donning their rubber gloves and engaging in meaningful social dialogue with their captive audience. Truly, we have much to thank them for.
And finally, as the terror rages in Syria, the conflict in Afghanistan continues to claim young lives and the uncertainties of the Arab Spring remain unresolved, about all of which we have heard not a peep from Baroness Ashton, the £328,000 a year EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy or her 7,000 strong army of EU bureaucrats. Maybe that`s just as well; for it says everything about the EU`s priorities that they are more concerned that Chris of Larkfield and I can have some `social dialogue` than how the real issues of the world might be tackled.
And you wonder why I remain profoundly skeptical about the EU and all its works........especially as I`ll miss the stilettos!
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