Plaid MEP Jill Evans has welcomed a vote in the European Parliament which calls for the UK to be included in European rules to prevent workers being exploited and over-worked. Ms Evans said the vote was good news for workers in Wales and elsewhere.

The European Commission has put forward a revised Working Time Directive and today the European Parliament's Employment Committee voted in support of phasing out the UK's opt-out from the anti-exploitation law. They recommended giving the UK 36 months to comply with the updated law.

The revised set of rules will allow a series of exemptions so as not to harm economic competitiveness but will outlaw the practice of forcing people to work dangerously long hours.

The revised Working Time Directive is expected to come before the European Parliament in December, and be on the agenda of the December Summit of EU leaders. Ms Evans has consistently voted in favour of fairer working time legislation in the European Parliament.

Speaking after the vote in Brussels, Jill Evans, who represents the whole of Wales in the European Parliament, said:

"We need employment laws that strike the right balance between protecting workers from exploitation, without damaging our economic competitiveness, particularly in these difficult times.

"This directive may not be perfect but it goes a long way to dealing with employer's concerns whilst preserving the basic principle that people must not be forced to work dangerously long hours. This result is good news for workers in Wales and elsewhere.

"The Labour government in London has always fought to keep the UK's opt-out which the previous Tory government secured in the early nineties. It was always an embarrassment for Labour MEPs that their own government should oppose what is in essence a piece of health and safety legislation.

"As it stands, the revised directive allows for significant flexibility to implement the requirements, for example for workers in seasonal industries, or on-call workers.

"Labour's support for the opt-out was as wrong headed as its support for light touch financial regulation and look where that's got us. In these uncertain economic times our workers need the same protection as those in other parts of Europe, and our employers need to know that the flexibility is there if they need it."

Diwedd/Ends.