The European Trade Union Confederation expresses it support for trade unions in Turkey trying to improve the conditions of construction workers at the new Istanbul Airport. “This dispute cannot be resolved by the police but has to be resolved by negotiations between trade unions, the employers and the Government.” “There have already been 37 deaths including serious accidents causing death and injuries” said Luca Visentini, ETUC General Secretary. “One problem is that more than 8 out of 10 workers on the site are sub-contracted and employed by over 250 companies.

The ETUC welcomes the announcement today that the EU will take another step to protect  workers from work related cancer. The announcement today will affect 3,6 million workers in the EU and prevent at least 6 000 deaths per year from lung cancer. Commenting on the announcement, Esther Lynch Confederal Secretary said “Today the EU is taking decisive action to limit workers exposure to diesel exhaust. It comes in response to a major awareness and lobbying effort by workers and their trade unions.

The ETUC condemns the Austrian Presidency’s decision to cancel the scheduled meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) Council today, 11 October, which was due to discuss progress on the European Pillar of Social Rights, and in particular the establishment of a European Labour Authority to assist in enforcing workers’ rights and to fight fraud and abuse of commonly agreed rules to combat social dumping.

Despite a steady increase in the number of self-employed workers – who now represent 1 in 10 of all workers – the self-employed are denied the rights enjoyed by employees reveals a new report by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).   ‘Trade unions protecting self-employed workers’ published today by the ETUC shows that self-employed workers

The EU needs to fix the draft Company Law Package – currently being discussed by the European Parliament and Council - so that it Strengthens democracy at work including worker representation on company boards meets the needs of working people and not only of business, and moves from a 1980s idea of corporate governance to one that has learned the lessons of the crisis says the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). The ETUC is organising two events to drive home its message

The European Trade Union Confederation has condemned the Hungarian and Polish Governments for filing a complaint to the Court of Justice of the European Union on the revised Posted Workers Directive and vowed to fight it all the way.

The current European Commission and Parliament have until May 2019 to ‘change the rules’ to promote decent work for people across the EU who are getting increasingly disillusioned over precarious work, poor wages, and growing inequality. After the European elections in May 2019 at there is likely to be considerable change in the make-up of the two European institutions. The ETUC has drawn up a handy TO DO list, to be delivered by the current and future EU institutions, to mark World Day for Decent Work whose theme this year is ‘Change the rules’.

"The strength of feeling among Ryanair workers is clear. Ryanair must commit to serious negotiations with the workers’ trade unions and stop its ongoing attacks on their right to unionise," said Luca Visentini, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation.

Dear Readers, We have just published the September 2018 edition of the ETUC Newsletter. To read the document, please click here. Enjoy!

‘Stand up for the Social Pillar’ is the message coming out of the European Parliament today.   A new group - bringing together social NGOs, trade unions, pro-European organisations, and social economy enterprises and organisations - is meeting up today with MEPs from the two largest political groups, senior Commission officials  and an audience of over 120 people to discuss how to get Governments and EU institutions to put the European Pillar of Social Rights into practice.

Upcoming meeting in Montreal provides an opportunity to address growing concerns On the first anniversary of CETA’s implementation, trade unions on both sides of the Atlantic are warning that the trade deal is not a ‘model’ agreement and say it is time for an immediate review.

The European Commission, Governments, employers and trade unions today agreed at a conference organised by the Austrian Presidency in Vienna to extend their collaboration to fight work-related cancers . The initiative aimed at sharing workplace practices that prevent exposure to carcinogens in the workplace was launched in Amsterdam in May 2016 with ETUC, BusinessEurope, the European Commission, the European Agency for Safety & Health at Work and two EU countries (Netherlands and Austria).

Dear readers, We’re pleased to publish the latest edition of Workers’ Voice National UPdates, demonstrating how national and sectoral trade union organisations in different countries and industries are taking a constructive role in promoting social progress and justice in Europe, often working in cooperation with employers, governments and civil society organisations. In this issue, trade union activities range from brightening the lives of disadvantaged children to tackling intercommunal misunderstandings. 

Commenting on Jean-Claude Juncker’s State of the Union speech, Luca Visentini, General Secretary of the European Trade Union said “We strongly support President Juncker’s call for the Pillar of Social Rights to be put into EU law, but social justice deserved far more than one sentence in the State of the Union speech.”

The General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation Luca Visentini, the General Secretaries of the Italian trade unions CGIL, CISL and UIL – Susanna Camusso, Annamaria Furlan and Carmelo Barbagallo – met with Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio in Rome today.

With news of another 100 refugees drowned in the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya, and claims that a rescue ship was unable to assist because Malta will not let it enter port to refuel, coming just a day after the EU Summit that emphasised border control and preventing “illegal crossings”, Luca Visentini, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, said “The Mediterranean is becoming a mass grave while EU leaders are scoring points to take home instead of finding real solutions.

Dear Readers, We have just published the June 2018 edition of the ETUC Newsletter. To read the document, please click here. Enjoy!

Four global mega trends that are radically changing the world of work – decarbonisation, digitalisation, globalisation and demographic change - cannot simply be left to the market and will bring changes that need to be anticipated and managed together, warn the European Trade Union Confederation and Institute (ETUC and ETUI).

Ahead of this week’s European Council meeting, the Directors General of BusinessEurope and the CBI, Markus Beyrer and Carolyn Fairbairn, and the General Secretaries of the ETUC and the TUC, Luca Visentini and Frances O’Grady have issued an unprecedented joint statement urging faster progress. The organisations, which together represent 45 million workers and 20 million employers across Europe, met for the first time in London on 15 June to discuss Brexit.