Commenting on the decision of the European Commission to approve the EU-Canada trade deal (CETA) and to submit it to national Parliaments for approval, ETUC Confederal Secretary Liina Carr said “Putting the EU Canada trade deal to national Parliaments is the right decision given the controversy surrounding it.
Further to specific developments in the case of Vos Transport in the period between the end of SOMO's research and the publication of the report, SOMO has published the following annex providing an update including a recent case ruling, reference to the Dutch Labour Inspection report and Vos reply
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is urging the European Commission to
· Make the EU-Canada trade agreement (CETA) subject to member state Parliaments;
· Press ahead with the revision of the Posted Workers Directive.
Last week the ETUC issued a short statement ‘European Summit - What trade unions expect’
https://www.etuc.org/press/european-summit-what-trade-unions-expect#.V3PLrPl97cs
But what did the Summit actually deliver for workers?
What we asked for
What we got
Comment of ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini
The European Trade Union Confederation mourns the senseless massacre of innocent travellers and workers at Istanbul Airport yesterday evening, and has sent a message of solidarity to its members in Turkey.
UK referendum
The ETUC calls for Brexit vote to be a wake-up call to the EU to offer workers a better deal.
Specifically, the ETUC calls for decisive action to
ensure this is not the start of the break-up of the European Union, and does not damage jobs and workers’ rights.
tackle working people’s deep discontent in the EU by creating a fairer and more equal society, investing in quality jobs, good public services and real opportunities for young people.
Migration
The ETUC calls for
Commenting on the results of the UK referendum on EU membership, Luca Visentini, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, said
“This is a dark day for Europe, for the UK and for workers. It must be a wake-up call for the EU to offer a better deal for workers.
The European Trade Union Confederation has called for the immediate suspension of the EU-Turkey Agreement on refugees following the fatal shooting by Turkish border guards of children, women and men trying to escape Syria, and amid reports from human rights organisations that over 60 Syrian refugees have been shot at the border this year.
Luca Visentini, ETUC General Secretary, said “International law requires nations to offer shelter to refugees. It seems that today’s EU does not care about international law, or indeed about human life.”
European and International trade union organisations have expressed their shock and anger at the news that Arzu Çerkezoğlu, General Secretary of their Turkish affiliate DISK, has been arrested at Istanbul airport as she was about to take a flight to Germany to visit a relative in hospital.
Police claim that she was arrested because she allegedly insulted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a speech she made on 31 August last year. The ETUC, ITUC and European Public Services Union are demanding her immediate release and the withdrawal of the bizarre charge against her.
The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) – taking place today in Luxembourg – will focus on key issues for the European trade union movement, as Ministers will endorse the establishment of National Productivity Boards (NPB), agree on new legislation on corporate tax avoidance and discuss the introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT).
A high-level conference took place in Rome today, organised by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) with the support of the three Italian unions CGIL, CISL and UIL, and attended by trade unionists from 22 countries including the General Secretaries of CGT France Philippe Martinez, CCOO Spain Ignazio Toxo and ETUC President Rudy De Leeuw of FGTB Belgium.
They underlined trade union support for a humanitarian and European response to the many men, women and children seeking shelter from conflict in the EU.
ETUC Deputy General Secretary Peter Scherrer will present the prestigious Silver Rose Press Freedom Award to Uğur Güç, President of the Journalist Union of Turkey (TGS), in a ceremony in the European Parliament today.
The award is made annually by SOLIDAR, the European network of 60 Civil Society Organisations working for social justice worldwide. This year’s winner is a distinctively political choice supporting jailed journalists and promoting solidarity between journalists in Turkey and abroad.
Today’s EU employment figures for the first quarter of 2016, issued by Eurostat, show a very slight improvement over the last three months of 2015. The number of people in work increased by 0.3% in the euro area and the EU28.
At a high-level conference on standardisation in Amsterdam today, the European Trade Union Confederation, the European Commission and other stakeholders signed a joint initiative on standardisation. The event took place within the Commission’s Single Market Forum.
The OECD’s latest forecast for 2016, issued today, highlights Europe’s continuing high unemployment, low demand, low inflation and low investment, and acknowledges the need for wage increases and more public investment in surplus countries.
Veronica Nilsson, Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, commented “Like the ETUC, the OECD understands that more public spending and higher wages are needed to drive demand and economic growth.”
Commenting on the Skills Agenda launched today by the European Commission, Thiébaut Weber, ETUC Confederal Secretary, said “Europe needs a big push to support workers to increase their skills, and to cope with the transition to a digital, carbon-free and ageing society.”
“The Skills Agenda is a useful step forward and the proposal for a Skills Guarantee, which was an ETUC demand, is very positive.”
Speech by Luca Visentini, ETUC General Secretary, at 2nd IndustriAll-Europe Congress
Madrid, 7-9 June 2016
Dear comrades and friends of IndustriAll Europe,
I’m very honoured to participate in your congress today, and to bring you greetings and solidarity from the European Trade Union Confederation.
Europe is facing a very challenging time.
The European Union must shape the digitalisation of Europe’s economy and society much more actively, with policy initiatives to avoid massive job losses and ensure the creation of quality jobs and decent working conditions, said the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).
A resolution, adopted by national and European trade union leaders gathered in Brussels today, calls for
Tomorrow European Commissioner Marianne Thyssen will unveil proposals for an EU Skills Agenda in the European Parliament, with a press conference later in the week.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) believes that an ambitious agenda with concrete actions is essential: to upgrade skills to enable people seeking work to get jobs, for workers to remain employed and to move to better jobs, and to enable the European economy to meet the many challenges ahead.
Luca Visentini – speech for ILO International Labour Conference 3 June 2016
Check against delivery
We, the European trade union movement, welcome the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the ILO’s ‘End to Poverty’ Initiative.
We welcome the ILO initiative on the Future of Work and the ILO action on Supply Chains.
End poverty & hunger, combat inequality, build just and inclusive societies, gender equality, the protection of our planet’s natural resources.
As part of the EU Social Dialogue programme, European social partners have undertaken separate projects on apprenticeships focusing on the cost-effectiveness of apprenticeship schemes (employers) and a European quality framework for apprenticeships (trade unions).
The project outcomes were presented in a joint conference on 26-27 May in Brussels.
As the annual conference of the International Labour Organisation starts this week in Geneva, the ITUC and the European Trade Union Confederation are calling on governments to support the right to safe haven and work for all refugees, as the world faces the greatest flow of refugees in 70 years.
