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.
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.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomes the progress made by EU Employment Ministers today towards adopting the ‘Work Life Balance’ and the ‘Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions’ Directives.
Ministers meeting today in the Employment Council agreed a ‘general approach’ on both Directives – enabling discussions in ‘trilogue’ as soon as the European Parliament adopts its position.
“Today the EU has taken a small step towards making the lives of working people across Europe a little better” said Luca Visentini, ETUC General Secretary.
A new group has been set up to encourage Governments and EU institutions to fully implement the European Pillar of Social Rights.
The group ‘Stand Up for the Social Pillar’ brings together social economy enterprises and organisations including cooperatives active in industry and services, trade unions, pro-European organisations and social NGOs, and has as its mission to
Dear readers,
Welcome to the summer 2018 edition of Workers’ Voice National UPdates, showing how trade unions in different countries are taking a constructive role in promoting social progress and justice in Europe, in collaboration with employers, governments and civil society organisations. To coincide with the ETUI-ETUC conference on ‘The worlds of work in transition’, this newsletter highlights examples of how unions are involved in organising workers and improving conditions in Europe’s new digital industries.
ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini has written to all Employment Ministers urging them not to dilute the Commission proposals and “adopt a meaningful general approach” on the 2 Directives up for discussion at the EPSCO Council on Thursday.
The letter states that the Directives on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions and Work Life Balance are both “crucial to working people across Europe and their trade unions.”
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) condemns the violation of human rights and international law by the Italian Government, welcomes the humanity of the Spanish Government and criticises the lack of action by the European Union and its member states over the sorry saga of the rescue ship Acquarius and its 629 people on board.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) will oppose a potential double cut in European Social Fund (ESF) spending in the EU budget 2021-2027.
The European Commission’s ESF proposals published today, its Cohesion Policy proposals published yesterday and the overall EU budget 2021-2027 proposals, include
Commenting on the outcome today of the European Parliament vote on posted workers, Liina Carr, Confederal Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), saluting a victory for Europe’s posted workers, said:
“Justice at last for posted workers.
“With the YES vote, the ETUC is very pleased that posted workers now have the prospect of equal pay.
“Even if the final deal includes important compromises such as the exclusion of transport workers, it guarantees at least the same pay for the same work in the same place.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has written to MEPs urging them to vote in favour of the revision of Posting of Workers Directive.
The Plenary vote is due to take place on Tuesday 29 May on the trilogue deal between the Commission, Council and Parliament in March, and is a yes/no vote without the possibility of amendments. The text has already been approved by Council.
