On Thursday 8 March EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier will discuss Brexit with trade union leaders from all over Europe. The trade union leaders – meeting at the European Trade Union Confederation Executive Committee (ETUC) - will adopt a statement calling for any Brexit deal to maintain EU standards for workers’ rights and to minimise disruption to trade between the EU and the UK.

The ETUC calls on MEPs and Governments to approve last night’s agreement on the revision of the Posting of Workers Directive, providing it offers full equal pay and protection for Europe’s posted workers. “At last posted workers could have a guarantee of equal pay,” said Luca Visentini, ETUC General Secretary, “and better protection. For some of Europe's 2 million posted workers it offers the prospect of a long overdue pay rise.

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

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has calculated that if the proportion of GDP made up by wages were the same as in the early 1990s working people in the EU would have earned an extra €1764 in 2017 alone! The proportion of GDP made up by wages has been in decline since the mid-1970s. Wages made up 72% of EU GDP in 1975, and in 2017 made up less than 63%. Calculating wages lost from a ‘wage share’ set at a very moderate 66% (the level it reached in the EU in the early 1990s) would give all workers in the EU an extra €1764 in 2017 alone.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) are calling on the European Commission to take up concerns about Kazakhstan's violations of freedom of association during a meeting of the EU-Kazakhstan Cooperation Council meeting on 26 February. 

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) calls on the European Commission to withdraw its recommendation to restrict the right to strike of air traffic control staff. “The right to strike is a fundamental right” said Esther Lynch, ETUC Confederal Secretary, “and the European Commission has no right to undermine it. “The European Commission is acting contrary to the EU Treaty, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the European Pillar Social Rights.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) today called on EU leaders to support a budget for working people and not only increases in defence, security and external border control spending.      EU Heads of State & Government meet on Friday to discuss political priorities for the EU’s multiannual financial framework (MFF) after 2020. The ETUC urges EU Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chancellors to look beyond the “narrow set” of European Commission “options” presented in their Communication on a “New and Modern” MFF last week.

A ground-breaking agreement between German trade union IG Metall and employers in the region of Baden-Württemburg sets a precedent likely to be followed across Germany, and gives a positive example for the whole of Europe. The agreement includes a 4.3 % pay rise from April 2018, plus much greater flexibility including reduced working time to 28 hours for those who want or need it, and a choice for workers (with children still in education or caring for dependent parents) of an additional pay rise in 2019 or extra paid days off.

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

Commenting on the EU's guidelines for negotiating the Brexit transition arrangements*, adopted today by the General Affairs Council, ETUC Confederal Secretary Esther Lynch said "It is in the interests of working people in the EU – including the UK - for the UK to stay in the single market and customs union until a new relationship is agreed. "It is clear this means following all EU law, to guarantee a level playing field especially on workers’ rights, and paying into the budget.

During the four days that Chief Executive Officers from European companies attend the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, they will earn more than most people get in 18 months to two years.   According to figures on CEO pay-to-average-income from business news agency Bloomberg, in four days at Davos, CEOs

Commenting on the overturning of the sentence on LuxLeaks whistleblower Antoine Deltour by a Luxembourg Court, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) called for better and EU-wide protection of whistleblowers. “People should be able to expose wrong-doing without fear of retribution,” said Esther Lynch, ETUC Confederal Secretary. “It is good that Antoine Deltour has had his sentence overturned, but he should not have been prosecuted in the first place.