Article by Liina Carr, published on Social Europe
As MEPs Vote On CETA, Trade Unions Demand A New Approach To Trade
After months of argument which brought hundreds of thousands of protestors onto the streets of European cities, the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is this week taking a further step towards implementation, with the vote in the European Parliament.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is launching a campaign for a pay rise for workers throughout Europe: to drive economic growth and tackle inequality.
Over the last two days European trade unionists have been discussing the need for pay rises with employers and Government at a conference in Brussels.
On February 15 the European Parliament will vote on the reform of the EU’s pioneering Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
This is one of the main ways adopted by the EU to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and its reform is essential to meeting the EU’s commitments to tackle climate change agreed at the UN Paris climate summit.
Commenting on the outcome of the Valletta informal Summit, ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini said
“The EU has decided to pay Libya, with a Government that controls only a part of the country, to keep refugees and migrants out of Europe. To make matters worse they are paying for this out of development funds. It would be like Trump getting Mexico to pay for the border wall, except the EU has come up with a way to do it.”
Speech by ETUC Deputy General Secretary Katja Lehto-Komulainen at European Parliamentary Week 2017; Interparliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in the European Union; Towards a more comprehensive and coordinated social dimension
Mr. Chairperson, MEPs and members of national parliaments, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honour to speak here today on behalf of the European Trade Union Confederation, the ETUC.
Conference,
The President of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, “should focus on policy changes to boost recovery instead of making stupid comments”, said Katja Lehto-Komulainen, Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is warning the European Commission that the EU is in the ‘last-chance saloon’ to tackle popular resentment towards the EU.
Next Monday – January 23 – the European Commission will reveal its latest thinking on social policy and legislation at a conference “The European Pillar of Social Rights: going forward together” with President Juncker and Commissioner Thyssen.
The European Commission this week proposed a “Services Package” of measures aimed at “making it easier” to provide services across Europe.
European trade unions note that the Services Package shows improvements, but does not address some fundamental problems raised by the unions, including in our December red card.
New EU exposure limits will save lives, but a more ambitious strategy to eliminate occupational cancers is urgently needed. The ETUC today greeted the European Commission's proposal to introduce five* new binding occupational exposure limits (BOELs) for carcinogens as decades overdue.
ETUC Confederal Secretary Esther Lynch said: “Current exposure limits are based on very old evidence, sometimes dating back over 40 years, and given the high number of work related cancer deaths each year these limits are manifestly failing to save lives.”
The ETUC and many others regret the death of Mathias Hinterscheid, who for almost 40 years was a leading figure in the trade union movement in Europe. Just a few weeks ago, he was honoured for completing 70 years of trade union membership in Luxembourg.
The European Trade Union Confederation expresses its condolences and solidarity to the victims and their families following the horrible attack on 1st January in one of Istanbul's most famous nightclubs. NO to violence and terrorism.
