Commenting on today’s EU Summit, Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, said “The EU should be focused on policies not personalities. They have agreed today that unemployment is at unacceptable levels and that poverty is a major concern. I am looking forward to finding out what they will do about it. If the emphasis remains, as it has up to now, on cutting Government spending and deregulation, then Europe’s 26 million unemployed will remain jobless, and nothing will change.”    

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) today calls on EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Friday to back proposals by French President François Hollande for an investment plan equal to 2% of EU GDP, and by Italian Premier Matteo Renzi to lift austerity measures and invest in growth and jobs.  “EU leaders say they want to tackle unemployment” said Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation “but the policies they have implemented so far will not create jobs.”

Bernadette Ségol, ETUC General Secretary, said “I was sad to hear of the death of Norman Willis, who was ETUC President from 1991-1993.  He was a committed European and worked with Jacques Delors, then President of the Commission, to build the foundations of a social Europe. On behalf of the ETUC and personally I am sending our condolences to his family and to the TUC ”    TUC press release: http://www.tuc.org.uk/about-tuc/norman-willis-1933-%E2%80%93-2014      

A giant, too-big-to-miss message for EU leaders has been erected in Rond Point Schuman for the EU Summit on June 27, which is due to decide who to nominate as new President of the European Commission.   Asking ‘Who will lead Europe?’ the message reminds leaders that there are 26 million unemployed in Europe and urges EU leaders to invest in growth and jobs.   Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, speaking at the unveiling of the message opposite the Summit venue said    

Commenting on the European Commission’s proposals for its deregulatory programme (REFIT), Veronica Nilsson of the European Trade Union Confederation, said “The Commission is boasting that they are making EU law lighter, simpler and less costly, but for whom? Pregnant workers that will see the proposal for a  maternity protection directive withdrawn? Or hairdressers that are denied occupational safety and health protection? Why does not the Commission look at the cost to society of not having adequate health and safety legislation in place?

Reacting to the news that the European Commission is to investigate tax deals made by Apple, Starbucks and Fiat with national tax authorities, Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation said: “A clamp down on tax avoidance by multinational companies is long overdue. It is immoral of multinationals to avoid tax at a time when citizens are paying the price for the crisis.  As Commissioner Almunia rightly said, multinationals must pay their fair share.”

Commenting on the European Commission’s ‘Framework on Health and Safety at Work’ which was issued today, Józef Niemiec, Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), said “The ETUC has been waiting for years for this Health and Safety Strategy, and we are disappointed it is weak and insubstantial. It contains no concrete proposal for action, and no specific improvements to health and safety.”

Joint video interview on TTIP by Bernadette Ségol, ETUC General Secretary & Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO President

The ILO, the UN agency, in its World Social Protection Report 2014/15 (whose recommendations are based on consensus among governments, employers and workers’ organisations), has found that “poverty and social exclusion, now affecting 123 million people in the European Union, 24 per cent of the population, many of them children, women, older persons and persons with disabilities. The cost of adjustment has been passed on to populations, who have been coping with fewer jobs and lower income for more than five years.

Speech given by Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation OPZZ Congress [Check against delivery]     I bring you warm and fraternal greetings from the workers of Europe.  I am very glad to share with you a special moment in the life of OPZZ:  your congress and your 30th anniversary.  Happy birthday.  Sto lat.  

Commenting on the European elections, European Trade Union Confederation General Secretary Bernadette Ségol said “The voters have sent a warning to all mainstream and governing parties. European citizens are fed up with unemployment, austerity and falling living standards.”  

Leaders of the American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations and the European Trade Union Confederation today called for a “gold standard” EU-US trade deal that improves living and working conditions on both sides of the Atlantic As part of meetings today in Berlin, representatives from the AFL-CIO and ETUC concluded that increasing transatlantic trade could create new jobs and share prosperity, but must be done in a way that helps all working people.

Speech given by Bernadette Ségol, ETUC General Secretary DGB Congress in Berlin Check against delivery   Ladies and Gentlemen, I would first like to congratulate you on electing Reiner Hoffmann as Chairman of the German Trade Union Confederation.