Trade unions are challenging Ursula von der Leyen to commit to quickly turning her promises to working people into directives with the necessary funding to make them a reality.
The political guidelines published by Ursula von der Leyen include the following positive pledges:
- A “Quality Jobs Roadmap” that will “support fair wages, good working conditions…, notably by increasing collective bargaining coverage.”
- “Initiatives looking at how digitalisation is impacting the world of work, from AI management, to telework and the impact of an “always on” culture on people’s mental health.”
- “We need to ensure a just transition for all. [...] We will significantly increase our funding for a just transition across the next long-term budget”
- “I will appoint a Commissioner whose responsibilities will include housing, and I will put forward a first-ever European Affordable Housing Plan.”
- Industrial policy for quality jobs
- A revision of the Public Procurement Directive.
The ETUC and our affiliates have been calling for initiatives in these areas. We are seeking a meeting to discuss and get clarity on how these promised proposals will be delivered in practice.
ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said:
“Europe urgently needs to end the explosion in economic insecurity which has put a decent life beyond millions of working people and caused the rise of the far-right in the European elections.
“Ursula von der Leyen’s political guidelines lay out some valuable proposals to address economic insecurity like increasing collective bargaining coverage to ensure more workers earn a wage that you can build a life on, ensuring just transitions, and unprecedented EU action on affordable housing.
“Providing proper funding and a directive for a just transition in the world of work would also be a powerful way to turn fears over the green and digital transitions into quality new jobs.
“Now legislative commitments must follow. Words are not enough and working people need concrete binding action. A way to boost collective bargaining would be to include a clause in the revised public procurement directive which ensures only employers which respect collective bargaining are eligible for public contracts.
“These measures will raise the hopes of working people that better times are ahead – Ursula von der Leyen must now not let them down. That is why I am calling on her to commit to making these promises a reality through dedicated directives backed up with the necessary funding.
“There is also a risk that the positive social measures could be undermined by a focus in von der Leyen’s programme on deregulation that would supercharge economic instability and turn the EU’s social market economy into something closer to US-style winner-takes-all capitalism.
“Additional important measures are needed to deliver a fair deal for working people in reality but are missing in the guidelines, for example on fair taxation and to ensure respect of workers' rights in subcontracting and by intermediaries.”
