On Public Services Day, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)  has joined forces with the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) to reaffirm a powerful message: Europe must put people before profit and reinvest in strong, resilient public services:

A new study by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) shows that reducing working time through collective bargaining is a powerful tool to tackle burnout, improve work-life balance, and address labour market challenges – all without reducing pay or productivity.

The European Trade Union Confederation is calling on the European Parliament to take the lead in delivering a strong and ambitious Traineeship Directive that guarantees fair conditions for young people across Europe.  Following today’s EPSCO Council meeting, it is clear that the Parliament must now step in to provide the European vision that national governments have failed to offer.

 Shaping Europe from the Ground Up: Workers, Rights, and DemocracySpeech by Esther Lynchdelivered at 13th CCOO Congress, Madrid (Spain) - 19 June 2025 

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and industriAll Europe strongly oppose the European Commission’s proposals to exempt the defence sector from labour and environmental law, and from chemical legislation as part of the 

Unions have launched a 

The ETUC and industriAll Europe urgently call on the Commission to include mandatory conditionalities in the final state aid framework accompanying the Clean Industrial Deal (the so-called CISAF). 

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) calls on EU institutions to act now and conclude the long-overdue reform of the EU rules on social security coordination. This reform is essential to support fair labour mobility and protect the rights of Europe’s 14 million cross-border workers. After eight years of negotiations, only a few outstanding issues remain. A final agreement is within reach. Now is the time for EU leaders to deliver.

Figures published by Eurostat today showing that low pay is trapping young people in poverty demonstrate why member states must support a stronger traineeship directive.The data shows 19.2% of people aged 15 and 29 were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2024 – three percentage points higher than the poverty rate for the general population.

[Check against delivery]   A duty to democracy: governments' obligation to promote collective bargaining President, Director General, Distinguished delegates, Collective bargaining is a pillar of a just society. Without it, working people are left defenceless, exposed to the full force of unregulated markets, with no shield, no say, and no power.

The following letter was sent to Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission and to Marta Kos, EU Commissioner for Enlargement.   Dear Vice-President Minzatu and Commissioner Kos,  We are writing to ask the Commission support to defend trade union rights in Ukraine – following the unjustified seizure of trade union offices of  FPU, the biggest trade union confederation in Ukraine and ETUC affiliate.

Europe’s human rights watchdog has today sounded the alarm over the European Commission’s deregulation agenda, which is putting at risk the fundamental rights that the institution is tasked with upholding. 

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is joining the call to stop public subsidies to Elon Musk’s companies – although for quite different reasons to US President Donald Trump.Musk’s companies have been awarded EU contracts worth more than 350 million Euros since 2023 alone, according to information published by the European Commission last month.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomes today’s vote in the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee, and calls on Member States to confirm their approval at the Council of the EU on 19 June.

Trade unions are warning that the ‘wait and see’ approach being taken by the European Central Bank (ECB) is not enough to help Europe escape economic stagnation.

The ETUC is calling on governments to prioritise tax justice, following today’s publication of the ‘Spring Package’ wave of fiscal recommendations to member states by the European Commission.    Politicians who supported strict spending rules must take the responsibility to meet them by taxing corporations making record profits - not making struggling workers and pensioners pay through new austerity measures.

Uniting Workers - ETUC and industriAll Europe Together for a Fair Deal for Workers Speech by Esther Lynch, General Secretary ETUC delivered at industriAll Europe Congress (Budapest, 3 June 2025)   Dear colleagues, I bring you warm solidarity greetings from the 45 million workers and their trade unions represented by the European Trade Union Confederation. It’s an honour to be here with you for industriAll Europe’s 4th Congress. I want to thank Jude, Isabelle, your President Michael,

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) firmly stands with LGBTIQ workers across Europe – and calls for the European Commission to do the same by supporting the banned Budapest Pride. Speaking at industriAll Europe Congress in Budapest today, ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch announced the ETUC will join the Pride march on 28 June 2025. Commenting on the decision, Lynch said that silence in the face of oppression is complicity and called for solidarity with LGBTIQ people, especially in the workplace, in the face of rising intolerance.

Speech by Esther Lynch, ETUC General Secretary at the congress of the European Federation of Journalists, held in Budapest on 2 June 2025.   Dear colleagues, dear friends, I bring solidarity greetings from 45 million workers and their trade unions across Europe.  It’s a privilege to be with you today. Thank you to the European Federation of Journalists for your relentless commitment to press freedom, media pluralism, and the protection of those who speak truth to power.

Workers’ rights in Europe are at their ‘worst level’ in at least a decade as a result of government crackdowns on the right to strike and union busting by employers, the annual Global Rights Index published today shows.