Publications

As amended at 15th ETUC Statutory congress in Berlin 

Actions undertaken in the framework of the EU project “Platform Reps” have allowed ETUC and its member organisations to discuss and research in depth collective and legislative approaches towards digital labour platforms. This was done in light of the ongoing discussions by the European co-legislators on the proposal for a Directive on improving working conditions in platform work. The actions focused on the challenges identified for granting protection to workers and on the possibilities for the enaction of effective legislation at national level.   

ETUC Code of Conduct for Meetings, Events and Courses Adopted during the Executive Committee meeting of 9-10 March 2020 Introduction The ETUC has zero tolerance for any violence and any type of harassment including sexual harassment. Violence and harassment in the world of work deprives people of their dignity, is incompatible with decent work. It is a threat to equality and equal opportunities and to safe, healthy, and productive working environments.

Adopted by the 15th ETUC Congress, Berlin 23-26/05/2023

The sixth autonomous work programme of the European social partners supports the objectives of the 2016 quadri-partite statement on “A New Start for Social Dialogue1” to strengthen social dialogue at European and national levels; to foster the role and influence of national social partners in the European semester; and to step up capacity building support to national social partners, notably through the European Social Fund. The 2019-2021 Work-Programme addresses the six following priorities:

In recent years, Transnational Company Agreements (TCA) have become an increasing practice in multinational companies (MNCs). This is the result of the internationalisation of industrial relations in which European and International trade unions on the one hand, and some MNCs, on the other hand, have found a common ground for action. Over the last decade, TCAs drew the attention of EU Institutions and ILO too.

22 million workers in the EU (10% of the total) are self-employed and have no employees. Across Europe, self-employed workers often have fewer rights than employees. For instance, in some countries they have no right to join a trade union and to benefit from union protection and support. This brochure gives an overview about: Why self-employed workers need better rights? What unions are doing? Which priorities for the future? Link to Report

Organising and protecting atypical workers better – especially self-employed workers – is an ETUC commitment.This research shows that union membership for the self-employed is widely accepted among ETUC affiliated organisations. Contrary to those who claim that trade unions are rigid organisations rooted in the industrial fabric of the last (or even 19th) century, this is a(nother) sign that unions are adapting to the dynamics of the labour market and do seek to better defend the rights of workers.

The UnionMigrantNet is a European network of contact points providing services to migrants, established, managed and supported by trade unions. 

The LABOUR-INT project aims to promote employment as a key part of the integration process of asylum-seekers and refugees in society. Building on the interest and capacities of businesses, chambers of industry and commerce, trade unions and migrant associations, it promotes multi-layered integration paths, from arrival up to the workplace.  If you would like to know more about the LABOUR-INT project, please click here. 

The recent upsurge of migration flows to Europe, consisting particularly of people seeking international protection, has made the need for effective and targeted integration policies ever more urgent. Regarding migrants’ integration into the labour market, a special emphasis is placed on the importance of early identification and validation of skills and qualifications. If you would like to know more about the LABOUR-INT project, please click here.

These are central to trade union activities so it is impossible today not to support them.

Defending undocumented workers - means defending all workers

ETUC Publication in the framework of the project on letterbox companies  A hunters game : how policy can change to spot and sink letterbox-type practices

ETUC Platform on the Future of Europe

The Youth Guarantee (YG) is, at the moment of writing this follow-up report, high in the agenda of the European institutions. Indeed, important decisions are being taken regarding the future of the measure, its future funding and further implementation. The ETUC pushed EU institutions for the launch of the Youth Guarantee and welcomed its implementation. The establishment of such a guarantee in Europe was advocated by the ETUC and the ETUC Youth Committee as early as 2009 in its call “Towards a new social deal in Europe: Fight the crisis, put people first”.

This 2016 edition is intended as one contribution to an assessment of what the EU current policies have achieved, or above all what they have not achieved, and hence as an evaluation of the extent to which the European Union is prepared for the future. All four chapters of this report conclude on a negative note, and each puts forward suggestions for some appropriate policy changes.

The following report aims at contributing to the European trade union movement’s opinion-building on the review of the EWC Directive. It summarizes the results of a survey carried out on behalf of the ETUC and the European Trade Union Federations industriAll, UNI Europe, EFFAT, EPSU, EFBWW and ETF between autumn 2015 and spring 2016 in the context of the ETUC’s EU-funded project “ETUC Action for Workers’ Participation”.

The European quality framework for apprenticeships was launched during a conference held on 14 April 2016 in Brussels. This framework consists of 20 quality criteria, which have been developed in a bottom-up approach through engaging with experts at national and European levels over the course of 4 joint sectoral seminars and 20 national country visits. Other language versions of the publication will follow shortly.

Four case studies on the use of letterbox companies and conduit entities to avoid labour laws, social premiums and corporate taxes

A focus for trade union action during the Dutch Presidency of the EU January 2016 - June 2016 Trade unions throughout Europe support the initiative of the Dutch Presidency to update the EU Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive. We need to act now to ensure that the discussions lead to the type of changes that will protect workers from work related cancer in all industries, occupations and countries in Europe.

The ETUC as well as the ETUFs during the last two decades have been actively involved in the EU level debate on how to improve frameworks conditions for trade unions, employee representatives as well as individual employees in contexts of corporate restructuring – in regard to anticipation and also the handling and management of restructuring operations both at national as well as cross-border level. In various occasions, in trade union run studies and cooperation projects, in bilateral as well as trilateral dialogue structures and events at EU level it has been highlighted and stressed by European unions that there is a need for a substantial strengthening of workers’ rights in order to model and shape a fair handling of corporate restructuring and strengthen the capacity to anticipate change.

ETUC REPORT ON NATIONAL TRADE UNIONS INPUTS FOR THE EARLY-STAGE CONSULTATION ON COUNTRY REPORTS 2016

This is a propitious time for the publication of the Syndex study, which will help inform European trade unions about the state of play in the economic relations between two of the major world players and feed their discussions towards elaborating ETUC policy on the issues.