Speech delivered by ETUC Confederal Secretary Ludovic Voet at Informal EPSCO in Aalborg on 8 July 2025 I would like to thank the Danish Presidency for the questions raised in today’s steering note. They touch on a crucial tension we must confront honestly: how can we pursue administrative simplification without undermining workers’ rights? We will only find meaningful answers if we start with that assumption: rights and protections are not optional.

Thousands of agricultural workers are living in slum conditions while working for employers in receipt of EU farming subsidies, a delegation of trade unionists and MEPs found today during a visit to Italy.The delegation organised by the European Federation of Food, Agriculture, and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT) visited Borgomezzanone, the biggest shanty town in Italy (Foggia, Puglia) where migrant workers don't have access to running water, and use whatever materials they can find to put a roof over their heads. 

Climate goals set without a clear social plan will turn decarbonisation into deindustrialisation, trade unions are warning after the European Commission today proposed a target of a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.  In the week when the deaths of workers in high temperatures has demonstrated again how working people are on the frontline of the climate crisis, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) fully supports the EU in showing leadership on this issue. 

The European Central Bank’s updated monetary policy strategy fails to deliver the change Europe’s workers need. Instead of innovating, the ECB’s strategy reiterates its reliance on interest rate tools. By continuing to frame wage-setting as a main lever for limiting inflation, the ECB is sending the wrong signal to employers and governments: keep wages down. This discourages collective bargaining, weakens workers’ negotiating power, and fuels a race to the bottom on pay.

Amid an investigation into the death of another cleaning worker during a heatwave, trade unions are calling again on the European Commission to deliver a directive on maximum working temperatures.

The urgent need to invest in public healthcare services is highlighted by Eurostat figures showing more than a million people lost their lives in a single year due to ‘avoidable’ conditions.In an article published today, the EU’s official statistics agency said:- “In 2022, 1.1 million deaths among people under the age of 75 in the EU were considered avoidable by early treatment or prevention of diseases.”

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) expresses its full solidarity with the workers of Luxembourg and their trade unions as they prepare for a major national demonstration tomorrow, 28 June 2025.

 Joint Statement by the ETUC and ILGA-Europe   The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and ILGA-Europe stand united in defending the rights and freedoms of LGBTIQ people and workers across Europe. Our movements are bound by a shared commitment to equality, social justice, and democratic freedoms—principles that are increasingly under threat.

National leaders have given the go ahead to two Commission deregulation policies which risk undermining their own national labour law, putting them on a collision course with trade unions at national and European level. 

Plans to massively increase spending on defence must not lead to attacks on living standards, trade unions say as European leaders take part in the NATO summit and European Council.   Most European countries spend around 1% to 2% of their GDP on defence, but NATO members will now be expected to raise that to 5% over the next ten years. At the European Council, leaders are expected to examine ways to “substantially increase expenditure on European defence and security.”

Esther Lynch, ETUC General Secretary, spoke at the International Forum for Peace 2025, marking exactly fifty years since the signing of the Helsinki Accords. This is the speech she delivered: Colleagues, Friends in Peace, It is an honour to speak with you today at the International Forum for Peace 2025. I’m here not only as a representative of Europe’s trade union movement, but as part of a global family committed to social justice, dignity, and peace for all working people.

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.