Vienna, 01/07/2009 President, delegates, fellow guests. It is always a pleasure to visit the ÖGB and Vienna and I bring the greetings of the ETUC to the trade unionists of Austria. The ÖGB had an early taste of the damage that can be done by speculation in the world of financial services. Indeed it can be said that you were in the avant-garde of what, later, became a mass movement. We now know that it was not just one bank that was in trouble but that the problems were systemic.

Brussels, 24/06/2009 The report, entitled ‘Green shoots….of casino capitalism’, sounds the alarm that financial markets are once again starting to speculate on a new commodity bubble, thereby driving oil and commodity prices upwards and the economy downwards. With the European Central Bank (ECB) expected to provide tomorrow hundreds of billions of euros to European banks on a one year loan, ETUC calls on the ECB and other central banks to put into place the necessary instruments to ensure banks use liquidity for productive investment and not for speculation.

Brussels, 19/06/2009

Brussels, 19/06/2009 ETUC calls on all Member States to ensure that any human beings fleeing armed conflict and political violence, or in fear of persecution because of, for instance, their political convictions, ethnic or religious origin, or their gender or sexual orientation, should receive appropriate protection.

Brussels, 18/06/2009 This is a milestone in the 25-year history of the European Social Dialogue as it is the first time that European social partners have agreed on the revision of a pre-existing Framework Agreement. It is their 7th Framework agreement since the original Parental Leave agreement was concluded in 1995, later transposed into a EU Directive in 1996.

Brussels, 17/06/2009 ETUC shares the sense of urgency expressed in this Declaration and has written to European leaders urging them to act boldly in favour of a Social Europe.

Brussels, 16/06/2009

Brussels, 10/06/2009 At the closing conference in Brussels today, ETUC and UEAPME presented an expert report (available in English only) containing a detailed analysis of the four topics that were singled out for discussion during the project:

London, 05/06/2009 Thanks for this chance to contribute to today’s conference. At a time of economic and political storms and crisis, it is easy to dismiss or relegate the only slightly longer term challenges that we face. But that is a luxury we cannot afford because of the magnitude and complexity of the environmental challenge. Tackling climate change cannot just be a strategy for Britain. There must be an international and European dimension.

Londres, 29/05/2009

Bruxelles, 26/05/2009

Brussels, 03/06/2009 To prevent and control a situation of mass unemployment, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is calling for a different and broader approach. - To address the lack of demand dynamics and get the economy back moving again, Europe needs an expanded and sustained recovery programme: Europe needs to invest annually 1% of GDP in the coming three years in the ‘greening of the economy’.

London, 29/05/2009 Cathy, Keith and Jeff have remembered our remarkable friend, Brian Bercusson in the most appropriate of ways. To Cathy, let me say simply, ‘Thank you for letting us have Brian for all those years, during which the ETUC was going through a crucial formative period.’ We all know that he was a man who loved his work and that in this sense he was probably impossible to ‘manage’. He worked too hard, but he would have never done it any other way.