On Monday some 10 trade unionists – members of the Executive Committee of ETUC member KESK  - were arrested in several cities across Turkey along with journalists and politicians from the HDP opposition party. The arrests were made in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Diyarbakir and Bursa and relate to the organisation of and participation in a demonstration in 2016.  

The European Commission is publishing today its long-term EU climate strategy. This is a first step towards the implementation of the UN Paris Climate Agreement beyond 2030. The ETUC welcomes this initiative to set out the emission-reduction scenarios to meet the Paris agreement objectives.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)  are  calling on governments and employers to stop playing games with working women’s lives and back a strong and inclusive international labour standard on violence and harassment in the world of work.    The call comes on the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which takes place on 25 November every year. 

Commenting on today’s European Commission Annual Growth Survey, Katja Lehto-Komulainen, Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) said: “It is too early for the EU to celebrate the end of the crisis. The fact is that total investment and total hours worked are still below pre-crisis levels. Too many new jobs are part-time, temporary or precarious and in-work poverty has not decreased.

The European Parliament today voted in committee on 3 important social justice initiatives. The draft Directive on Whistleblowing and the draft Regulations on the European Labour Authority and on the coordination of social security all moved closer to adoption. The Legal Affairs Committee voted on the draft Whistleblowing Directive and introduced some important improvements - workers rights to be included as one of the topics that whistleblowing can cover, - the requirement to blow the whistle internally is removed.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) thanks the European Parliament for voting for the Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions to go to the next step in the process, and calls on the Austrian Presidency to allow enough time for the Directive to be agreed in ‘trilogue’ negotiations between the EU institutions.

Today MEPs on the European Parliament’s Employment Committee voted for a more balanced Company Law Package, improving rights for workers.

ETUC condemns the cold-blooded murder of Abdullah Karacan Président of Turkish trade union DİSK/Lastik-İş, rubber and chemical union, who was killed today on a visit to union members in a Goodyear factory in Adapazari. Osman Bayraktar, a workplace representative is in a critical condition.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) today celebrated the 1st birthday of the European Pillar of Social Rights with European Commission’s President Jean-Claude Juncker and Commissioner Marianne Thyssen.  Luca Visentini, ETUC General Secretary, presented the Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs with a cake and a card with the message ‘Dearest Pillar, we wish you a ONEderful birthday. You have given us hope for the future. May you grow up to fulfil your potential.’

The gender pay gap is not only at an unacceptable 16% – but in the last year for which figures are available, 2016, it had barely decreased since 2010, and not at all since 2015. To mark EU (Un)Equal Pay Day on 3 November, ETUC Confederal Secretary Montserrat Mir said: “At current rates of change we will all be dead before we reach equal pay for women. “Pay inequality has barely changed since 2010, and has actually got worse in a some countries, including the UK, Poland, Portugal and Bulgaria.  

Dear Readers, We have just published the October 2018 edition of the ETUC Newsletter. To read the document, please click here. Enjoy!

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) supports LOT Polish airline workers and their union. Sixty seven flight attendants  and pilots were dismissed on 22 October for taking part in industrial action against the dismissal of a leader of a trade union of flight attendants and against precarious working conditions.

Trade union leaders from all over Europe today united in their demand for more workers’ participation and workplace democracy.  They are calling on