Commenting on the European Commission’s Energy Union winter package, the European Trade Union Confederation

Dear Readers, We have just published the November 2016 edition of the ETUC Newsletter. To read the document, please click here. Enjoy!

Today, 29 November, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) met Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, to present him with the 158 MEP Pledges of support for trade union rights in Europe. 158 MEPs from 24 countries, and 5 political groups, have signed an ETUC pledge to respect and promote trade union rights in all their work on EU legislation and policy initiatives – see https://www.etuc.org/campaign/turights .

Trade Unions are fully determined to eliminate violence against women through collective agreements, and their proper implementation with employers, at national, sectoral and company levels.

On 22 November the European Commission published it proposals for applying the UN Sustainable Development Goals, not only in its external development and cooperation policies, but also within Europe. The ETUC supports the Sustainable Development Goals, welcomes the role played by the European Union in developing and adopting them, and welcomes the fact that they will apply to Europe as well as to other countries.

The ETUC has cautiously welcomed the European Commission’s proposal for a new Directive to  protect companies that are insolvent or nearly insolvent. The new rules, giving a period during which the company can explore all opportunities to provide for its survival, will stop creditors from forcing a company into insolvency and provide much needed breathing space for a Restructuring Plan to be put in place, helping to save some of the 1.7 million jobs lost to insolvency in the EU every year.

The EU can and should do a lot more to protect workers who come forward and blow the whistle on wrongdoing. Legal protection for whistleblowers throughout  the EU is a complicated maze of protections and the various civil liability laws mean that some people may be penalised and held personally liable if they came forward. The lack of legal protection against persecution means that whistleblowers are subject to reprisals from employers which can be devastating for  their careers and livelihoods.

According to the European Working Conditions Survey launched today more than one third of workers report some or great difficulty in making ends meet. This is the reality behind the rosier picture painted by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions which highlights an “increasingly skilled workforce, largely satisfied with work”. However, the study also reveals that

Commenting on today’s ‘Semester Package’ announcement by the European Commission Veronica Nilsson, Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), said “We were hoping for a much clearer announcement of an end to the EU’s damaging austerity regime. As far as we are concerned austerity will not end until the misnamed Stability and Growth Pact is reformed at least to encourage investment, and collective bargaining is yielding wage rises for workers across Europe.”

The government of Turkish President Erdogan has recently fired a further 10,131 of its employees, bringing the total number of public sector employees dismissed or suspended since the failed 15 July military coup attempt to more than 100,000.  The dismissals, across 35 different government ministries and agencies, were mainly in the health, education and justice departments. New recruitments may be arbitrary, not based on objective criteria, in education institutions where most dismissals have occurred so far. Those fired are barred from future employment in the public sector.

Commenting on the European Commission’s autumn economic forecast, Veronica Nilsson, Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) said “Global uncertainty and a weak and unequal recovery, providing too few and precarious jobs, are creating the conditions for a social and political storm that could blow away any modest progress in Europe’s fortunes. “It is a gathering storm which has to be deflected through a determined change in economic course.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), together with sectoral trade union industriAll Europe, urge Trade Ministers meeting on 11 November to adopt robust anti-dumping measures to protect European jobs and industry from unfair, subsidised competition. The ETUC warn trade ministers of the urgency to effectively tackle unfair trade practices from countries like China, to save jobs in Europe. “Unfair competition is destroying EU manufacturing jobs” said ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini. “Europe must have the proper tools to defend its industry.”

The European Trade Union Confederation will welcome European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for a discussion on the future of Europe with trade union leaders from all EU countries. Also joining the ETUC debate are Sweden’s Europe Minister Ann Linde, European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, and MEP Maria João Rodrigues The discussion meeting will take place on Monday 7 November.