Dear readers,
Following Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine, trade unions across Europe have called for peace and declared their solidarity with the Ukrainian workers and their families whose lives and livelihoods are being destroyed by war. In this edition of National UPdates we look also at how trade unions are defending workers in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, amid rising living costs.
National UPdates is sent to your mailbox quarterly.
We hope you like it
Commenting ahead of the Versailles meeting of EU leaders today, Luca Visentini, General Secretary of the ETUC said
“What is most urgently needed now are initiatives to stop the war and relieve the suffering of the Ukrainian people, and emergency measures to reduce energy prices and to protect jobs and businesses.
Workplace measures have been largely overlooked in EU plans to crackdown on violence against women despite women workers reporting high levels of abuse.
The European Commission has today launched a draft directive on combating violence against women which contains many much-needed measures and the ETUC applauds the fact Commissioners have marked International Women’s Day with action rather than just words.
Ukrainian trade unions are providing food and shelter to people after the Russian invasion amid attacks which have left people’s homes, workplaces, and infrastructure badly damaged.
The Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FPSU) and Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (KVPU) trade unions, which represent almost 5 million workers, have thrown open the doors of their buildings across the country to people seeking refuge, including women and their children, elderly people and now people wounded in the conflict.
The emphasis placed today by the European Commission on the need to promote investment and sustainable growth, and on ‘differentiated fiscal strategies’, in its 2023 Fiscal Guidelines is a hopeful sign for a major shift in EU economic policy and reform in economic policy-making rules says ETUC.
ETUC Demonstation for Peace&Dialogue, Brussels, 24/02/2022
Speech by Luca Visentini, ETUC General Secretary
"We face a tragedy, war is back to Europe with its worst face after decades.
We condemn the Russian aggression against Ukrainian people and ask EU leaders gathering this evening to put in place all the measures needed to stop military operations and come back to dialogue for peace.
Joint ETUC-ITUC statement on Ukraine
The ETUC and ITUC condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demand that all Russian forces leave Ukraine immediately.
The attack on Ukraine is a flagrant violation of international law and of Ukraine’s territorial integrity as a sovereign and democratic state.
Luca Visentini, General Secretary of the ETUC and of the ITUC Pan-European Regional Council said:
ETUC Demonstation for Peace&Dialogue, Brussels, 24/02/2022
Speech by Esther Lynch, ETUC Deputy General Secretary
"Trade unions are always and everywhere against war
We condemn the attacks on Ukraine.
War is never in the interest of working people.
Trade unions are always and everywhere
For peace and dialogue
For peace and democracy
For peace and justice
Today the European Commission restated its commitment to decent work worldwide, to abolition of child labour and forced labour, set out the various already-existing tools that could be used to achieve it, and proposed an ‘instrument’ to ban products in EU made from forced labour.
Liina Carr, ETUC Confederal Secretary said “The EU must adopt a ban on products from forced labour. To fail to do so now would be a disgrace.
The European Commission today finally proposed draft legislation on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence. Despite some interesting features, it falls far short of what is needed to protect human rights and the environment.
It particularly falls short on the concrete involvement of workers and trade unions in shaping and monitoring sustainable business due diligence strategies, aimed at preventing or ceasing adverse impacts on human rights and the environment.
European trade unions are calling on the European Commission to take seriously its responsibility to ensure Africa finally receives a fair share of Covid-19 vaccines by supporting the patent waiver called for again today by African leaders as an important step towards creating a more equal partnership.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said at today’s EU-African Union summit that “governments that are really serious about ensuring that the world has access to vaccines should ensure that we approve the TRIPS waiver.”
The call comes at a time when:
The European Parliament has voted in favour of fair pay for trainees and apprentices, piling pressure on the European Commission to take action during its European Year of Youth.
MEPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution which called on the Commission to “propose a common legal framework to ensure fair remuneration for traineeships and apprenticeships in order to avoid exploitative practices” following a campaign by the ETUC Youth Committee.
