Commenting on European Commission measures to deliver rights for Ukrainian refugees , ETUC Confederal Secretary Ludovic Voet said: “Refugees from all over the world are preyed upon by bad employers and landlords who exploit their vulnerability to increase profits. “Thankfully the temporary protection directive – used for the first time now but not during the 2015 migrant crisis -  means refugees from Ukraine have the right to equal pay and conditions at work which trade unions have long called for all refugees to benefit from.

A majority of citizens believe the EU’s break with austerity rules during the pandemic should be made permanent in order to create more jobs and tackle climate change, new polling shows. A central part of the EU’s economic rules had to be suspended when Covid-19 hit to allow countries to invest in healthcare and jobs and a survey of 5,000 people in five member states found 58% of people say member states should continue to have more flexibility of borrowing.

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. 

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 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.

Dear Readers, We have just published the February 2022 edition of the ETUC newsletter. To read the document, please click here. Enjoy!

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.

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.