• Air quality on flights to improve if EU backs new expert standard
    Aviation air quality

    Air quality on flights to improve if EU backs new expert standard

    Airline passengers and aircrew will enjoy safer air during flights if the EU accepts new safety standards drawn up by industry stakeholders. The new draft standard on aircraft cabin air quality includes measures to prevent exposure to engine oil and hydraulic fumes onboard aircraft during commercial flights. The standard would also benefit airlines by streamlining methods to investigate cabin air contamination events involving oil and hydraulic fluid and, in doing so, reducing costs.
    Press release Published on 26.10.2020
  • Ministers urged to make Industrial Strategy for quality jobs
    Isabelle

    Ministers urged to make Industrial Strategy for quality jobs

    Ahead of the  informal video conference of ministers for Competitiveness on 23 October, Isabelle Schömann, ETUC Confederal Secretary, calls on the ministers to take the ETUC priorities[1] on board for  a sustainable and responsible Industrial Strategy for Europe that delivers  quality jobs for all.
    Press release Published on 22.10.2020
  • Commission work programme: the positive, the omissions and the absurd
    ETUC leders assess European Commission work programme 2021

    Commission work programme: the positive, the omissions and the absurd

    The European Commission’s Work Programme 2021 contains some positive commitments, some surprising omissions and at least one absurd proposal according to a first assessment by the ETUC. On the positive side are commitments to
    Press release Published on 20.10.2020
  • EU labour authority failed to act on its first worker abuse cases
    Construction worker

    EU labour authority failed to act on its first worker abuse cases

    The European Labour Authority (ELA) has failed to take real action over the first cases of worker exploitation referred to it a year ago by trade unions. When the ELA started work in October 2019, trade unions brought ten cases involving the non-payment of wages, holiday pay, sick pay and social security contributions to the attention of the Authority. The cases, which are typical of the abuse faced by cross-border workers, include:
    Press release Published on 19.10.2020
  • Unions back EU building ‘renovation wave’ that ensures quality jobs and alleviates energy poverty
    Construction worker energy efficient

    Unions back EU building ‘renovation wave’ that ensures quality jobs and alleviates energy poverty

    The European Commission has today adopted its ‘Renovation Wave’ strategy, which is designed to address the current low building decarbonisation and renovation rates of around 1% across the EU and tackle the underlying barriers for improving the energy efficiency of the EU building stock. Currently, roughly 75% of the building stock is energy inefficient, yet almost 80% of today’s buildings will still be in use in 2050. At the same time, more than 50 million European households suffer from energy poverty.
    Press release Published on 14.10.2020
  • Labour ministers must give workers a say over companies’ Covid restructuring
    Workplace Democracy

    Labour ministers must give workers a say over companies’ Covid restructuring

    EU labour ministers meeting tomorrow are being urged to send a clear message to companies restructuring because of Covid that they must respect trade unions and workers’ right to a say in the process. Major restructuring processes are ongoing in all sectors as a result of the Covid crisis and in many cases companies are flouting their workers’ rights to information, consultation and participation to business decision affecting their working conditions and employment.
    Press release Published on 12.10.2020
  • EU law to tackle stress epidemic urgent after lockdown
    End Stress EU Logo

    EU law to tackle stress epidemic urgent after lockdown

    Trade unions are launching a campaign for an EU law to tackle work-related stress amid a mental health crisis worsened by the lockdown. Work-related stress had already become an epidemic before confinement, accounting for more than half of all working days lost in the EU. New Eurostat data shows one in three workers are always or often working under time pressure, a major cause of stress.
    Press release Published on 09.10.2020
  • Trade unions back MEPs’ call to ban unpaid internships
    etuc time for quality jobs

    Trade unions back MEPs’ call to ban unpaid internships

    European trade unions are backing the European Parliament’s call on the Commission to ban unpaid internships and invest in quality jobs for young people amid soaring youth unemployment. The proposal is part of a Parliament resolution passed today aimed at improving the European Commission’s weak proposal for a Reinforced Youth Guarantee.
    Press release Published on 08.10.2020
  • EU gender pay gap won’t end until 2104 without action
    Equal Pay protest

    EU gender pay gap won’t end until 2104 without action

    The EU’s gender pay gap won’t be eliminated until the next century at the current pace of change, ETUC research shows amid a delay in promised European Commission action to end the scandal. Eurostat data shows the EU gender pay gap has closed by 1% over the last eight years, which means women will be waiting for another 84 years to achieve equal pay if current trends continue. Without binding pay equality measures to change the current trends, the ETUC also found:
    Press release Published on 05.10.2020
  • European Council statement: EU needs strong industries to achieve strategic autonomy
    Luca COuncil

    European Council statement: EU needs strong industries to achieve strategic autonomy

    Responding to the conclusion of the European Council, ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini said: “The dependence on imports which caused shortages of PPE and medical supplies during the Covid crisis showed just how important it is that Europe develops more strategic autonomy. “But EU leaders can’t achieve that aim without strong domestic industries, which were already struggling against unfair global competition and have now been pushed towards major cuts and redundancies by Covid.
    Press release Published on 02.10.2020
  • Unemployment risks going from unacceptable to catastrophic
    Luca Visentini & trade unions leaders march for a fairer Europe for workers

    Unemployment risks going from unacceptable to catastrophic

    The European Trade Union Confederation is calling on national governments to maintain emergency job protection measures as EU unemployment rose for the sixth month in a row. According to Eurostat official figures published today, 238,000 more people became permanently unemployed between July and August. That means the number of permanent job losses since lockdown began in March is over 1.7 million, taking total EU unemployment to 15.6 million. The overall unemployment rate has increased from 6.4% to 7.4% since March, and from 14.5% to 17.6% among young people.
    Press release Published on 01.10.2020