In a historic move, the European Parliament has today adopted the Platform Work Directive, a major victory for millions of people working through digital platforms. This directive ensures that they will finally obtain minimum wages, sick pay, and other essential employment safeguards. Key Provisions:

Politicians who have supported strict new spending rules must have the courage to tax wealthy corporations making record profits – and not make struggling workers pay through new austerity measures. The European Parliament today voted in favour of fiscal rules which mean that member states will need to cut their budgets by over 100 billion Euro a year from 2027 or raise the equivalent amount through tax.

Open letter of Belgian, French, Italian and Spanish trade unions to MEPs ahead of the vote of the fiscal rules on Tuesday 23 April, 2024The new fiscal rules will make the necessary transformation of our societies impossible, leaving workers and citizens behind at a time when they need protection more than ever.

Reacting to Letta’s much-anticipated report, the ETUC warns against attempts to apply ‘over-transposition’ arguments to employment directives. The generalised criticism of ‘gold-plating’, i.e. the ability of governments to go above and beyond in the transposition of EU directives, should not be applied to employment directives as it risks limiting the ability of national governments and social partners to lift labour standards at national level. 

Poverty, public services and jobs are the issues that citizens want to see prioritised during the European election campaign, the new Eurobarometer shows. The European Parliament’s poll of 26,000 citizens asked: “Which of the following topics should be discussed as a matter of priority during the electoral campaign for the next European Parliament elections?” The top three responses were: - The fight against poverty and social exclusion – 33%- Public health – 32%

The future of the European Union should be built on social progress – including quality jobs and fair pay and conditions – and not lower standards, it has been agreed today at the La Hulpe summit organised by the Belgian presidency. The declaration on the Future of the European Pillar of Social Rights - signed by the ETUC, the EU institutions, the European Economic and Social Committee, business groups SME United and SGIEurope, and Social Platform – states: 

La Hulpe, 16 April 2024   High-Level Conference on the European Pillar of Social Rights Intervention of Esther Lynch, ETUC General Secretary La Hulpe : A project of hope  [Check against delivery]   Dear Presidents, Dear Deputy Prime Ministers,  Dear Commissioner, 

The results of the newly released EU poll on social Europe show why the European Parliament should reject proposed fiscal rules that would reimpose austerity. The Eurobarometer released today shows nine in ten European citizens say a social Europe is of personal importance to them, with wages and healthcare featuring high among their priorities. 

Responding to the decision to maintain interest rates at record high levels, ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said: “High interest rates mean ordinary people are paying for an inflation crisis fueled by corporate profiteering.“The policy is designed to penalise workers whose purchasing power declined significantly during the recent inflation surge and which are only beginning to catch up now.

Responding to the vote on the migration and asylum pact, ETUC Confederal Secretary Giulio Romani said:“The people saying this deal will ‘increase solidarity’ can’t know the meaning of the word.“It will see more people fleeing wars, extreme poverty and, increasingly, climate disasters, being treated as prisoners. “And it will inevitably lead to an increase in abuses of fundamental rights, illegal pushbacks, and returns to unsafe countries. 

The majority of EU member states will not be able to meet their targets for investment in schools, hospitals and housing under plans for new economic governance rules, a study for the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has found.  

The employment committee of the European Parliament today voted in favour of upholding workers' rights and social dialogue in multinational companies. The report by MEP Dennis Radtke (EPP) on amendments to the European Works Council (EWC) Directive was adopted by an overwhelming majority (28 in favour/ 7 against/ 8 abstentions). 

Reacting to the European Council Conclusions, published today, on security and defence, the ETUC calls for a redoubling of efforts for peace. The ETUC is deeply concerned with the current state of peace and security in Europe and the world, along with the extraordinary growth in the number of wars and violent conflicts.

The living standards of European workers have still not recovered from the cost-of-living crisis, a major new trade union report on the state of the European economy has found.The real compensation of workers in the EU, which represents pay after inflation is taken into account, fell by 0.7% in 2023, according to Benchmarking Working Europe 2024, the European Trade Union Institute’s flagship annual report. 

Brussels, 20 March 2024 [Check against delivery]   There can be no doubt about the need for action. 

Young workers need certainty that the Directive on Traineeships, proposed today by the European Commission, will effectively ban unpaid internships.  The European Parliament has voted a number of times for unpaid traineeships to be banned – trade unions now call on Members of the European Parliament to ensure that measure is included in the final directive.

The increasingly rapid de-industrialisation of Europe is laid bare by new trade union research which finds almost a million manufacturing jobs have been lost over the last four years.   An analysis of Eurostat data by the European Trade Union Institute has found that the number of people employed in manufacturing has fallen by 853,000 since the third quarter of 2019. 

Today, many companies use legal loopholes, making human rights violations the norm rather than the exception in supply chains around the world. It leaves the victims of crimes committed by these companies – workers and communities – trapped in a legal maze seeking justice. Workers are raising their voices, demanding a role in securing supply chains. 

Today's vote by Member States in the Council unblocks the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, paving the way for a dramatic improvement in respect for the human rights of millions of workers in the supply chains of businesses operating in the EU.

Millions of people working through digital platforms are set to finally obtain minimum wages, sick pay and other employment protections following the adoption of the platform work directive today by EU member states.  Trade unions were successful in including the presumption of employment with the reversal of the burden of proof. Instead of individual workers going through lengthy court processes to prove they are a worker, it will now be up to the platform corporations to prove they are not employees. 

Trade unions are challenging European governments to start matching their words on International Women’s Day with action on gender equality. Politicians from across Europe will today post messages celebrating international women’s day despite many recently watering down the EU directive on combatting violence against women. In a letter to the ambassadors of all member states, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) remind them that “gender equality has to be fought every day of the year.”

The European Central Bank has chosen to maintain interest rates at their record high levels today, citing wage increases.  Real wages have fallen for two consecutive years while real profits have increased, so any objective assessment of inflation finds that it has been driven by profits not wages. The real compensation of workers in the EU, which represents pay after inflation is taken into account, fell by 0.7 per cent in 2023.

The political agreement reached last night at trilogue on banning forced labour products is an important step forward. 

The catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza requires urgent action. In the face of recent developments, the EU must help avert further loss of civilian life. The ETUC calls on the EU to increase, speed up and ensure full delivery of funding and to redouble all efforts to ensure that lifesaving humanitarian aid, on the scale that is needed, is safely and urgently delivered. The EU should encourage governments who have suspended aid to immediately restore and increase humanitarian funding. 

The ETUC is increasingly concerned about the inability of the Council to agree political compromises. The latest example is the failure by governments to adopt the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.  Governments still have a two-week window to show political courage. The ETUC is calling for a vote in favour before the end of the European Parliament’s current mandate.