Commenting on the Skills Agenda launched today by the European Commission, Thiébaut Weber, ETUC Confederal Secretary, said “Europe needs a big push to support workers to increase their skills, and to cope with the transition to a digital, carbon-free and ageing society.” “The Skills Agenda is a useful step forward and the proposal for a Skills Guarantee, which was an ETUC demand, is very positive.”

Speech by Luca Visentini, ETUC General Secretary, at 2nd IndustriAll-Europe Congress  Madrid, 7-9 June 2016   Dear comrades and friends of IndustriAll Europe, I’m very honoured to participate in your congress today, and to bring you greetings and solidarity from the European Trade Union Confederation. Europe is facing a very challenging time.

The European Union must shape the digitalisation of Europe’s economy and society much more actively, with policy initiatives to avoid massive job losses and ensure the creation of quality jobs and decent working conditions, said the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). A resolution, adopted by national and European trade union leaders gathered in Brussels today, calls for

Tomorrow European Commissioner Marianne Thyssen will unveil proposals for an EU Skills Agenda in the European Parliament, with a press conference later in the week. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) believes that an ambitious agenda with concrete actions is essential: to upgrade skills to enable people seeking work to get jobs, for workers to remain employed and to move to better jobs, and to enable the European economy to meet the many challenges ahead.

Luca Visentini – speech for ILO International Labour Conference 3 June 2016 Check against delivery We, the European trade union movement, welcome the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the ILO’s ‘End to Poverty’ Initiative. We welcome the ILO initiative on the Future of Work and the ILO action on Supply Chains. End poverty & hunger, combat inequality, build just and inclusive societies, gender equality, the protection of our planet’s natural resources.

As part of the EU Social Dialogue programme, European social partners have undertaken separate projects on apprenticeships focusing on the cost-effectiveness of apprenticeship schemes (employers) and a European quality framework for apprenticeships (trade unions). The project outcomes were presented in a joint conference on 26-27 May in Brussels.

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

As the annual conference of the International Labour Organisation starts this week in Geneva, the ITUC and the European Trade Union Confederation are calling on governments to support the right to safe haven and work for all refugees, as the world faces the greatest flow of refugees in 70 years.

The world faces the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War but it is the richest Governments who have forgotten their history. More than 60 million people are fleeing from war, terror or abject poverty.  

The Competitiveness Council on 26-27 May 2016 will discuss adopting an "innovation principle" for EU law-making. This would require the Commission to investigate the potential effect of legislation on research and innovation, during the “impact assessment" phase of the legislative process, before it is submitted to the Parliament and Council for democratic debate. This harmless-sounding clause has been strongly lobbied for by several corporate-led organisations.

The launch of the European Commission’s ‘Undeclared Work Platform’ on Friday 27 May is a long overdue initiative to tackle the exploitation of workers and unfair competition for law-abiding employers says the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).  It is estimated that up to 20% of Europe’s GDP is in the ‘shadow economy’, and  11% of Europeans say they purchased goods or services involving undeclared work last year (in 2013).

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) strongly reject the granting of Market Economy (MES) to China.

Dear Readers,