Trade unions on both sides of the Channel have joined forces to call for the reset in EU-UK relations to bring real benefits to working people.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) are today publishing a joint set of demands for the EU-UK summit that will take place in May.
In a first joint intervention since the signing of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement in 2020, unions are calling for:
- Reduction in trade barriers and border checks that would contribute greatly to improved trade flows between the EU and the UK, which in turn is good for job creation.
- The creation of quality jobs and training opportunities for workers in the EU and the UK, including through UK membership of the Erasmus+ scheme to support vocational training and apprenticeships.
- Agreements on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, sanitary and phytosanitary checks, and chemical standards.
ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said:
"At a time of growing global instability, working people on both sides of the Channel stand to benefit from common sense cooperation between the UK and the EU.
"Working together will be crucial to stop another wave of price hikes. The reduction of trade barriers between neighbours would be a timely boost for companies and help to protect and create quality jobs.
"We all stand to lose in a race to the bottom. Improving workers’ rights and creating a genuine level playing field must be core elements of the reset, if it is to be a lasting success.
"The introduction of the Employment Rights Bill in the UK represents an important step since it has ended the threat to social standards in the EU posed by unfair competition created by the anti-strike laws of the last UK Government."
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:
"It's time for a common sense trade deal that works for workers and business in the UK and the EU. The Conservatives' botched Brexit agreement has set workers and business back at home and abroad.
"After years of muddling through, we need a new approach that honours the referendum result while giving us a much-needed closer trading relationship with the EU.
"That means reducing trading barriers and border checks to boost and protect jobs in communities. This will need closer alignment on chemical and food standards as well as mutual recognition of professional qualifications.
"And it means upholding mutual high standards on workers' rights and supporting job opportunities for British workers in the EU and European workers in the UK.
"With an increasingly volatile and unpredictable global economy, it's more important than ever that we secure our trading relationship with our closest neighbours."
Notes
Joint ETUC-TUC statement on the EUUK partnership “reset” - United we stand, divided we fall
Déclaration conjointe de la CES et du TUC sur la "réinitialisation" du partenariat UE/Royaume-Uni – L’ union fait la force, divisés, nous tombons !
