ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch speech at 6th Uni-Europa Conference "Real say, more pay: forward through collective bargaining"
[To be checked against delivery]
Delegates, Colleagues and Friends
It is always a privilege to bring solidarity greetings from the 45 million workers and their trade unions that the ETUC represents but it is a particular honour to be asked to do so here in Belfast.
Trade unions have never been more relevant, nor more needed, than now.
We know that a collective agreement provides the greatest chance of a fair wage, decent conditions and a secure career with a future.
And organising in our trade unions is how we guarantee fairness not only in the workplace but also in the economy and in society.
Democratic principles run through our veins, the idea that no matter who you are, you should have a real say on matters that affect you.
That you are important.
That you have dignity.
Trade unions equalise the playing field, give workers bargaining power and we are the counter-weight to the voices of the powerful elites.
Building the strength of our movement is more important than ever.
In contrast to its reputation as the global standard bearer for workers’ rights, the situation of trade union rights in Europe has deteriorated.
We have witnessed increasing criminalisation of strikes and the stigmatisation of protest and the interference of unscrupulous employers and some far right groups who aim to grow yellow unions.
The ETUC fair deal programme adopted with UNI Europa support at our congress in Berlin in 2023 is our compass.
It is a call to action for a project of hope with members and trade union renewal front and center.
Built on principle of fair days’ pay for a fair days' work.
Built on respect, for all workers, no matter what their job, no matter where they are from or who they love.
Built on building trade union power, for collective rights the right to organize, collective bargaining and yes the right to take collective action and strike too.
It’s a call against the race to the bottom on low pay and deregulation, on scapegoating of migrants and other minorities.
Oliver,
I want to thank you, thank UNI Europa, your activisim helped us win the EU Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages, which sets out a clear legal obligation for Member States to ensure that their statutory minimum wage is adequate. It's already having an impact, putting money in workers' pockets.
But we know the only way to win fair wages is to have a collective agreement. That's why we worked so hard to include in the Directive the obligation on member states to promote collective bargaining and, if their coverage level is below 80%, to sit down with the trade unions and employers and establish an action plan to grow the coverage.
So, what tools do governments have to reinforce collective bargaining and get to this 80% target?
Well, the contracts that governments have with private companies can be a good start.
Public procurement represents 14% of all economic activity – 2.4 trillion euros a year across the EU.
Not only that, but the companies that apply for contracts also operate for private clients, so the people delivering these services and goods represent a huge section of the workforce.
The top of class campaign work that UNI Europa has undertaken - with your call to fix the EU’s public procurement rules - has had a real impact.
You have exposed the broken system that is currently in place:
Rules that drive a race to the bottom.
The case studies have shown how, when the lowest price is the only consideration, it incentivises the worst type of competition. Being the cheapest is not the best and the result is all too often poverty-pay, under-staffing and unsafe conditions. And all this in the name of the public, with workers' taxes? This has to end.
Companies with a collective agreement should win the contracts. Not a euro of public money should go to bad bosses.
Since the EU elections, there have been two major developments. Firstly the Commission has promised to open up the Public Procurement Directives. Secondly, the mantra in Brussels is simplification, it has an evil twin, deregulation. But simplification can help us in this circumstance.
The beauty of our solution is that it is incredibly simple, companies who have a collective agreement should win contracts over those who do not.
I’m not going to pretend it will be handed to us. Emboldened by Trump and others, the most anti-worker elements of the business world are on the offensive.
But we were never handed anything.
It will take a mix of strong mobilisation and nimble negotiation to make advances in this new context, but with the work that UNI Europa has put in for the past number of years, our European trade union movement united, I really believe we have what it takes to get this over the line. You have brought together researchers, case studies from individual cities, and importantly cross-party consensus at the level of the EU.
Some of you might be thinking “all well and good at EU level but what about those of us not in the EU”. The groundwork and resources of this campaign can be used by each of us at our level: from the town council to national governments. Also, public contracts aren’t exclusively with companies within the EU. The UK for instance is home to many companies that provide services to public bodies in the EU. And we are extending the demands to cover all resources, grants funds and expenditure including for example tying early access to funds to companies that have negotiated just transition plans, anticipating and managing change so that workers can succeed.
So, this is very much a campaign that is alive and relevant to us all, every sector and every region.
This is about our movement being on the front foot.
We cannot respond to corporate offensives by taking a step back or recalibrating our ambition.
I know that many workers are struggling with the cost-of-living, the price of food, housing and energy. On top of this economic insecurity, comes the platformification and restructuring by stealth also in your sectors. Workers and their unions expect us at European level to be part of their efforts to secure solutions.
I want to assure you that, with the help of UNI Europa, we are keeping it real, you bring the workers' reality check to the heart of European policy making.
We are working with you to achieve just transition plans with paid time off for training, the right to full-time work, the right to disconnect and better health and safety rules to prevent burnout and stress at work.
We are working to ensure an effective transposition of the platform work directive to stamp out bogus self employment contracts and to begin our major task to regulate AI in the world of work, to enshrine the 'human in control' principle and to better recognize the value of human labour. This will be one of our defining struggles, and I congratulate Christy Hoffmann for her global leadership of the trade union movement on this.
Friends, our power is in our members, and we strengthen our base and we win people over by putting forward realistic plans of action that demonstrate how to deliver for working people their families and communities.
Your Congress will set out the demands of your members, your plans of action, in turn these become ETUC plans.
Together in solidarity.
Together with courage and determination.
In our workplaces
In our unions
In UNI Europa
In your ETUC.
At every level, we will join, in all of our languages, to light up the path of hope,
A real say and more pay for working people.
Solidarity.