Athens, 16/05/2011
Delegates, distinguish guest, dear friends you are all very much welcome to the 12th congress of the ETUC.
The congress is taking place against a background of economic and political turmoil. The financial and economic crisis has hit many of our members severely, not least in Greece. By organising the congress in Athens, we are demonstrating our support for and solidarity with Greek trade unions.
When we met in Seville four years ago, we did not realise exactly how tough the challenges were that we would be confronted with. Trade union unity has been tested during this congress period. Perhaps now more than ever, we have seen the value of sticking together in one European trade union movement.
The ETUC responded to the financial crisis by calling for a reregulation of financial markets and a New Social Deal for Europe. We have gathered here today and the coming days to mobilise for a prosperous and social Europe for all.
We do not accept that workers throughout Europe have to pay the price of this crisis by losing their jobs, homes, savings and security. Precarious work and poverty have spread, purchasing power has fallen and public debts have increased. Workers, through no fault of their own, will continue to pay for this crisis for many years to come. The situation is particularly serious for young workers.
When “helping” Ireland and Greece, the Commission officials ignored social dialogue and the collective bargaining processes and directly intervened in the labour markets of these countries.
But the crisis has not only resulted in bail outs to the worst hit countries. It has also resulted in a wide range of political decisions that will affect the EU decades to come.
The recent months we have had a growing debate around both the commission’s legislative proposals on economic governance and the so called Europluspact.
From the trade unions we have been both firm and strong in our criticism. The proposals that are on the table are simply not acceptable!
One of the underlying ideas behind the proposals is that competitiveness is to be strengthened trough lower wages. Europe will never be able to – and we do not want it to - compete with low wages; we need to compete with knowledge and competence.
We have done our utmost to prevent this development. We have organised several campaigns and action days that have brought thousands of workers onto the streets to protest against austerity and budget cuts. But this is not enough. We must continue to improve both our methods for campaigns and our strategies for influencing policymakers.
It is tough times, but I know that there is hope – hope that Europe once again will return to the path of growth and social justice. But this will not be possible without the joint efforts of trade unions and progressive politicians.
The financial and economic crisis has not been the only challenge. You all know the examples from recent years; the Laval, Viking, Ruffert and Luxembourg cases have showed us that at the moment fundamental trade union rights are subordinated to the economic freedoms – this is not acceptable!
I remember very well the declaration of the Attorney General regarding the Laval and Viking cases that was issued at the same time as our congress in Seville. We all agreed that the statement was positive as it confirmed that industrial action is a fundamental right under EU law. Today we all know that the Court was of a different opinion.
The judgments were made on the basis of the old treaty, since then the Lisbon Treaty has come in to force. The treaty revision was supported by the ETUC – not because it solved all our problems but because it included some improvements such as the incorporation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the social clause.
However, in order to achieve a long lasting change and guarantee the principal of equal treatment, we need a revision of the treaty in order to include a Social Progress Protocol. This will have to continue to be a top priority for the ETUC.
We are in favour of free movement. A growing number of our members choose to work in other parts of Europe and Europe also have a steady flow of immigrants and migrant workers.
Unfortunately many of these workers are used by unserious companies - simply as a way to lower labour costs. This is not acceptable! If it is allowed to continue it will lead to tensions – tensions that will hurt the EU.
The ETUC will continue to fight for equal treatment. The ETUC continue to fight against discrimination and xenophobic movements and attitudes. But we need the policies to support, not undermine our work.
The principle of equal pay for equal work and nondiscrimination of workers is not negotiable!
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Despite the economic and financial crisis, despite the difficulties that we have faced and are still facing, we can be proud of what we have accomplished since the last congress in Seville 2007. I will not be able to talk about all our achievements since the last congress, but I would like to mention yet some examples.
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The first one is about the social dialogue. We all know that we need to improve the outcome of the dialogue. We have to relaunch the social dialogue by building a common trade union vision and strategy.
But nevertheless we should congratulate ourselves to what we have accomplished since the last congress.
The negotiated revision of the framework agreement on parental leave was an important achievement. And the framework agreement on inclusive labour markets was also an important step forward.
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Another achievement was the revision of the European Works Council Directive. Promoting worker participation and developing better conditions for works councils was an objective included among the priority actions in the Seville manifesto.
We now have to continue our work in order to ensure a strong legal framework for workers participation in general, both at member state level and EU-law.
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In Seville, we adopted the Charter on Gender Mainstreaming with requirements for affiliates to urgently take action to close the representation gap between women and men at all levels.
Even do we still have a long way to go in our strive for gender equality this congress will be historic. For the first time we have nominated a woman as General Secretary of the ETUC. For the first time, we have also nominated a secretariat of which the majority are women.
I am really pleased about this development. I was the first woman president of the ETUC and I am also the first woman president of my organisation, LO Sweden. I know from my own experience how important it is to get more women leaders in top positions in the trade union movement. It isn’t only a question of women’s rights, it makes a practical difference. It is only when we use the experience and knowledge of all our members – men and women – we can reach our full potential.
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I would also like to mention the important issue of climate change. ETUC’s activities in the area of climate change, energy and sustainable development have continued to grow over recent years. The transition towards a more climate-friendly and sustainable production will come, it’s a necessity. We in the trade union movement have therefore called for investments in a Sustainable New Deal in order to create millions of decent, sustainable and green jobs.
But we also need to make sure that the transition is done in a fair and socially acceptable way. This is equally important within and outside the EU. Our international confederation ITUC have been campaigning for “just transition” and at the Cancun meeting it was taken on board by the United Nations. The struggle for decent work and sustainability goes hand in hand!
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All of the questions I have spoken about will continue to be at the heart of the European trade union movement for years to come. But since the purpose of a congress is to set the direction for the future -I would like to finish my remarks by briefly touch upon two broad challenges for the coming congress period.
Today neo-liberal majorities are using the European institutions to attack fundamental trade union rights both on EU and national level. Therefore the EU is increasingly being perceived as a threat to our members. This is a dangerous development.
The European Union need to be re-establish a union that serves its citizens. In order to do this EU need a clear institutional framework that is able to stay in place, whatever the political majority might be at the moment. The divided competence of the member states and the European institutions need to be clearer then today. In order for our democratic system to function properly, citizens needs to know who they should hold accountably for decisions effecting there daily life.
A new framework needs to respect the fact that the preservation of European welfare states is more important then the possibility for individual companies to make one additional cent in profit!
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Finally, and perhaps the most important issue for the trade union movement in the long-term perspective is the recruitment of new members. If we want to guarantee workers rights and secure the future of strong trade unions, we have to become better at attracting new members, in particular young workers.
We are strong when we are many, it gives us the legitimacy we need to influence policies and reach better agreements in order to improve the living and working conditions of our members. This is a big challenge; we have to convince the individuals that they will gain strength by acting collectively. It must be our most important priority!
We have achieved a lot during the last four years, but we will have to work even harder to meet the challenges ahead. But as long as we stand together in one, unified European trade union movement I am sure that we will succeed in mobilising our members to build a Europe which is more equal and more socially just.