Brussels, 26/11/2007 The UK has spearheaded opposition in Europe to the draft Temporary Agency Workers' Directive, which would bring agency workers' rights and conditions into line with permanent employees. John Monks is urging Labour MPs to lobby British ministers to change their position in advance of an EU Employment Council meeting on 5 December.

London, 26/11/2007 To be checked against delivery Chairman, it is nice to be back. When I was at the TUC, I always appreciated the support we received from this group – support which had to be expressed discreetly and carefully even then, if the enemies of the Labour Government were not to be able capitalise on internal differences in the Party.

2007

Brussels, 08/11/2007 It is an honour for me to present the concluding remarks of this seminar on the European Union's Trade Defence Instruments.

Brussels, 10/10/2007 Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), are medical conditions that affect the muscles, tendons and nerves. It is Europe’s most widespread occupational disease, and European workers' main health complaint. “Current European legislation is not enough to tackle this problem. We need to get a draft MSD Directive back on the European agenda”, urged Marc Sapir, Director of the ETUI-REHS. “It is very much in the in-tray”, agreed Antonio Cammarotta, the European Commission official in charge of MSDs.

Brussels, 22/06/2007 Supplementary pension schemes are taking on increasing importance in today's context of demographic change and an ageing population. The ETUC regrets the minimalist position adopted yesterday by the European Parliament, particularly on the following points:

Brussels, 14/06/2007 The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) respects the ECJ's absolute independence, but believes that this ruling may go against European workers' inalienable right to protection of their health and safety at work. “This ruling could be a sign of encouragement from the European court to states who want to cut back European legislation on workers' rights,” said Walter Cerfeda, ETUC Confederal Secretary, responsible for health and safety at work.

Brussels, 27/04/2007 According to statistics from the International Labour Organization (ILO), every year over 150,000 people in the European Union die as a result of accidents at work or diseases linked to the workplace.

Brussels, 27/02/2007 The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) recalls that accidents at work form only a limited part of the health problems caused by work. So far, the Community strategy has always focused to that enlarged approach. The choice of a reduction in accidents at work as the central objective represents a backwards step compared to that enlarged approach. The ETUC regrets that the communication says nothing about precisely how occupational diseases will be brought down.

Brussels, 22/02/2007

Brussels, 20/02/2007 The results of the Fourth European Working Conditions Surveys (2005), conducted by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, show that poor working conditions have a negative impact on the health of millions of workers in Europe. The upwards harmonisation of working conditions is consequently a key priority for Community action. The European Union's latest enlargement to 27 countries has sharply increased the gaps between Member States.

Brussels, December 2006 On 20 October 2006, the European Commission formally consulted the European social partners on the reconciliation of professional, private and family life. This is the first stage of the consultation process and is one of the follow up measures put forward by the Commission in its recent Communication on Demography, to respond to the demographic challenge which the EU is facing.

Brussels, 08/11/2006 Commenting on this failure, John Monks, ETUC General Secretary, declared: “We regret that there was no progress in Council, as this is yet another signal of Social Europe being stalled. However, we would not have been able to accept just any agreement as “progress”. We would have welcomed an agreement which would have taken on board trade unions concerns”.

Brussels, 03/11/2006 ETUC General Secretary John Monks has yesterday written to the Finnish Minister of Labour Mrs Tarja Filatov expressing grave concern about the proposals linked to the revision of the Working Time Directive, going before the Council on Tuesday. The fact that there is an overall reduction in protection without proper safeguards, and in particular that there is no end-date to the opt-out, leads the ETUC to take the view that it cannot give support to the proposals currently on the table.

Brussels, 2006

Social Partners Framework agreements

Brussels, 06-07 June 2006

Helsinki, 05/06/2006 To be checked against delivery President, delegates, fellow guests. As Lauri knows, my Finnish is excellent but my English is better. If you believe all that, you will believe anything! So with some regret, I proceed in my mother tongue of English and must leave the language of Sami Hyypia to you. I have long admired this trade union federation and its affiliates. The Nordic model, and its Finnish variant, is the most successful trade union model anywhere in the world.

Brussels, 31/05/2006 At its meeting on 1 June, the European Council for Employment, social policy, health and consumer affairs will try to reach political agreement on the revision of the Working Time Directive (WTD).

Brussels, 14-15 March 2006 1.1 According to ETUC, bolstering social cohesion and devising 'content' for the European Social Model, which consists mainly of high-quality, high-level social protection systems and a resolute battle against social exclusion, are European ambitions that need to be implemented by the Member States in connection with the streamlined open method of coordination. These ambitions will be reaffirmed at the forthcoming Spring Summit.

Brussels, 14-15 March 2006

Brussels, 2004

Brussels, 24/10/2005 The proposed directive on the portability of supplementary pensions rights which establishes some common ‘principles' (so these are not rights) seeks to improve the exercise of freedom of movement. This text will go before the European Parliament shortly. Despite its reservations on several points in this proposed directive, ETUC emphasises that it still has the merit of existing, and that these principles apply equally to people moving from one State to another and to those moving within a single country.

Brussels, 08/09/2005 The original proposal aimed to oblige employers to take action relating both to information and protection. The main change concerns the removal of reference to 'solar radiation' - the principal source of a growing number of skin cancers. Employers' responsibility is now transferred to the discretion of Member States.

Brussels, 03/06/2005 All eyes are on Brussels, following France and the Netherlands' rejection of the Constitution, to see what EU decision-makers can do to restore citizens' confidence. The first step must be to show they are listening to demands for a stronger Social Europe.