As Europe reels from one of its most punishing summers on record, the ETUC and EPSU call for public investments in frontline services to be increased, in line with the scale of the climate challenges at hand.

The European Trade Union Confederation congratulates Inga Ruginiene on her election as Prime Minister of Lithuania. She has played a crucial role in building the trade union movement. Her leadership within the European Trade Union Confederation has always been focussed on delivering European solutions for the working people of Lithuania, the Baltic region and the whole of Europe. 

A major new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has brought fresh attention to the need for mandatory workplace heat risk assessments, backing the ETUC’s call on the European Commission to bring forward a directive on the prevention of occupational heat risks.

In response to the EU-US framework on an agreement on reciprocal, fair and balanced trade, the ETUC welcomes the predictability such an agreement offers, but raises concerns on the impact 15% tariffs on most industrial goods would still have on jobs, coupled with the lack of accompanying measures to protect jobs and production in Europe, the impact on investment in Europe, and the regulatory commitments under the agreement to additional flexibility and burden reduction. ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said:

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is warning that the European Commission must introduce measures to safeguard jobs and incomes following its trade deal with US President Donald Trump.  The 15 % US tariff deal is less severe than the threatened 30 %, but it still represents a major burden on key sectors. The result is likely to be significant job losses and slower hiring in manufacturing and export-dependent industries.

Workers are one step closer to having their right to disconnect enforced after the European Commission today took another step towards legislation on the issue.   The Commission announced it is beginning the second stage of talks with trade unions and employers on a “potential EU-level initiative to reduce the risks of the ‘always-on' work culture and to ensure fair and quality telework.”

Following a number of small cuts in interest rates which were already insufficient to boost Europe’s economy, the European Central Bank (ECB) has today announced it is freezing interest rates.Esther Lynch, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, said:“The ECB is wrong to cite trade disputes as a reason to freeze interest rates.  In the face of US protectionism undermining foreign demand for European exports, the best reply is to revive domestic demand. 

Amid the unconscionable and escalating atrocities being committed in Gaza, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) calls for the EU Commission to act on their assessment and findings of violations, and advance sanctions, including the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

Trade unions are seeking guarantees from the European Commission about the future of the EU’s main social fund amid concerns the proposal for the EU’s new long-term budget could see it put into competition with other objectives, that are now merged into a single fund, such as defence or ‘competitiveness’ spending. The Commission’s proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework positively increases the EU budget but serious questions remain about the amount and allocation of the social spending.

The ETUC calls on President von der Leyen to uphold the commitment she made last week to fully restore the ESF+ scheme with clear social objectives and to ringfence and increase the resources to meet its objectives. President von der Leyen last week promised to include the ESF+ in the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework following a backlash from MEPs and trade unions.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) urges the European Union to take decisive and immediate action to protect jobs and production in Europe in light of the threat of 30% tariffs by the US government.

Speech delivered by ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch at FPRK congress - 11 July 2025,  Astana (Kazakhstan)   [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY]   Thank you, President, brother Satybaldy, colleagues, sisters, and brothers. I bring you warm solidarity greetings from the European Trade Union Confederation. This is more than a courtesy visit.  I extend a hand of genuine friendship because what we do together matters. 

The number of people who can’t afford a week’s holiday despite being in work has risen again by over a million in a single year, showing the EU is in a job quality emergency and needs to rebuild its social contract through collective bargaining.An analysis of the latest Eurostat microdata, which is not publicly available, by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) found a summer break was beyond the means of 41.5 million people in 2023 – up from 40.5 million in 2022. 

Factory workers, farmers and hairdressers will be among workers put at higher risk of exposure to dangerous chemicals under new deregulation proposals made today by the European Commission. The Commission today published a Chemicals Package as part of its ‘Omnibus’ legislation, which is designed to water down democratically agreed legislation through the back door.

The General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) today challenged labour ministers to stop the ‘organised exploitation’ of migrant workers taking place across Europe. At the meeting of employment ministers held in Alborg as part of the Danish EU presidency, Esther Lynch told how workers are threatened with reprisals if they speak out against stolen wages, dangerous work and appalling living conditions.

Speech delivered by ETUC Confederal Secretary Ludovic Voet at Informal EPSCO in Aalborg on 8 July 2025 I would like to thank the Danish Presidency for the questions raised in today’s steering note. They touch on a crucial tension we must confront honestly: how can we pursue administrative simplification without undermining workers’ rights? We will only find meaningful answers if we start with that assumption: rights and protections are not optional.

Thousands of agricultural workers are living in slum conditions while working for employers in receipt of EU farming subsidies, a delegation of trade unionists and MEPs found today during a visit to Italy.The delegation organised by the European Federation of Food, Agriculture, and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT) visited Borgomezzanone, the biggest shanty town in Italy (Foggia, Puglia) where migrant workers don't have access to running water, and use whatever materials they can find to put a roof over their heads. 

Climate goals set without a clear social plan will turn decarbonisation into deindustrialisation, trade unions are warning after the European Commission today proposed a target of a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.  In the week when the deaths of workers in high temperatures has demonstrated again how working people are on the frontline of the climate crisis, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) fully supports the EU in showing leadership on this issue. 

The European Central Bank’s updated monetary policy strategy fails to deliver the change Europe’s workers need. Instead of innovating, the ECB’s strategy reiterates its reliance on interest rate tools. By continuing to frame wage-setting as a main lever for limiting inflation, the ECB is sending the wrong signal to employers and governments: keep wages down. This discourages collective bargaining, weakens workers’ negotiating power, and fuels a race to the bottom on pay.

Amid an investigation into the death of another cleaning worker during a heatwave, trade unions are calling again on the European Commission to deliver a directive on maximum working temperatures.