The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) strongly regrets today’s vote in the European Parliament approving the outcome of the trilogue negotiations on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. This will significantly weaken the 2024 Directive by exempting a large number of companies from due diligence obligations. Isabelle Schömann, ETUC Deputy General Secretary, said:

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomes the European Commission’s proposals for a European Affordable Housing Plan, which rightly recognise that Europe’s housing crisis has become a daily reality for working people. Escalating housing costs are undermining living standards, weakening economic stability and restricting access to jobs across the EU. For millions of workers, rent and mortgage payments now consume an ever-larger share of pay cheques, intensifying the cost-of-living crisis and squeezing domestic demand.

Measures for workers to hold multinational corporations to account for abuses in their supply chains are being slashed, following yesterday's announcement of a trilogue deal to roll back the EU's human rights due diligence rules.

Thousands of workers across Europe are still exposed to cancer-causing substances every day. The upcoming trilogue negotiations on the revision of the Carcinogens, Mutagens and Reprotoxic Substances Directive (CMRD6) are a critical opportunity to strengthen protections and prevent deadly occupational diseases.

The first step towards a Quality Jobs Act taken today by Vice-President Minzatu represents an opportunity to turn every job into a quality job.  The consultation launched today by the European Commission comes at a time when nearly one in five workers in Europe are in low-quality jobs with low pay and poor prospects. 

Members of the European Parliament today called to regulate abusive subcontracting and labour intermediation to prevent the exploitation of workers by fraudulent companies and criminal networks.

European industries and their workers will be better prepared for economic change and avoid economically and socially costly crisis measures under plans for a Just Transition Directive supported today by the European Parliament’s employment committee. The report adopted by the committee calls for the European Commission to bring forward a directive that would help employers, workers and public authorities anticipate change, invest in training, and coordinate national strategies to maintain Europe’s industrial base.

The ‘Uberisation’ of the economy is growing so rapidly that even schools aren’t safe unless EU member states fully enforce the Platform Work Directive, a new trade union report warns today. The study, 'Strategic Foresight: Which workers in Europe are vulnerable to Uberisation?’, identifies education as one of six industries which show ‘high vulnerability’ to Uberisation.

People with disabilities will continue to be disadvantaged at work and disproportionately affected by poverty unless the European Commission turns its guidelines for employers into rules, trade unions say ahead of tomorrow's International Day for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (December 3). 

Mounting evidence, including from the Commission, highlights the need for a directive to end the growing workplace stress epidemic.  According to the European Public Services Union (EPSU) representing unions organising workers in the European institutions, and to media reports, an increasing number of Commission staff are suffering burnout due to an “extreme workload” caused by an expectation by management to do more with fewer resources.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) warns that the European Commission’s Digital Omnibus package represents the largest rollback of digital rights in EU history.

Responding to the Autumn Package published today by the European Commission, ETUC Confederal Secretary Ludovic Voet said:  “The majority of working people won’t recognise the rosy picture painted of the European economy today. Some economic indicators are pointing in the right direction but don’t reflect the reality on the ground.  “The employment figures look positive on paper but are being held up by an explosion of precarious work with low pay, appalling conditions, and few rights.

Austerity measures that rob women of quality jobs, push them into more unpaid care work and steadily erode vital public services increase women’s exposure to rising gender-based violence, trade unions are warning on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Efforts to deliver improvements to workers’ pay and working conditions in Europe accelerated today as trade unions toured the EU institutions with an advert van displaying workers’ demands for the Quality Jobs Act.

The trade union delegation to the Macroeconomic Dialogue on 12 November 2025 made three interventions. Esther Lynch (ETUC General Secretary - speech below) Ludovic Voet (ETUC Confederal Secretary - speech here) and Isabelle Barthès (IndustriAll Europe Deputy General Secretary - speech here) spoke from the trade union side. 

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has warned that Europe’s economic model is failing its workers and put forward proposals for urgent action to rebalance macroeconomic policy in favour of people and productive investment at the Macroeconomic Dialogue today. The event, which brought together European Central Bank President Lagarde and Eurogroup President Donohoe and Commissioner Dombrovskis, as well as leaders from trade unions and employers organisations, is a key moment for shaping Europe’s macroeconomic policy. 

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomes that the EU Minimum Wage Directive has been put beyond all doubt by today’s ruling of the Court of Justice. The Court confirmed the validity of the Directive and its core provisions, ensuring that the fight for fair wages in Europe continues on firm legal ground. The Court has confirmed all measures related to the promotion of collective bargaining including the requirement for member states to put forward action plans to increase collective bargaining coverage. 

Certain candidate countries are going backwards on workers' rights at a time when they need to raise social standards to meet EU requirements, trade unions are warning.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) celebrates a major victory for workers’ rights across Europe as the Council of the EU formally adopted the revision of the European Works Council (EWC) Directive today. This marks the final step in a long-fought campaign to strengthen workers’ representation in multinational companies and ensure enforceable rights to information and consultation on decisions that affect jobs and working conditions.

At today’s Tripartite Social Summit, a delegation from the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) outlined its plan for strengthening Europe through addressing under-investment, reinforcing quality jobs and taking action for affordable housing.