Dear trade unionists of France, The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) stands in full solidarity with your mobilisation on 18 September. We salute your determination and unity in the face of a government agenda that seeks to make working people pay, once again, for a crisis they did not create.

The rising danger posed to workers by climate change is demonstrated by new EU data showing that the number of people exposed to heat waves at work has increased by 60% over the last 20 years – highlighting the need for a European directive on maximum working temperatures.

Europe’s path to more competitiveness needs to focus on increased investment in people and technology – not lowering rights and standards, the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) told EU leaders today. At a European Commission event to mark a year since the publication of the Draghi report on competitiveness, Esther Lynch called for a shift towards strategic investment for a European industrial policy with quality jobs at its heart as the only way to secure long-term resilience and prosperity for Europe. 

ETUC endorses the Herning Declaration at the Informal Meeting of Ministers in charge of Vocational Education and Training   At the invitation of the Danish Presidency, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) took part in the Informal Meeting of Education Ministers on 12 September 2025 in Herning, Denmark, and proudly endorsed the Herning Declaration on Attractive and Inclusive Vocational Education and Training for Increased Competitiveness and Quality Jobs 2026–2030.

Two Belarusian trade union leaders imprisoned by the country’s authoritarian regime because they spoke up working people have finally been freed – now the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) calls on the EU to secure the release of the 20 others still behind bars. Aliaksandr Yarashuk, Chair of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), and Hennadz Fiadynitch, former chairman of the Belarusian Radio and Electronics Industry Workers’ Union (REP), were among the 52 political prisoners released this week.

The Quality Jobs Act announced today by President von der Leyen must meet the urgency of the situation facing working people who cannot be asked to settle for half measures after years of falling real wages and rising precarity at work.

The European trade union movement today joins tributes to the life of Michael Sommer, the former chairman of the DGB and former Vice President of the ETUC who passed away in June. As the head of the German Confederation of Trade Unions between 2002 and 2014, he laid the foundation for the adoption of a statutory minimum wage and led the fight to prevent the expansion of precarious employment.

EU rules must ensure public money is given to companies whose workers are covered by collective agreements, trade unions say after the European Parliament adopted a report on public procurement.

A new official European Union poll showing that the cost-of-living remains the top priority for citizens proves why Commission President Ursula von der Leyen must centre her State of the Union address on the needs of working people and not the deregulation demands of corporate lobbyists.

Trade unions are raising serious concerns about the lack of protections for workers in the EU-Mercosur trade agreement proposals being put forward by the Commission. The ETUC has warned the Commission that its current proposals on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement would fail to effectively sanction companies for even the gravest violations of workers’ rights. 

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.