Workers’ rights in Europe are at their ‘worst level’ in at least a decade as a result of government crackdowns on the right to strike and union busting by employers, the annual Global Rights Index published today shows.

The European Commission has put itself on course for failure by pressing ahead with plans to undermine collective agreements and workers’ rights. The ‘Startup and Scaleup Strategy’, published today, signals plans to attack collective bargaining and curtail labour law through the introduction of a ‘28th regime’, by allowing startups to opt out of national labour law and instead operate under lower EU-wide standards.

The need for a Just Transition Directive is more urgent than ever following the news that the EU is meeting its climate change targets because of rapid deindustrialisation rather than decarbonisation. The European Commission has announced that it is close to meeting its target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent by 2030.

The European Labour Authority (ELA) does not currently have the necessary powers or resources to fulfil its potential to stop employers from exploiting vulnerable cross-border workers, a report published today by the European Commission concludes. 

The ETUC is raising the alarm over European Commission plans to limit what information member states can request from employers about cross-border workers risk making it easier for bosses to exploit workers.

Trade unionists from across Europe meeting in Serbia have called on EU leaders to learn from the mistakes of past enlargement processes and ensure that the future expansion of the bloc is carried out in a way which raises pay and strengthens workers’ rights. At the mid-term conference of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) in Belgrade, representatives of 45 million workers including from EU and accession countries agreed a resolution which reaffirms its commitment to the continued enlargement of the EU and the goal of a united Europe.

ETUC Mid-Term Conference 2025 Belgrade Declaration Representing over 45 million working people in 41 countries across the continent, the European Trade Union Con­federation (ETUC) is the voice of workers in Europe. Meeting in Belgrade, Serbia, in May 2025, the leaders of trade unions from across Europe discussed the concerns and priorities of workers, their families and their communities. 

Workers in multinational companies are one step closer to the enforcement of their right to meaningful consultation over company decisions after a provisional trilogue agreement was found this morning on the revision of the European Works Council (EWC) Directive. EWCs are meant to ensure that workers’ rights to information and consultation about management decisions are upheld. However, the current directive lacks the teeth needed to uphold these rights. For example, the maximum fine in Germany is just 15,000 Euro, and is no deterrent effect to a multinational company.

Ahead of tonight’s Europa League final, more than 300 trade unionists from across Europe have shown the red card to deregulation and called for the EU to make quality jobs its goal again.Meeting for the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Mid-Term Conference in Belgrade, representatives of 45 million working people blew the whistle over the European Commission’s deregulation drive which is targeting workers’ rights and trade union rights.

The reset in relations between the EU and the UK must deliver tangible benefits for working people on both sides of the Channel to be considered a lasting success, trade unions say.   Agreements on defence, fishing, food safety and energy have already been found in time for a summit in London today, but negotiations on other areas important to working people are only just beginning.  

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) strongly condemns plans to weaken workers’ rights contained in a leaked draft of the European Commission’s ‘Startup and Scaleup Strategy’.

The ETUC expresses its grave concerns at the unconscionable humanitarian situation in Gaza. The ETUC calls for immediate and effective EU and international initiatives to alleviate the intolerable humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip against the background of the blockade enacted by the government of Israel.

The head of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has told the European Commission that the time for talks over growing redundancies is over and they must take urgent action to protect and create quality jobs.

Esther Lynch, ETUC General Secretary, spoke at a rally 'For a Social and Democratic Europe' in Madrid, on 11/05/2025, on the invitation of CCOO and UGT. 

On Europe day, trade unions are calling for the European Union to return its focus to the promise of increased living standards for all citizens made in the Schuman declaration. 

On 8 May, the European Trade Union Confederation celebrates the victory over fascism and recommits to confronting the threat of tyranny and hated posed against by the far-right today. 

Speech by Esther Lynch, ETUC General Secretary In Memory of Trade Union and Resistance Fighters Fort Breendonk - 4 May 2025We gather today at Fort Breendonk, not just to remember, but to recommit. To recommit to the fight against fascism, tyranny, and hatred – and to honour the brave women and men, many from our own labour movement, who gave their lives in that struggle.

On international workers’ day, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is telling European leaders that the needs of working people must be put at the top of the agenda. From tariffs to climate change, Europe needs an industrial policy to protect and create quality jobs in every region and every sector. 

The European Commission must stand up to the attempt by US President Donald Trump to “intimidate” European companies out of complying with European equality law, the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) said today. At the Trade Unions Against Discrimination Conference in Berlin, Esther Lynch called on Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to defend Europe’s equality standards and demand that the US Government withdraw its threat to European companies.

Europe’s workplace stress epidemic is killing around 10,000 people a year, according to a new analysis which shows the urgent need for an EU directive on psychosocial risks at work.