Brussels, 24/01/2013 Negotiators have claimed that their work will be finalised in the coming days and weeks, but unions on both sides of the Atlantic have made it clear that any agreement is only acceptable if based on a high standard, setting a benchmark for future agreements worldwide, and certainly not undermining existing conditions in relation to labour rights, public policy space and the provision of public services.

Brussels, 23/01/2013

Brussels, 17/05/2013

Brussels, 15/01/2013

Larnaca, 04-05 octobre 2012 Seul le texte prononcé fait foi

Brussels, 09/01/2013 Bernadette Ségol, ETUC General Secretary, has this to say: ‘2013 is set to be a difficult year. Europe is collapsing into crisis. Unemployment is hitting record heights, as we can see from the latest Eurostat figures. For the first time, the jobless total has gone above 26 million. We need to focus our efforts first of all on tackling unemployment, insecurity and inequalities. We can no longer pin our hopes for a change to the social situation on some theoretical improvement in the economic situation’.

Bruxelles, 19/12/2012

Brussels, 17/12/2012 The 27 States have postponed until 2013 important decisions which should have defined the roadmap for a political union. Only the banking union has moved forwards.

Brussels, 17/12/2012 The ETUC underlines the need to consider migrants first of all as human beings, to whom equal human and social rights must be ensured to the same extent as European citizens, as well as the right to free and fair mobility and to equal treatment in the workplace. This is the only way to fight social dumping and the exploitation of migrants, and to achieve a balanced and fair labour market in Europe.

Brussels,14/12/2012 There is an obvious link between long and irregular working hours and health problems related to work. The protection of the health and safety of workers must therefore remain the prime objective of any revision of the directive.

Brussels, 13/12/2012

Brussels, 13/12/2012 After initially attempting to play down the incident, the Tunisian government agreed to reopen negotiations, on 11 December, with the trade union leadership. The talks led to an agreement in which the government pledged to set up a joint commission of enquiry to identify those responsible for the violence being perpetrated against trade unions for over a year and to bring the culprits to justice within the space of no more than 40 days, in exchange for the calling off of the general strike announced for 13 December by the UGTT.