Brussels, 25/11/2008 For the European side, ETUC and TUCA believe that the negotiating brief given by the Council to the Commission does not provide for this possibility, for which the European Parliament would have to be consulted again. For the Andean side, the decision by Colombia and Peru breaks the bloc’s solidarity and endangers the very existence of the Andean Community.

Brussels, 25/11/2008 Violence against women and girls is perhaps the most pervasive human rights violation that we know today, it devastates lives, fractures communities, and stalls development. It is a major global problem, with many institutional, legal and cultural obstacles to its elimination. Women and girls experience gender-based violence in every country and in every sector of society – regardless of class, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation or culture.

Brussels, 24/11/2008 The tide of recession is currently sweeping in very fast. If left uncontrolled, this recession risks turning into an entrenched depression. Interest rate cuts and automatic stabilisers – both of which are necessary – will only be able to absorb part of the shock. To turn the recessionary tide around, Europe also needs a rapid, ambitious and joint plan providing for a clear demand stimulus.

Brussels, 24/11/2008

Brussels, 20/11/2008

Brussels, 19/11/2008 The social partners together with a Euromed Trade Union Forum delegation, representing trade unions from the EU and the southern partner countries, were consulted before the conference went underway.

Brussels, 13/11/2008 John Monks declared: ‘Some 90 years after the end of the First World War in which millions of combatants died in the trenches of Europe, members of the armed services are still getting a raw deal.’

Brussels, 05/11/2008 ETUC General Secretary John Monks commented: ‘The European trade unions cannot but welcome this vote, which represents an important victory on this issue. We now call on the European Parliament to adopt a firm position with regard to the Commission and Council at the vote in plenary on 17 December. The European trade union movement will demonstrate on 16 December in Strasbourg to ask the European Parliament to reject the Council's decision and to confirm its position adopted at first reading.’

Brussels, 31/10/2008 European governments and central banks are trying to save the financial economy by directly supporting banking activity and cutting interest rates. This is necessary and welcome. However, the real economy also urgently needs saving. Economic activity, aggregate demand and jobs require immediate support. In the absence of such support, the downturn in the real economy will:

Brussels, 30/10/2008 ‘It’s unacceptable for chrysotile asbestos to once again escape the regulatory mechanisms for hazardous substances provided for by the Rotterdam Convention. The lives of hundreds of thousands of workers are at risk, as is the credibility of the Convention’, states ETUC Confederal Secretary Walter Cerfeda, who is in charge of health and safety at work. Canada is supposedly once again trying to form a coalition of countries to block the inclusion of chrysotile on the list of substances covered by the Rotterdam Convention.

Brussels, 23 October 2008

Brussels, 22 October 2008 ETUC was particularly satisfied with the way the Council solved the issue of equal treatment between agency workers and workers in the user enterprise – the most contentious issue in the Directive which blocked progress for the past 6 years. The Directive will not anymore introduce a general qualifying period before the equal treatment principle would apply as was proposed previously, but instead only allows for derogation by collective agreement or – under specific conditions – by agreement between the national social partners.

Brussels, 17/10/2008 Human trafficking, as one of the worst forms of exploitation of migrant workers, has in previous years been identified as a priority issue on European and international trade union agendas. As a result, the Greek General Confederation of Labour GSEE is hosting a conference in Athens on 21–23 November 2008, organised in cooperation with ITUC, PERC and ETUC, to develop a specifically targeted trade union strategy to better defend the rights of these ‘invisible’ workers.