• Workers' rights and economic freedoms

    Workers' rights and economic freedoms

    Brussels, 09/10/2008 Workers’ rights and economic freedoms – View from ETUC A British trade union lawyer colleague of mine who is here today termed the recent quartet of legal judgments in the European Court of Justice – an accident waiting to happen.
    Speech Published on 09.10.2008
  • An international day for decent work

    An international day for decent work

    Brussels, 06/10/2008 In the context of this World day for decent work, John Monks, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, will take part in the activities organised by ETUC's Belgian members on the morning of 7 October. “This World Day for Decent Work (WDDW) is essential for the trade union movement. Every confederation will contribute by one way or another. As for us, we will put great emphasis on decent working time. Our key message will be: for decent wages and decent working hours”, declares ETUC General Secretary John Monks.
    Press release Published on 06.10.2008
  • European Central Bank is flirting with the risk of a long depression

    European Central Bank is flirting with the risk of a long depression

    Brussels, 02/10/2008 With the economy already in recession and with the financial sector balancing on the edge of a cliff, this is defying logic. With short-term interest rates higher than long-term interest rates, an already cracking financial system is being stressed even further. Says John Monks, General Secretary of ETUC, ‘The ECB is still fighting the inflation of the past. It is time for them to wake up to reality and see the urgency of the situation, even if this means admitting that the June rate hike was a mistake’.
    Press release Published on 02.10.2008
  • ITUC and ETUC call on EU to root economic partnership in development

    ITUC and ETUC call on EU to root economic partnership in development

    Brussels, 26 September 2008 The EPAs are a new trade arrangement between Europe and the ACP countries which aim at putting their trade relationships in conformity with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. However, there is concern that EPAs could require ACP countries to open their economies unsustainably beyond their world-level commitments.
    Press release Published on 26.09.2008
  • Professor Brian Bercusson, 1947–2008

    Professor Brian Bercusson, 1947–2008

    Brussels, 25 September 2008 Professor Brian Bercusson passed away at the age of 60 years suddenly but peacefully on 17 August 2008 at his home in Tuscany. He was born in 1947 in Montreal, Canada, and came to the United Kingdom to study law at the London School of Economics in 1967. Professor Bercusson obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge and was appointed as a Research Fellow at Christ’s College in 1974.
    Press release Published on 25.09.2008
  • ETUC welcomes European summit on Roma

    ETUC welcomes European summit on Roma

    Brussels, 16 September 2008 The convening of this summit reflects a new awareness of the social exclusion and discrimination against Roma in Europe. The European trade union movement has always spoken out forcefully against all discrimination.
    Press release Published on 16.09.2008
  • Climate change and the effects on workers

    Climate change and the effects on workers

    Zaragoza, 11/09/2009 I am very pleased to be able to address this important conference which is held very much on the initiative of the Spanish trade union movement. It shows the determination of the CC.OO and UGT-E to be in the vanguard of those who want to put climate change and sustainable development at the heart of European and Spanish strategy in the years ahead.
    Speech Published on 12.09.2008