• ETUC wants to see Working Time Directive improved, not weakened

    ETUC wants to see Working Time Directive improved, not weakened

    Brussels, 04/06/2008 The ETUC addressed a letter to the Slovenian Minister of Labour expressing its disappointment with the current set of proposals on the table. According to the ETUC, these fall short of protecting workers against the health and safety hazards of long working hours, introduce an overall diminution of protection without proper safeguards, do not in any way provide for a proper balance between flexibility and security, and will create incentives for avoiding and evading collectively agreed solutions to flexibility needs of companies.
    Press release Published on 04.06.2008
  • The ETUC will contribute to the information campaign on the REACH regulation

    The ETUC will contribute to the information campaign on the REACH regulation

    Brussels, 03/06/2008 The ETUC plans to draw on all its member organisations and their thousands of elected representatives in most companies in Europe to distribute its own information material on REACH, as well as the information provided by the European Commission. The ETUC is a key player in the success of REACH. It is the only organisation capable of reaching, through workers' representatives, the greatest number of companies in Europe, irrespective of their size.
    Press release Published on 03.06.2008
  • Firm action must follow hard words, says ETUC

    Firm action must follow hard words, says ETUC

    Brussels, 02/06/2008 Recently, 14 European political personalities published an opinion piece in a major French daily newspaper calling for an end to “financial madness”. The German President Horst Köhler has compared the financial markets to a “monster”, and Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg was similarly outraged at the excesses of the world of finance. The ETUC welcomes all these statements, since they reflect the prescient position the ETUC developed on casino capitalism in 2007, even before the sub-prime crisis.
    Press release Published on 02.06.2008
  • Climate change: EU commitments must not compromise the well-being of populations and workers in the developing countries

    Climate change: EU commitments must not compromise the well-being of populations and workers in the developing countries

    Brussels, 02/06/2008 "The climate package proposed by the Commission for 2020, and in particular its measures on biofuels and industrial emissions, paves the way to an externalisation of CO2 emissions outside the European Union", commented John Monks. This creates a serious problem for the credibility of the EU's commitments on climate change and sustainable development.
    Press release Published on 02.06.2008
  • ETUC welcomes European Parliament initiative on the future of collective agreements

    ETUC welcomes European Parliament initiative on the future of collective agreements

    Brussels, 30/05/2008 The report's author, Jan Andersson, made a series of proposals that move in the right direction. MEPs of different political persuasions have stressed the need for legislators to react to the recent judgements in the European Court of Justice (ECJ): the Laval, Viking, Rüffert cases.
    Press release Published on 30.05.2008
  • ETUC demands release of Zimbabwean trade unionists

    ETUC demands release of Zimbabwean trade unionists

    Brussels, 13/05/2008 Zimbabwe police arrested President Lovemore Motombo and Secretary General Wellington Chibebe on 8 May 2008, after raiding their homes two days earlier. The ETUC understands that they face unsubstantiated charges of allegedly ‘inciting people to rise against the government and reporting falsehoods about people being killed’, following speeches they made on May Day. The ETUC is extremely concerned about their welfare, in view of the brutal treatment meted out to trade unionists in Zimbabwe on several previous occasions.
    Press release Published on 13.05.2008
  • Seminar: What is Social Europe – a UK perspective

    Seminar: What is Social Europe – a UK perspective

    London, 12/05/2008 To be checked against delivery Opening Remarks I welcome this seminar. At times, I have wondered if the UK recognised that there is a social Europe in any way that we in the trade union world could identify with.
    Speech Published on 13.05.2008