Presentation by Esther Lynch, Deputy General Secretary
UNI Europa Conference "Forward through Collective Bargaining" - 28 April 2021
Thank you President.
What a great Conference!
The number of labour inspections has collapsed across Europe over the last decade, leaving workplaces less prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic.
New ETUC research reveals that safety inspections have been cut by a fifth since 2010, falling from 2.2 million annual visits to 1.7 million.
Inspections have become rarer in at least 17 countries, including in Germany where 232,000 fewer visits were made in 2018 compared to 2010 and Portugal where checks were cut in half over the same period.
Responding to the Commission’s proposal on an EU strategy on ‘sustainable voluntary return and reintegration’ of migrants, ETUC Confederal Secretary Ludovic Voet said:
“It is totally irresponsible of the European Commission to give Frontex more powers over deportations at the very moment they are under investigation for involvement in illegal pushbacks of migrants.
The European Commission is pressing ahead with a ‘one in, one out’ rule for EU regulations despite rejecting such an approach last year and publishing evidence that it is inappropriate for EU law.
The rule, which will oblige the Commission to “relieve people and businesses of an equivalent existing burden” every time new EU legislation is proposed, is part of a new ‘Better Regulation’ policy to be published today.
Moves by European Parliament legislators Denis Radtke (EPP) and Agnes Jongerius (S&D) to improve the proposed Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages offer valuable changes for working people, especially the low paid, says the ETUC.
But ETUC Deputy General Secretary warned against any watering down of the proposals:
The European Commission today published a proposal for a directive which would define new requirements on large European companies to report on environmental, social and governance matters.*
Reacting to this proposal, European Trade Union Confederation Confederal Secretary Isabelle Schömann said:
Every EU member state was forced into emergency reforms of their social protection systems by Covid-19, according to new research which highlights the need for permanent improvements.
A study by the European Trade Union Institute on social protection during the pandemic found 24 out of 27 member states increased the value, duration or eligibility conditions of unemployment benefits or income support.
The European Union has made little progress towards its aim of raising the quality of employment over the last decade and some countries have even gone backwards, new ETUC research has found.
Commenting on the Statement of the Members of the European Council on 25 March 2021, Luca Visentini, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) said:
“We appreciate the efforts put in place by the EU and Member States to provide vaccines to the whole population in a reasonable time, and to make pharmaceutical companies accountable, but we reiterate our demand to the EU to push for waivers on patents and to Member States to guarantee priority to essential workers and vulnerable groups of people.
MEPs on the European Parliament's Employment Committee approved today with an overwhelming majority significant amendments to the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive, to protect workers from the risks of exposure to dangerous substances at work.
Among the adopted amendments there is the long-lasting ETUC demand to extend the Directive's scope to substances toxic to reproduction and the inclusion of Hazardous Medicinal Products in its Annex I.
Dear readers, As European countries continue to battle waves of pandemic and lockdown, trade unions are fully occupied in defending workers’ health, welfare and livelihoods. March is also the month when trade unionists celebrate International Women’s Day, and attention turns to the discrimination women continue to suffer both at work and in society. This edition of National Updates highlights a few of the efforts and achievements of national unions across Europe.
