• One step closer: EU action to save jobs
    Teresa Ribera and Esther Lynch

    One step closer: EU action to save jobs

    Following her unveiling of the Clean Industrial Deal last week, which includes important job-saving measures, Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribera met with trade union leaders from across Europe today. The discussions focussed on the urgency of EU action to stem the wave of job cuts faced by working people.
    Press release Published on 05.03.2025
  • ETUC launches counter opinion on minimum wage directive case
    Counting cents

    ETUC launches counter opinion on minimum wage directive case

    A controversial legal opinion calling for the annulment of the Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages (AMWD) was based on a “historically mistaken” reading of EU law that failed to consider established case law.  
    Press release Published on 28.02.2025
  • Omnibus weakens workers' protections from corporate abuse
    Trade unions protest against the Omnibus deregulation drive outside the headquarters of the European Commission

    Omnibus weakens workers' protections from corporate abuse

    The Commission has today proposed to weaken mechanisms designed to hold companies accountable to the abuse of workers in their supply chains. Measures brought in to address conditions like those that led to the Rana Plaza tragedy would be dramatically watered down, if the European Commission’s Omnibus deregulation drive goes through.
    Press release Published on 26.02.2025
  • Clean Industrial Deal: job-saving measures must not be delayed
    Placard reads "our jobs depend on your decisions" during industrial workers demonstration in Brussels

    Clean Industrial Deal: job-saving measures must not be delayed

    Thousands of jobs rely on a swift implementation of the Clean Industrial Deal (CID), announced today by the European Commission. The ETUC is calling for the measures focussed on workers to be urgently brought forward. An average of 500 jobs a day are being lost and even more threatened. Just transition measures are urgently needed to save those jobs and must be moved to the top of the list, not left as an add-on to be implemented at the end of the year.
    Press release Published on 26.02.2025
  • Unions protest against Omnibus’ drive towards deregulation
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    Unions protest against Omnibus’ drive towards deregulation

    Trade unionists and green campaigners staged a protest in Brussels today to tell the European Commission to ‘slam the brakes’ on its Omnibus package which is driving Europe towards deregulation that will weaken workers’ rights and environmental protections.  
    Press release Published on 25.02.2025
  • 10 million more workers can’t heat their homes
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    10 million more workers can’t heat their homes

    The number of people in the European Union who can’t afford to keep their home warm increased by 16 million during the cost-of-living crisis – and the majority of them were in work. In 2019, an estimated 7% of the European population could not afford to put the heating on, equivalent to 30.7 million people, including 13.4 million people in work.But the latest figures show that the share of people living in energy poverty increase to 10.6% in 2023 - 47.5 million people, including 23.7 million people in employment. 
    Press release Published on 24.02.2025
  • Green transition must no longer fail workers, unions tell Commission
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    Green transition must no longer fail workers, unions tell Commission

    The Clean Industrial Deal must include measures to restore workers’ confidence in the green transition, trade union leaders stressed in a meeting with the European Commission today.
    Press release Published on 18.02.2025
  • EU youth survey shows importance of traineeship directive
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    EU youth survey shows importance of traineeship directive

    A new poll showing young people want the EU to prioritise action to address the cost-of-living, jobs and training demonstrates why the European Commission needs to deliver the traineeship directive.The EU Youth Survey published today by the European Parliament shows that the priorities of people aged between 16 and 30 are:
    Press release Published on 17.02.2025
  • EU poll shows huge support for AI at work directive
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    EU poll shows huge support for AI at work directive

    There is overwhelming public support for EU action to address the risks and maximise the benefits of artificial intelligence in the workplace, a new EU poll shows.A European Commission survey of 26,000 people about their attitudes to the use of artificial Intelligence and the future of work published today found:
    Press release Published on 14.02.2025
  • Workers missing from Commission work programme
    Cover

    Workers missing from Commission work programme

    Workers are largely missing from the 2025 work programme published today by the European Commission, which is too narrowly focused on gambling that ‘simplification’ alone will improve competitiveness rather than making the necessary investments.
    Press release Published on 12.02.2025
  • European trade unions call for simplified pro-worker procurement rules
    Cover

    European trade unions call for simplified pro-worker procurement rules

    The ETUC is calling for the revision of public procurement rules to be used to make it easy for national authorities to prioritise companies that have a collective agreement and invest in the workforce.
    Press release Published on 12.02.2025
  • Tariffs show urgent need for EU industry policy
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    Tariffs show urgent need for EU industry policy

    European trade unions condemn the ‘unjustified’ tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump and call for a smart response from the EU which protects European jobs and industries.The 25% tariffs on foreign steel and aluminium announced by Trump will have negative consequences for European workers and companies, as the US is the second largest market for EU steel makers.
    Press release Published on 11.02.2025
  • Corporate lobbyists dominate ‘rigged’ simplification roundtable on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence and Corporate Sustainability Reporting
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    Corporate lobbyists dominate ‘rigged’ simplification roundtable on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence and Corporate Sustainability Reporting

    Corporate lobbyists will outnumber representatives of trade unions and NGOs by five to one at today’s simplification roundtable on European Commission plans to weaken laws protecting workers and the environment that are needed to prevent tragedies like the Rana Plaza disaster.
    Press release Published on 06.02.2025
  • Cancer: Commission must end delay over asbestos action
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    Cancer: Commission must end delay over asbestos action

    On World Cancer Day, trade unions are calling on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to finally deliver on her promise of legislation to better protect workers from asbestos-ridden buildings. 
    Press release Published on 04.02.2025
  • Industrial jobs crisis demands Just Transition Directive
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    Industrial jobs crisis demands Just Transition Directive

    A demonstration of industrial workers worried about their futures taking place in Brussels this week shows the urgent need for the European Commission to bring forward a Just Transition Directive.
    Press release Published on 04.02.2025
  • Cut interest rates faster to stop jobs crisis
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    Cut interest rates faster to stop jobs crisis

    Trade unions are calling on the European Central Bank (ECB) to stop putting jobs at risk by preventing investment and instead go further and faster in cutting interest rates.The ECB today announced another 0.25% cut in interest rates, which does little to relieve the pressure it put on workers and companies by holding rates at record levels for most of last year.
    Press release Published on 30.01.2025
  • ETUC declines invitation to endorse competitiveness compass
    Compass

    ETUC declines invitation to endorse competitiveness compass

    The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) cannot endorse the Competitiveness Compass if it continues to undermine jobs, rights and standards. While the Compass published today by the European Commission recognises that quality jobs are an important part of a competitive economy, that is undermined by a focus on deregulation.  
    Press release Published on 29.01.2025
  • Davos: EU must stand up for ‘great’ Europe not follow Trump
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    Davos: EU must stand up for ‘great’ Europe not follow Trump

    Trade unions are calling on politicians to stand up for the high standards that make Europe great after business groups called for Trump-style deregulation to coincide with the US President’s Davos speech. 
    Press release Published on 24.01.2025
  • Quality jobs central to EU competitiveness plan
    Compass points to quality jobs

    Quality jobs central to EU competitiveness plan

    The ETUC is calling on the European Commission to make quality jobs a central objective to its competitiveness plan and warns against an approach based on low pay, long hours and bad conditions.  The Competitiveness Compass, which is set to be published next week, must have the protection and creation of quality jobs as a cardinal point. Trade unions expect it to lay the foundation to deliver a quality jobs package, including new legislation and investments, within the first half of this year. Social Europe is our competitive advantage
    Press release Published on 23.01.2025
  • ETUC Welcomes Ceasefire in Gaza, Calls for Immediate Humanitarian Action
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    ETUC Welcomes Ceasefire in Gaza, Calls for Immediate Humanitarian Action

    The Gaza ceasefire agreement reached between the Israeli government and Hamas marks a crucial step towards ending the violence that has caused immense suffering. The ETUC fully supports the ITUC and urges the EU and the international community to take decisive action to see through the commitments of both parties, address the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza and work towards and sustainable peace.
    Press release Published on 20.01.2025
  • CEOs paid over 100 times more than workers
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    CEOs paid over 100 times more than workers

    Chief executives of Europe’s top companies are paying themselves 110 times more than the average worker, an analysis by the European Trade Union Institute shows. 
    Press release Published on 16.01.2025
  • EU support for minimum wages and collective bargaining threatened by outlier opinion

    EU support for minimum wages and collective bargaining threatened by outlier opinion

    The most important piece of workers’ legislation at EU level in a generation may be under threat following a non-binding opinion issued today.  Mr Emiliou, who was acting as Advocate General to the Court of Justice of the European Union, has today delivered a highly controversial opinion [Case C-19/23] on the case supported by two member states against the Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages. 
    Press release Published on 14.01.2025
  • New warning over labour shortage shows need for EU action on quality jobs
    Cover

    New warning over labour shortage shows need for EU action on quality jobs

    A new warning over Europe’s labour shortage issued today by the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows why the European Commission must make it a priority to deliver a plan for quality jobs.
    Press release Published on 08.01.2025
  • EWCs: Parliament backs stronger voice for workers in multinationals
    Demonstration outside the European Parliament to support more democracy at work

    EWCs: Parliament backs stronger voice for workers in multinationals

    Workers in multinational companies are another step closer to having a stronger say in their workplaces after the European Parliament today adopted its position on the revision of the European Works Council (EWC) Directive. The vote in favour of the trilogue mandate – which the far-right 'Patriots' group tried to prevent - is a crucial step in addressing longstanding barriers to effective transnational workers’ representation, trade union rights and strengthening democracy at work.
    Press release Published on 19.12.2024
  • Commission wrong to celebrate employment rate amid redundancies
    Audi workers

    Commission wrong to celebrate employment rate amid redundancies

    The European Commission is wrong to celebrate a “remarkably resilient” labour market at a time when tens of thousands of workers are threatened with redundancies.  
    Press release Published on 18.12.2024