• 28.04.2020 Press release

    Workers Memorial Day: Commission must rethink ‘astonishing’ omission of workers’ health and safety from work programme

    Workers Memorial Day graphic
    The ETUC is using Workers Memorial Day to appeal again to the European Commission to prioritize workplace health and safety in its plans for the next five years in light of the coronavirus crisis. Trade unions first raised the alarm last September when occupational health and safety was omitted from Ursula von der Leyen’s political guidelines, pointing out that every year there are 4,000 fatal accidents at work and 120,000 people die of work-related cancer.
  • 23.04.2020 Press release

    Worrying time delay for emergency measures - Recovery Plan needs to be speeded up

    Luca Visentini & trade unions leaders march for a fairer Europe for workers
    Commenting on the outcome of the European Council, ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini said: “EU leaders have finally backed the urgently required emergency measures, but it’s very worrying that they will not be available before 1st June when workers, companies and public services are struggling now.
  • 22.04.2020 Press release

    “Long talks cost lives and jobs” - EU leaders must fast track help for over 40 million new unemployed

    ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini at the European Social Summit
    Photo: European Council The ETUC is urging EU leaders meeting tomorrow to agree and implement without delay or conditions proposals to help workers, companies and public services hit by the coronavirus crisis The European Council will consider on Thursday a 540bn support package that includes the SURE job and income protection scheme, and how to fund the economic recovery. 
  • 21.04.2020 Press release

    Plan to drop pay transparency over Covid-19 a betrayal of frontline women workers

    Gender Pay Transparency protest outside the European Commission
    The ETUC is urging the European Commission to reconsider plans to abandon its pledge to introduce binding measures to boost equal and fair pay because of the coronavirus outbreak. Binding pay transparency measures to close Europe’s 15% gender pay gap were one of just five pledges that Ursula von der Leyen vowed to deliver within 100 days of becoming Commission President.
  • 15.04.2020 Press release

    Roadmap falls down on basic principles says ETUC

    Return to work must be safe
    The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) appreciates the effort of the European Commission to propose a Roadmap towards lifting Covid19 containment measures, but criticises it for failing on basic principles and neglecting to acknowledge the practicalities of a return to work, insufficiently mentioning either health and safety at work or the need to apply strict ‘precautionary’ measures. The ETUC asks the Commission to start an urgent and proper consultation with trade unions and employers to define a proper implementation of the Communication.
  • 09.04.2020 Press release

    Eurogroup finally taken some important steps says ETUC

    “The Eurogroup has finally taken some important steps to help protect working people, support companies, fund public services and stabilise the economy through this crisis in the short-term.   “The activation of the ESM, the EIB and particularly of SURE goes in the right direction. We now ask all 27 member states’ governments to adopt this and the other measures before Easter. With 15 million jobs already affected by the lockdown, workers and companies cannot wait longer.
  • 08.04.2020 Press release

    ETUC: working people cannot wait while the Eurogroup wrangles

    Demo
    Criticising the failure of the Eurogroup to give its support to the EU’s €500bn package of economic aid to deal with the economic impact of corona virus, and continuing divisions over Eurobonds and ‘conditionalities’ for ESM funding,  ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini said:
  • 06.04.2020 Press release

    ETUC calls on Eurogroup to help over 10 million workers hit by crisis

    Trade union and coronavirus logo
    European trade unions are calling on EU finance ministers to agree a 500bn Euro support package to deal with the economic consequences of the coronavirus which has already hit over 10 million workers.   Estimates collected by the ETUC show that unemployment has risen by at least 4 million since the crisis began, while more than 7 million workers are on short-time work schemes.  
  • 02.04.2020 Press release

    EU urged to swiftly approve 'SURE' to save jobs from C19 breakdown

    ETUC demonstrating for fairer Europe for workers
    The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) urges EU Finance Ministers and the Council meeting next week to approve the European Commission’s proposal for a €100 billion ‘SURE’ scheme to support short-term work and other measures to protect jobs and wages during the coronavirus crisis. The ETUC calls on Member States to swiftly put at the disposal of the European Commission the necessary guarantees to make the scheme operational as soon as possible!
  • 01.04.2020 Press release

    ETUC on SURE & short-time work

    Cover
    Responding to the European Commission’s announcement of the SURE short-time work scheme, ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini said: “We are very pleased the European Commission has listened to our request to fast track the launch of the SURE unemployment reinsurance scheme and support short-time work measures. “The situation of working people affected by the COVID-19 breakdown is deteriorating every hour and the last thing Europe needs in the middle of this health emergency is mass unemployment and another economic crisis.