The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomes today’s EU-Western Balkans Zagreb Summit going ahead. But despite the recent positive decision to open accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania, a broader message on positive prospects of the future of the accession process for the Western Balkans is missing. The Summit hopefully will strengthen political dialogue and socio-economic cooperation between the EU and the region and show solidarity and joint effort in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini today took part in today’s informal Council of Employment and Social Affairs Ministers (EPSCO) and asked  • Ministers to ensure that the proposed EU Recovery Plan features a strong social dimension and includes investment in jobs, higher wages, social protection, public services including health care and education and training.

Women make up well over half of the workforce in professions on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis, official EU data shows. Over 50% of workers in six highly exposed categories of work - personal care, cleaning, health associates, health, teaching and personal service – are women.

ETUC condemns the arrest of leaders of our Turkish affiliate DISK today. We demand the immediate release of Arzu Cerkezoglu and Adnan Serdaroglu and other arrested trade union leaders, and without charge. Some union leaders met at the headquarters of the Turkish trade union DİSK this morning to commemorate May Day. The police surrounded the building and arrested 20 leaders including General Secretary Arzu Çerkezoğlu and President Adnan Serdaroğlu using violence. It is believed to be the third time the leaders have been arrested this year. 

#1MaySolidarity Solidarity to ALL workers: Workers are the heroes & victims of #Covid19. Safe return to work + quality jobs for all!

Dear Readers, We have just published the April 2020 edition of the ETUC newsletter. To read the document, please click here. Enjoy!

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

The European Trade Union Confederation is calling on the European Union to: 

“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.