The European Commission has announced plans to downgrade the importance of its Jobs and Social Rights portfolio - less than 24 hours after workers marched to the European institutions to demand action to protect jobs.Every European Commission since the 1970s has included a Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs (or Jobs and Social Rights as it has been called since 2019).But the post would be eliminated in the plans for the new Commission published today, instead being made part of a ‘People, Skills and Preparedness’ portfolio.

The threat to tens of thousands of European industrial workers’ livelihoods, including more than 3000 jobs at Audi and its subcontractors on the doorstep of the European institutions, shows the urgent need for the EU to deliver an industrial deal that will protect and create quality jobs. Trade unions will march in Brussels today to demand political action in response to a threat from carmaker Audi to cut jobs at its plant in Brussels which will affect thousands of workers.

The European Central Bank (ECB) today announced a small 0.25 point cut in interest rates.The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) warns this move does not match the scale of the action required to boost investment set out this week in the Draghi report on competitiveness.The Draghi report warned high interest rates could contribute to public debt becoming “unsustainable” and “negatively affect investments” in the green and digital transitions.Commenting on the decision, ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said:

The ETUC’s call for a major shift towards more EU investment has been backed by Draghi, but trade unions warn that specific measures will be needed to ensure the investment creates quality jobs in all sectors and all regions. Trade union involvement will be key. Social dialogue and collective bargaining must be at the centre of the solution for European competitiveness. We call on the President of the European Commission to convene a social partner working group to discuss the report and the way forward. 

The number of firefighters was cut in a dozen EU member states last year despite a rising risk of fires caused by climate change, an analysis of new EU data by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has found. Eurostat figures published today show that there were 362,400 firefighters in the EU in 2023, which is an increase of 3,200 on the previous year. 

The “ethos of exploitation” which caused one of Europe’s most notorious industrial disasters is still leading to the deaths and injuries of migrant workers almost seven decades later, the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) warned today.

EU member states should follow the UK Government in tackling age-based pay discrimination by eliminating lower rates of statutory minimum wages for young people.

The number of workers who can’t afford a week’s holiday has increased by more than two million, an analysis of EU data for the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has found.An estimated 39.7 million working people (15%) could not afford a week’s holiday away from home, either in their own country or abroad, in 2022 – up from 37.6 million (14%) in 2021.The biggest increase in holiday poverty came in France, where almost a million more hardworking people were forced to stay at home. The biggest percentage point changes came in Ireland (+3.8%) and France (+2.5%).

The European Central Bank has today announced interest rates will remain unchanged despite the fact that it says “most measures [of underlying inflation] were either stable or edged down in June.”Responding to the decision, ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said: “Today’s decision shows the ECB has no clear strategy of how to deal with profit-driven inflation.   

Trade unions are challenging Ursula von der Leyen to commit to quickly turning her promises to working people into directives with the necessary funding to make them a reality. The political guidelines published by Ursula von der Leyen include the following positive pledges:  

Even countries with low levels of debt are at high risk of adopting austerity measures under plans approved today by EU finance ministers.

President von der Leyen must commit to tackle economic and social insecurity from the workplace up. Working people are facing real problems that need EU action. Some of the key problems to which working people urgently need solutions are:

Commenting on the outcome of the European Council, ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said: “It is good news that the far-right have been frozen out of the decision on the EU’s top jobs. Cooperation with far-right forces in the European Parliament must also be rejected. “However, the best defence against the far-right is to ensure that every job in Europe is a top job: quality jobs with fair pay and conditions and collective bargaining in every sector and every region.

The ETUC Youth Committee has elected its new leadership for the coming two years. Céline Ruffie is the new Youth Committee President. She hails from the rail transport sector in France and was nominated by the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF). She is accompanied by Vice-President Vera de Man, from the Dutch union CNV. The other Youth Bureau members are:

The majority of EU member states did not take concrete action last year to increase the number of workers benefiting from collectively bargained wages and working conditions, a new report shows. The ETUC is warning member states of the approaching deadline of 15 November 2024 for the transposition of the Minimum Wages Directive.

Trade union leaders from across Europe are warning against letting in the anti-worker far right.  As negotiations advance for the formation of the leadership of the EU institutions, the European trade union movement is calling on all democratic forces to reject any cooperation with any part of the far right.

Trade unions are calling for the European Union’s social and labour standards to be fully upheld in negotiations on the accession of Ukraine, Moldova and Montenegro.

Georgian trade unions have today joined the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), a move which will help raise labour standards to the required levels for accession to the EU.The ETUC’s executive committee voted unanimously in favour of membership for the Georgian Trade Unions Confederation (GTUC), which is made up of 20 trade unions representing 156,000 workers in every sector of the economy.The GTUC plays a leading role in Georgia in the fight for democracy as well as workers’ rights and decent living standards.

The Council has today backed plans to strengthen the directive on European Works Councils. This is good news on the way to revision of the Directive. European Works Councils are meant to ensure that, despite the increasingly international nature of the economy,  workers’ rights to information and consultation about management decisions are upheld.

Raising interest rates is “costly and ineffective” in tackling the profit-driven inflation and instead punishes working people and prevents climate action, a new

The European Commission today announced that it is opening a ‘Excessive Deficit Procedure’ for Belgium, France, Italy, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia. Reacting to the announcement, ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said: “Forcing member states to make draconian cuts to public expenditure is a recipe for economic, social and political disaster. “The obsession with deficit reduction completely misses addressing the challenges Europe is facing with the twin transitions. What Europe needs is social and green investments.

Action needed to prevent work-related cancer will continue until at least 2028 under an agreement signed today by trade unions, businesses and member states.Cancer is the leading cause of work-related deaths in the EU with over 100,000 cancer deaths each year.The Roadmap on Carcinogens was launched in 2016 in an effort to tackle this scandal, leading to the introduction of safer exposure limits on dozens of dangerous substances commonly found in workplaces.

Trade unions are the motor of social justice. Yet, addressing the overlapping crises and long-term structural economic transformations will require coordinated efforts by other actors too.

ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch addressed the International Labour Conference in Geneva. The following speech was delivered on 10 June 2024 during the plenary discussion on the report of the Director General titled 'Towards a Renewed Social Contract'. Check against delivery President and distinguished delegates,

Tesla’s attack on collective bargaining is part of a “worrying trend” which has seen workers’ rights eroded more quickly in Europe than in any other region of the world, according to a major new report.