Background paper ETUC project “Safe at home Safe at work” - Trade unions’ strategies to prevent, manage and eliminate workplace harassment and violence against women   Recommendations   Ten things that unions can do to tackle harassment and violence against women work   Prioritise social dialogue between employers and unions, in jointly agreeing policies, procedures and awareness raising amongst managers and workers.

The ETUC welcomes the European Framework for Quality and Effective Apprenticeships presented by EU commissioner Marianne Thyssen today.

Speech by Luca Visentini, ETUC General Secretary  Check against delivery

Dear Readers, We have just published the September 2017 edition of the ETUC Newsletter. To read the document, please click here. Enjoy!

Commenting on European Commission’s announcement today on the Written Statement Directive, ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini said “The ETUC welcomes the European Commission taking forward its proposal for a revision of the Written Statement Directive. The European Commission’s proposals are a decent basis for discussion. The ETUC has engaged constructively from the outset in this debate, and will be warning the Commission to keep clear of time-wasting by anyone who wants to kill this proposal.

Workers in 11 central and eastern EU countries are paid up to €944 less per month than workers in Germany when costs of living are taken into account, according to a study published today by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI).   Shockingly, the difference in net monthly wages, when adjusted for the composition of the workforce and structure of the economy, is larger than when only costs of living are considered.   

Tomorrow, Thursday 21 September, the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) will be provisionally applied: over 90 percent of the deal’s provisions will begin taking effect tomorrow, but matters such as investment protection and the new investment court system, requiring unanimous approval by EU member states, will have to wait. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has been pressing with the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) for improvements throughout the long negotiations.

Dear readers, We are pleased to launch the latest edition of our National UPdates newsletter, showcasing a range of trade union activities in different countries, and focusing on how unions at national as well as EU level are working to promote social progress and justice in Europe, in collaboration with employers, governments and civil society organisations. In the context of the ETUC #OurPayRise campaign, trade unions are also advancing the living standards of workers in different parts of the EU.

Commenting on the European Commission’s renewed Industrial Policy Strategy, published today, Peter Scherrer, Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) said: “The ETUC has long called for a new EU industrial strategy, and welcomes the fact that the European Commission has now published ‘A renewed Industrial Policy strategy’.

The European Court of Justice today ruled that Ryanair workers based in Belgium could take legal proceedings before Belgian courts, regardless of the fact that Ryanair claimed that the contracts are “subject to Irish law” and “Irish courts had jurisdiction”. Welcoming the judgement, the European Trade Union Confederation’s Esther Lynch said “It is not for employers to choose which countries’ laws they wish to obey. The law of the land where the person is working should apply.”

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) joins with its global counterpart, the ITUC, in condemning the politically motivated campaign against the Georgian Trade Union Confederation (GTUC) and its President Irakli Petriashvili, launched by political forces aligned with the Georgian government. The ETUC works in partnership with the GTUC within the Pan-European Regional Council (PERC) of the ITUC and through the EU-Georgia Association Agreement.