ETUC Mid-term Conference Dear friends, Comrades, Buongiorno a tutte e tutti !

Responding to the European Commission’s legislative proposal on public country-by-country reporting (CBCR) by multinationals due to be voted on the ECON and JURI committees at the European Parliament on 30 May, the European Trade Union Confederation and civil society organisations urge the European Parliament to extend transparency to company activities in all countries on a worldwide basis.   

ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini said  "I am horrified by the loss of life and injuries in Manchester last night. The thoughts of the European trade union movement are with the victims and their loved ones. "We are grateful as ever to the emergency workers dealing with the aftermath of this horrific incident."

Commenting on the ‘country specific reports’ issued by the European Commission today, ETUC Deputy General Secretary Katja Lehto Komulainen said  “It is progress that the European Commission is calling for more public investment and higher wages in some countries including Germany. It is very damaging for the Commission to be pressing again for yet more austerity and budget cuts in other countries, and to limit pay rises and increased public investment to countries with budget surpluses is a real missed opportunity.

EU economic policy-making – known as the ‘European Semester’ - comes to a climax with the annual ‘Country Specific Recommendations’ which are due to be published today by the European Commission.   The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) supports the emphasis placed this year by the European Commission on tackling inequality, and expects the ‘Country Specific Recommendations’ to feature concrete proposals to do so.   In particular, the ETUC expects the European Commission draft Country Specific Recommendations to  

Commenting on the European Commission’s ‘Reflection Paper on Globalisation’, ETUC Confederal Secretary Liina Carr said: “It has taken a long time for the European Commission to acknowledge that globalisation has to be fairer. Better late than never! Trade unions have long been calling for a fairer distribution of the benefits of globalisation, and finally we see this confirmed in the Commission’s Reflection Paper on Harnessing Globalisation.

Wage inequality between pay in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, and pay in Germany, is bigger today than it was in 2008.    According to figures in a Working Paper ‘Why central and eastern Europe needs a pay rise’, published today by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and written by Bela Galgoczi:

Public Hearing ECON/EP 3 May 2017 Speech by Katja Lehto-Komulainen Deputy General Secretary ETUC   Mr. Chairperson, Members of the Committee, Ladies and Gentlemen,   There are two main fields where the current European Commission promised to deliver and which our trade union members are very interested in: social field and fiscal field  

Luca Visentini, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, writes May 1 is our day. It is the day we celebrate the achievements of working people, labour, and their trade unions. Only through trade unions will working people get justice and a fair deal. Strong unions mean effective collective bargaining. Collective bargaining - reaching a fair deal with employers - brings better wages and working conditions for everyone, and reduces the gender pay gap.

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

Everyone’s health and safety at work matters – for workers, his or her family and loved ones, and for employers. With over 168,000 people dying every year from work-related accidents and diseases, and over 3 million reported accidents at work (those resulting in at least four days’ absence from work), health and safety at work is a very serious issue for everyone. But some workers and risks are still overlooked when it comes to health and safety. Consider the facts

Commenting on the package for a ‘European Pillar of Social Rights’ published today by the European Commission, Luca Visentini, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) said: “People are fed up with worsening living and working conditions, and for that reason the ETUC wants a strong European Pillar of Social Rights. It’s time for the EU to show that it cares about its citizens. The pillar includes proposals which are long overdue.

Commenting on BusinessEurope’s ill-founded criticisms of the forthcoming European Pillar of Social Rights, Luca Visentini, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation said “We strongly support the initiative of the Commission to give workers an improved right to paid parental leave.