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.

Every spring, Forbes magazine releases a list of the world’s billionaires – a list that has been growing almost every year of this decade. The 2017 list features 445 billionaires from the countries of the EU. Their combined net worth, according to the magazine, is over €1.3 trillion.

The ETUC expressed its sadness at news of an incident in Stockholm in which a lorry has driven into people on a street in the centre of the city. The General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, Luca Visentini, said “I am shocked that we have another vehicle assault on randomly selected pedestrians. My thoughts are with the victims and their families, and with the emergency service workers dealing with the incident.”

Participation in the new European Solidarity Corps must be clearly distinguished from the long-term employment of young people, insists the ETUC Youth Committee, in advance of today’s decision in the European Parliament, and a stakeholder forum on 12 April. MEPs vote on a resolution aimed at strengthening the European Solidarity Corps (ESC), while warning against blurring the distinction between volunteering and quality jobs for young people.  The ETUC welcomes and supports this approach. 

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) today launched a report on youth unemployment pointing out the little progress made by the EU Youth Guarantee and the insufficient contribution of the Youth Employment Initiative in the Member States visited. ETUC agrees with many findings and recommendations of the report

The European Trade Union Confederation sends its solidarity and condolences to the victims of the St Petersburg terrorist attack and the people of St Petersburg.  "I am shocked and saddened by the news of the terrorist attacks in the metro of St Petersburg,” said ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini. “Unfortunately, it is not the first time that the citizens of this beautiful city have suffered from such a tragedy. My thoughts and sympathies are with the victims, their families and with the Russian people. Nothing can justify such acts of barbarism." 

Responding to the draft negotiating guidelines published today, the ETUC pointed out that while the guidelines state that citizens’ rights will be a priority for negotiations, the EU continues to insist that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.

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

The International and European Trade Union Confederations called on the International Monetary Fund to stop insisting that Greece undertake even more pension cuts and labour market deregulation before the Fund will agree to a new loan programme, or to signing off on disbursements by European institutions.  

The ETUC is calling on EU representatives to defend trade union rights when they meet members of the Kazakhstan government in Astana today. In a letter to EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini and Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ITUC), condemn the arrest and interrogation of trade unionists and moves to deregister trade unions in Kazakhstan.  The International Labour Organization has repeatedly urged Kazakh ministers to repeal the law that restricts union activities.