The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has elected Katja Lehto-Komulainen as its Deputy General Secretary, replacing Veronica Nilsson who is standing down for family reasons. Katja Lehto-Komulainen is Finnish, has long experience of working at the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) and was Head of International Affairs.

Commenting on EU employment figures that show an 0.2% increase in employment in the 3rd quarter of 2016 compared to the 2nd quarter, and a 1.2% in the euro area and 1.1% increase in the EU28 compared to the 3rd quarter of 2015, Veronica Nilsson, Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, said

Dear Readers, Welcome to the third edition of our National UPdates newsletter illustrating how trade unions at national as well as EU level are working constructively with other partners in society, including employers, governments and civil society organisations, for social progress and justice in Europe. National UPdates will be sent to your mailbox quarterly.  To read the document, please click here.

Will an “EU Services Card” (previously known as ‘Services Passport’) be included in an ‘Internal Market Package’, due to be unveiled by the European Commission next week?   The idea is supposed make it easier for businesses to provide services across borders, but is opposed by trade unions and employers. Trade unions say it

The ETUC is calling on Eurogroup Finance Ministers meeting on 5 December not to impose further damaging “reforms” to Greece’s labour market and Greek workers’ rights following an urgent appeal by Greek trade union GSEE. Discussions are ongoing between the Greek Government and Greece’s creditors, with the IMF pushing for further deregulation of the already highly deregulated labour market.  Key issues include creditors demanding

As the EU-Georgia Association Council prepared to hold its third meeting in Brussels (2 December), trade unionists from both sides demanded action to improve industrial relations and advance the rights and interests of working people in Georgia.  

Commenting on the European Commission’s Energy Union winter package, the European Trade Union Confederation

Dear Readers, We have just published the November 2016 edition of the ETUC Newsletter. To read the document, please click here. Enjoy!

Today, 29 November, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) met Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, to present him with the 158 MEP Pledges of support for trade union rights in Europe. 158 MEPs from 24 countries, and 5 political groups, have signed an ETUC pledge to respect and promote trade union rights in all their work on EU legislation and policy initiatives – see https://www.etuc.org/campaign/turights .

Trade Unions are fully determined to eliminate violence against women through collective agreements, and their proper implementation with employers, at national, sectoral and company levels.

On 22 November the European Commission published it proposals for applying the UN Sustainable Development Goals, not only in its external development and cooperation policies, but also within Europe. The ETUC supports the Sustainable Development Goals, welcomes the role played by the European Union in developing and adopting them, and welcomes the fact that they will apply to Europe as well as to other countries.

The ETUC has cautiously welcomed the European Commission’s proposal for a new Directive to  protect companies that are insolvent or nearly insolvent. The new rules, giving a period during which the company can explore all opportunities to provide for its survival, will stop creditors from forcing a company into insolvency and provide much needed breathing space for a Restructuring Plan to be put in place, helping to save some of the 1.7 million jobs lost to insolvency in the EU every year.

The EU can and should do a lot more to protect workers who come forward and blow the whistle on wrongdoing. Legal protection for whistleblowers throughout  the EU is a complicated maze of protections and the various civil liability laws mean that some people may be penalised and held personally liable if they came forward. The lack of legal protection against persecution means that whistleblowers are subject to reprisals from employers which can be devastating for  their careers and livelihoods.