Today, Tom Vrijens was elected President of the Youth Committee of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).
ETUC Youth Committee elected its President and its ‘bureau’, the governing body which steers political decisions.
“Young people have been hit hard by the recession” said Tom Vrijens, “and are on average 2.6 times more likely to be unemployed than older people. Over 30% of young Europeans are at risk of poverty and social exclusion. This trend is reinforced by austerity policies like minimum youth wages, mini-jobs and zero-hour contracts. The young are the new poor.”
Thirty years old, Tom Vrijens has been a member the ETUC Youth Bureau since 2013 and of the Youth Committee since 2011. He has been a youth officer since 2010 of Belgian ACV-CSC.
“Now more than ever, it’s time for young trade unionists to work together to guarantee a more social Europe with better working and living conditions. Priority one is to create quality, sustainable jobs for young women and men” said Tom Vrijens, “I thank Salvatore Marra for his remarkable work during his last term. It is a huge honour and a great responsibility to be elected to fight for young workers rights.”
The ETUC Youth Committee ‘bureau’ now includes 7 members*:
- Tom Vrijens (Belgium)
- Viktória Nagy (Hungary)
- Rune Bugten (Norway)
- Zelimir Stanic (Slovenia)
- Lauren Usher (United Kingdom)
- Daniel Carlsted (Sweden)
- Ernesto Alfageme (Spain)
*Representing the different regions of Europe.
