CES - ETUC

Standing together for adequate, decent and affordable #housing Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eKQaxdc8

The majority of EU member states have still not started the process of putting the #minimum #wage directive into national law – just weeks before the deadline for implementation. Around 20 million workers should benefit from the directive which requires member states with statutory minimum wages to ensure they are adequate, and for all member states to promote collective bargaining. The deadline to complete the process of putting the directive into national law, known as ‘transposition’, is November 15. However, just six member states have so far brought forward legislation putting the directive into national law. Discussions are still ongoing in nine member states, while the process has not even begun in seven member states. In three member states, governments have concluded no legislative action is required to fulfil the requirements of the directive. The analysis is part of our ‘Wage Up’ campaign to ensure member states fully deliver on their obligations under the directive. Know more here: https://lnkd.in/gntV3RnX

No one should be subject to #discrimination in the recruitment process or in the workplace because of their #age. Unions, workers and students fight every day against precarious forms of employment and unpaid internships, but they also stand up every day for their right to adequate and decent #wages. These issues have been discussed at 4th learning seminar on ageism of the “Trade Unions against discrimination” project taking place on 22-23 October in Amsterdam. FNV FNV Jong

A year on, the fight for a collective agreement with car manufacturer Tesla continues for Swedish union IF Metall. To demonstrate the ongoing solidarity with the striking workers and their union, IndustriAll Europe’s General Secretary Judith Kirton-Darling, together with ETUC General secretary Esther Lynch visited a Tesla picket line in Stockholm today. The 11th of October 2023 marked a year since Swedish union IF Metal started strike actions against electric car manufacturer Tesla. It has been more than two years since the unions first attempt to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with Tesla for its members, who service and repair vehicles at TM Sweden AB. Last October 11 all negotiations hit a dead end. In Sweden, almost 90 per cent of the workforce is covered by a collective agreement, across all sectors. Yet despite the union’s efforts, #Tesla has staunchly refused to sign a collective bargaining agreement, arguing that it does not fit with the company’s business model. This refusal has left Swedish Tesla employees without the benefits and protection of a collective agreement. Port blockade In opposition to Tesla’s anti-union attitude, Swedish unions across different industries have taken solidarity action in the last year to protect the right to collective bargaining, resulting in, among other things, the non-delivery of license plates for new Tesla cars. Solidarity for the strikers spread beyond Sweden’s borders. In December 2023 Danish transport union 3F Transport announced a blockade of the manufacturer’s cars in Danish ports. This was followed by similar actions by Fellesforbundet in Norway and AKT in Finland. Elsewhere workers in Tesla are also fighting for union rights. In Germany, IG Metall gained seats in the works council for the first time in the latest internal elections at the beginning of 2024. However, following anti-union actions in the Grünheide site, IG Metall has been unable to negotiate a collective agreement leaving workers unable to benefit from collective terms & conditions. Our General Secretary Esther Lynch said “What is at stake at Tesla Sweden is nothing less than the future of the European social model. I am proud to be with Tesla workers today who are taking an important stand for workers’ and trade union rights that ensure people are paid fairly and are safe at work. “Elon Musk has made his agenda very clear: he says he disagrees with the entire concept of trade unions and is trying to make the green transition about union busting’. “Musk can make up his own rules when he reaches Mars but if you want to do business in Europe, then you need to play by Europe’s rules and that means respecting our tradition of collective bargaining."

The cohesion funds created by Jacques Delors delivers quality jobs and raising living standards in the parts of Europe which most need support. Politically, it is the antidote to the idea that the EU is centralised and remote. Trade unions will not stand for any reform of the EU #budget to become a backdoor to social cuts or allow funds to be taken away from regions which already lack the resources and control over need-based interventions. Know more here: https://lnkd.in/etup2v6S

Corporate greed holding back #investment. Corporations are harming Europe’s competitiveness by choosing to hoard a greater share of profits instead of reinvesting them to raise productivity and create quality jobs as our analysis of EU data shows. Gross investment has fallen by 9% across the EU since 2019 and is at its lowest rates since 2014, when the economy was still reeling from the financial crisis. By contrast, profit share has risen by 3% since 2019. That has coincided with a huge increase in dividends, meaning #profits have been siphoned out of companies and into the pockets of wealthy shareholders. According to the CES - ETUC, making public contracts dependent on reinvesting a fair share of profits would be an effective way of changing the unethical business behaviour which is holding back badly needed investment. Discover our full analysis here: https://lnkd.in/eV_P-djv

Homes not profits! Standing together for adequate, decent and affordable housing. Rea our resolution on the right to adequate, decent and affordable #housing here: https://lnkd.in/eKQaxdc8

Member States have just one month left to transpose the Directive on adequate minimum wages in the EU and we CES - ETUC are watching them. Check out our Minimum Wage & Collective Bargaining Monitoring tool at https://wage-up.etuc.org/ It presents information on Minimum Wage setting procedures and Collective Bargaining systems in all EU countries as well as the progress towards the transposition and the implementation of the Directive.

Why is the Platform Work Directive so important and does need to be timely and properly transposed at national level? Listen to Rasa, Andrea, Nuria, Fernando, Pauline... Together for #FairPlaftormWork More information here: https://lnkd.in/eXask3TW

We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Emilio Gabaglio, one of its founding fathers and longest standing leaders. Born into a working class family in 1937, Gabaglio studied economics in Milan before returning to his home town of Como to begin his working life as a secondary school teacher. During this time he joined the Italian Confederation of Trades Unions (CISL) and rose to become head of its international department. That role saw him help establish the ETUC in 1970, as well as traveling across Europe and the world to support trade unionists fighting oppression. He attended the congress of banned trade unions during the Franco dictatorship in Spain, was part of a delegation to Poland in August 1980 to support the recently founded Solidarnosc, and travelled to Chile and Brazil to stand with workers against military regimes. Those experiences made him the ideal candidate to become the third General Secretary of the ETUC in 1991. Under his leadership, the ETUC constructed a vision of a Social Europe to ensure that “the European Union must not be merely an economic construction.” That was, Gabaglio said, “what will distinguish us from the United States.” That commitment, which he shared with then European Commission President Jacques Delors, delivered landmark pro-worker legislation like the Working Time Directive. He was a convinced European and signed the agreement enshrining social dialogue in the European treaties, something which remained one of his proudest achievements. But he was also willing to move from the negotiation table to the streets when needed. Under Gabaglio, the ETUC organised a Eurodemonstration and day of action for employment and social Europe in 1993. More than a million workers took part in Brussels and 150 other locations, making it the biggest ever mobilisation during the history of the ETUC. The organisation expanded rapidly under Gabaglio, who was twice re-elected. New members came from all traditions of trade unionism and all parts of Europe. In May 1994, he led a delegation to celebrate international workers' day in Sarajevo while it was under siege. “I don’t remember a single word of the speech I made,” he said, “but I will never forget the faces in front of me, full of determination and hope.” It was an act that spoke to his inherent humanity as well his determination to live the values of the movement which he led. He continued to make himself available to advise the leadership of the ETUC to the end and we will move forward stronger towards a Social Europe thanks to his wisdom and legacy.