Commenting on International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Juan Somavia’s address to the European Parliament today, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) General Secretary Bernadette Ségol said: “The Director-General was unequivocal that workers’ rights must not be sacrificed to austerity measures. I welcome his statement that “Respect for fundamental principles and rights at work is non-negotiable; not even in times of crisis when questions of fairness abound. This is particularly important in countries having to adopt austerity measures. We cannot use the crisis as an excuse to disregard internationally agreed labour standards.” I hope that governments such as that of Hungary that are doing precisely what he deplores, take due note. I also welcome his statement that a High-Level ILO Mission will be sent to Greece very soon and I hope that it will be making the same point to the authorities there as well as to the EU institutions, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).”