Trade unions from Africa and Europe have followed with grave concern the negotiation and conclusion of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and regional groupings in Africa. The ITUC-Africa and the ETUC have called for in-depth changes to the content and guiding principles of current EPAs[1] to ensure they promote economic growth and sustainable development, guarantee respect for workers’ rights and universal access to public services and contribute to the full achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Joint ETUC-ETUCE Reflection to Proposal on the Erasmus Programme 2021-27:  October, 2018                                                                   Background On 30 May 2018, the European Commission published its Proposal for establishing 'Erasmus': the Union programme for education, training, youth and sport and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013.

22 million workers in the EU (10% of the total) are self-employed and have no employees. Across Europe, self-employed workers often have fewer rights than employees. For instance, in some countries they have no right to join a trade union and to benefit from union protection and support. This brochure gives an overview about: Why self-employed workers need better rights? What unions are doing? Which priorities for the future? Link to Report

A new free online course which aims to explain the complex world of standards in clear and simple terms has been launched. It is designed to be used by everyone, regardless of their level of knowledge or their background.

Organising and protecting atypical workers better – especially self-employed workers – is an ETUC commitment.This research shows that union membership for the self-employed is widely accepted among ETUC affiliated organisations. Contrary to those who claim that trade unions are rigid organisations rooted in the industrial fabric of the last (or even 19th) century, this is a(nother) sign that unions are adapting to the dynamics of the labour market and do seek to better defend the rights of workers.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is aware of pressure from the European Commission on Switzerland to use the current negotiations on a new framework agreement with the EU as an attempt to dismantle “accompanying measures”, introduced to protect posted workers and Swiss workers from social dumping and undercutting of wages.