Berlin, 16/05/2009 European Action Day Greetings from the European Trade Union Confederation. These three Spring Days, the trade unions of Europe are on the march. From the north to the south, from east to west, the unions are demonstrating their will, their determination to fight the crisis. We originally planned four major European demonstrations. Now it is up to seven, as Bucharest, Luxembourg and Birmingham today join the protests:

Madrid, 01/04/2009 Employment first Candido, delegates, friends, I bring thanks and greetings from the European Trade Union Confederation to the UGT Spain. I bring you thanks because you are one of the most loyal and constant supporters of the work of the ETUC. You are not a fair weather friend. You are a companion and a comrade for all seasons – and I know that, on behalf of the ITUC, Guy Ryder feels the same way.

Brussels, 25/02/2009 President, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is grateful for this chance to address the College on what is evidently the worst economic crisis ever experienced in the EU. I can agree with messages that are being stressed by employer colleagues on the importance of maintaining the single market in the EU and to recognise the need to work together on key questions, but from the ETUC perspective, what is being done is also inadequate both in scale and in urgency in key areas.

Brussels, 22/01/2009 Never again - Ways to rebuild the European Social Market Economy

Paris, 08/01/2009 Conference podcast To view the symposium's contributions, see its website. John Monks participated at the second session on Globalisation and social justice. Globalisation and social justice Saying ‘I told you so’ is not the best way of winning friends and influencing people.

Madrid, 18/12/2008 Speech by John Monks, General Secretary of the Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Ola, Buenos Dias. I come to bring the respect and greetings of the whole of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) to one of our most important affiliates, the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions CC.OO. It is common place to say that we meet in challenging times. You read that phrase used every day in management reports to shareholders in our major banks. It really means – we are in a hell of a mess.

London, 05/12/2008 Keynote speech of John Monks, General Secretary of the Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) The future of employment I have been asked to bring a historical perspective to today’s meeting. As my wife pointed out – that’s because you have been around a long time.

Brussels, 09/10/2008 Workers’ rights and economic freedoms – View from ETUC A British trade union lawyer colleague of mine who is here today termed the recent quartet of legal judgments in the European Court of Justice – an accident waiting to happen.

Zaragoza, 11/09/2009 I am very pleased to be able to address this important conference which is held very much on the initiative of the Spanish trade union movement. It shows the determination of the CC.OO and UGT-E to be in the vanguard of those who want to put climate change and sustainable development at the heart of European and Spanish strategy in the years ahead.

Luxembourg, 05/07/2008 Europe’s trade unions have always been committed to European integration. We backed the internal market project, we supported European monetary union and we were an active champion of the enlargement of the European Union.

Brussels, 30/06-01/07/2008 {{{CLOSING SESSION: Bali and beyond – strengthening EU-Asia strategic cooperation on global market issues and decent work}}} {{ To be checked against delivery}} I would first like to thank the European Commission, the Indonesian Government, and the two EU Presidencies which have straddled this two-day conference for helping to bring into effect the decisions of the Helsinki Summit concerning the promotion of social dialogue in the ASEM context.

Prague, 11/06/2008 To be checked against delivery Hubertus, friends and colleagues. It is always a pleasure to come to the Congress of EMCEF and to this historic city of Prague. Prague is commemorating the 40th anniversary of the famous Prague Spring of 1968, when the flames of freedom and liberty swept through the city and the country, only to be cruelly extinguished shortly afterwards by the forces of repression.

Brussels, 09/06/2008 Rede von Reiner Hoffmann, stellvertretender Generalsekretär des Europäischen Gewerkschaftsbundes (EGB) auf der EBR-Konferenz von EGB und Hans-Böckler-Stiftung am 9. Juni 2008 in Brüssel Die Europäischen Betriebsräte sind heute ein wichtiger Bestandteil des europäischen Sozialmodells. Allerdings war es ein langer Weg, bis 1994 endlich die rechtlichen Grundlagen zur Einrichtung von Europäischen Betriebsräten (EBR) gelegt wurden.

London, 12/05/2008 To be checked against delivery Opening Remarks I welcome this seminar. At times, I have wondered if the UK recognised that there is a social Europe in any way that we in the trade union world could identify with.

Harvard, 16/04/2008 The Germans have a word for it 'Schadenfreude', taking pleasure in the misfortunes of others. And there are excuses for schadenfreude around in the trade union movement today as we contemplate the wreckage of the credit crunch and the newfound vulnerability of the financial services sector.

Brussels, 8 April 2008 To be checked against delivery An ageing population, shifts in risk from employers to workers as jobs and pensions become less secure, the promotion of flexicurity and its key feature of slotting people into new jobs quickly as old ones disappear, the need for affordable child care, these are all factors which points inexorably to higher tax levels rather than lower ones.

Ljubljana, 5/04/2008 To be checked against delivery President, Dusan, friends. Europe’s workers need a pay rise. Europe’s workers deserve a pay rise. And Europe’s workers are going to fight for a rise. That is our message to Europe’s leaders today. We cannot any longer tolerate declining purchasing power and real wages that do not match productivity growth. We cannot any longer stand by and watch the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer.

Rome, 08/03/2008 To be checked against delivery Care amiche, cari amici, é per me oggi un gran privilegio poter festeggiare insieme a voi, in questa splendida cornice, il centenario dell'8 (otto) marzo. Giornata internazionale della donna. Mi felicito per l'iniziativa. La vostra presenza, il vostro coinvolgimento, é già un successo.

Glasgow, 29/02/2008 To be checked against delivery President, delegates, this is an important conference on an important topic. I don’t just mean the Lisbon Treaty. I mean the place of Britain and Scotland in the European Union because that is the context that must shape the debate on the Treaty.

Brussels, 26/02/2008 To be checked against delivery 1. Chairman, thank you for this invitation to present the views of the ETUC on these two cases. We are grateful that you have moved swiftly to deal with them. They are of massive importance to the European trade union world, and not just to our colleagues directly affected in Sweden/Latvia and Finland/Estonia. It is deeply ironic that the Swedish and Danish models – the widely respected home of flexicurity - are under particular pressure from these cases.

Ljubljana, 07/12/2007 To be checked against delivery

London, 26/11/2007 To be checked against delivery Chairman, it is nice to be back. When I was at the TUC, I always appreciated the support we received from this group – support which had to be expressed discreetly and carefully even then, if the enemies of the Labour Government were not to be able capitalise on internal differences in the Party.

Brussels, 08/11/2007 It is an honour for me to present the concluding remarks of this seminar on the European Union's Trade Defence Instruments.

Budva, 30/10/2007 To be checked against delivery Thank you for the opportunity to express a trade union perspective on all this. Let me start by expressing the appreciation of the ETUC to those who have made all this possible. To the Belgian and Swiss Governments whose commitment and far sighted support has been crucial; and to our hosts, the Republic of Montenegro.