Brussels, 10/02/2010 The serious problems are immediate. How can monetary union survive as weaker economies come under sustained market pressure? What action will be taken to combat rising unemployment, precarious work and falling living standards and ease social tensions, as countries cut back spending and aim to repay debt? And which President of which body speaks for Europe in the world?

Brussels, 03/02/2010 John Monks will declare to the President of the European Council: “We are extremely concerned that Governments will exit prematurely from the stimuli packages which have been applied since the crisis started and that precipitate action will retard growth and further increases in unemployment. European trade unions sent a letter to their Heads of government with a clear message: You have saved the banks, now save the jobs”. The ETUC demands that heads of Government and the European authorities:

Brussels, 27/01/2010 When it comes to trust, some business leaders are in the same position as Tiger Woods is with his wife. And although the bankers are probably near the top of the most mistrusted league table, others have problems too. Mr Schwab has made this point very well in the build up to this year’s Davos. So how does the escalator reverse and reputations begin to rise?

Brussels, 27/01/2010

Madrid, 21/01/2010 President, the Spanish Presidency comes at a very difficult time – for Spain of course and for the EU and the world. The economic crisis is severe, unemployment continues to rise, the financial service world is trying to get back to business – and bonuses – as usual, and young people are especially hard hit. And we have the environmental crisis and an inadequate outcome to the Copenhagen summit. The need for sustainable economies, a sustainable environment, and sustainable European population is very clear.

Brussels, 15/01/2010 Declaration for download To download the ETUC note, please click on the respective link below.

Madrid, 21/01/2010 I congratulate the Spanish Presidency on this initiative. In all our societies the gaps between rich and poor have been widening. Income inequalities are back to late 19th century levels in some countries. Other participants have rightly focused on the need for positive action to help the excluded – training, social security, minimum wages, etc to help them progress. I agree with the importance of those at European and national level.

Brussels, 12/01/2010 As an American President once said – forecasting is difficult, especially about the future. I am asked tonight to reflect on the ETUC in the next decade – in effect, an ETUC version of the 2020 exercise launched by the President of the European Commission recently. My first reflection is related to that 2020 exercise. It is an unavoidable fact that the EU’s future will have a big impact on the future of the ETUC and trade unionism at European level.

Paris, 07/01/2010 Have we managed the crisis well? The best that can be said is that we have managed the crisis better than they did in the 1930s. This time governments did not cut spending as tax revenues plummeted. This time, at least in the EU, we have had welfare states to provide social security and some active labour market policies instead of the mass poverty and unemployment of the 1930s.

Brussels, 01-02/12/2009 NO TO WAGE FREEZES AND WAGE CUTS! {{ Collective bargaining and wage dynamics in 2009}}

Brussels, 30/11/2009 ETUC Reply for download To download the ETUC reply, please click on the icon below.

London, 24/11/2009 Thanks to the European Business School for this invitation, and not least for the chance to renew my duels with John Cridland, sometime partner, sometime adversary, but always well respected in whatever guise he appears, however dastardly.

Brussels, 10/11/2009 Thank you, Chairman for this invitation and opportunity to comment on the causes of this crisis and the challenges for the EU. The ETUC’s position can be summarised as follows:

Brussels, 10/11/2009 "They have a moral and public responsibility for the damage they have caused and it is now high time that they contribute to the reparations. Millions of workers are losing their jobs. Millions of young people cannot find a job or are hopping from one unstable job to another precarious one. It is a question of moral justice to help the innocent victims instead of paying bonuses to those who are responsible for the mess”.

Brussels, 09/11/2009 At the recent Tripartite Social Summit, I quoted the ancient Roman playwright, Platus. I make no apology for repeating his apt remark to our present circumstances. Platus said “I am a rich man as long as I do not repay my creditors”. Or as many bankers might express it, “we are rich men as long as we get almost free money and guarantees from Governments, and give priority to repairing our own balance sheets.”

Brussels, 29/10/2009 I read the other day an apt quotation by the ancient Roman playwright, Platus, who remarked “I am a rich man as long as I do not repay my creditors”. Or as many bankers might express it – “we are rich men as long as we get almost free money and guarantees from Governments.”

Brussels, 20-21/10/2009 Introduction Weeks before the negotiations in Copenhagen on an international framework on the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, we find ourselves confronted by three mutually-impacting crises: the ecological crisis as a result of climate change and the loss of biodiversity, the global economic crisis and price instability in raw materials and food. From a trade union perspective, this situation presents itself as one of the largest and most difficult challenges of recent decades.

Brussels, 20/10/2009 For the ETUC, European financial ministers are missing the key point: The economy is not going through a temporary downturn but is facing instead a prolonged weakness of demand and economic activity because of excessive private sector debt loads. Therefore, the real issue right now is not how to withdraw fiscal stimulus but how to maintain and significantly improve fiscal stimulus so as to help the private sector in reducing its debts, without at the same time causing a protracted slump in economic activity.

Brussels, 14/10/2009 Thank you for the privilege of inviting me to give the John Fitzmaurice lecture this year. I honour his memory and I follow in distinguished footsteps including those of Neil Kinnock, Margot Wallström and Geoff Hoon to address an old question about where Europe might be heading in the months and years ahead, an old question but one set against a rapidly changing landscape.

London, 05/10/2009 Commissioner Spidla, colleagues, we meet today to discuss climate change, the implications for existing jobs, the potential for new jobs, and the contribution this can make to helping resolve the economic crisis that we are currently in.

Brussels, 23/09/2009 The G20 has to take strong action on effective financial market regulation. To limit executive pay and bonuses would be useful and desirable but it is not enough. Binding decisions on financial market supervision and sufficient capital reserves requirements are the key to ensuring that such a crisis cannot happen again. It is also important to tackle tax heavens.

Brussels, 16/09/2009 Despite the massive support of governments to the banks, (three trillions of euros in capital and bank guarantees, massive liquidity at almost zero interest rate), credit for productive investment remains squeezed whereas, at the same time, speculative behaviour are reappearing again together with overblown bank profits and bonuses for the bankers and their traders.

Brussels, 14/08/2009 Commenting on the figures released yesterday on the two countries’ growth rates, John Monks, General Secretary of the ETUC said {“Welcome though these figures are, it would be a profound mistake to take them as a light illuminating the end of the recession.

Chianciano, 15-17/07/2009 It is always a pleasure to visit the CGIL and the beautiful region of Tuscany – the CGIL’s equivalent of the Costa Smeralda. Only a bit more dignified, I hope.