Employers need to offer better-paid jobs to end Europe’s damaging labour shortage, according to new research published by the European Confederation of Trade Unions (ETUC) today (Tuesday). An analysis of job vacancy rates and wages in 22 EU countries reveals that industries with the worst labour shortages pay 9% less on average than sectors where it’s easier to recruit.   It comes after the EU job vacancy rate reached a record high last year, causing production problems for a quarter of EU companies.  

The failure of EU competition enforcers to assess and address the impact of growing corporate power on workers is contributing to lower employment, wages and working conditions, a new expert report for the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) shows.

Speech by ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch at todaysà closing plenary of the Beyond Growth conference at the European Parliament in Brussels: 

The ETUC and industriAll Europe are concerned about the draft Regulation on the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP) published on 3 May 2002. The draft regulation aims to strengthen the responsiveness and capacity of the Union's defence industry for the security of the EU and for continued efforts to support Ukraine. Worryingly, it also allows companies to derogate from existing rules that protect workers.

The European Commission has today taken its first steps to protect workers from extreme heat following a campaign by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). At an EU summit on occupational health and safety in Stockholm, EU Commissioner for Social Rights Nicolas Schmit announced new guidance on employers’ responsibility to people working in high temperatures.

The European Parliament has today improved the Artificial Intelligence Act, but opened-up a loophole which will leave workers’ safety and fundamental rights at risk. The Artificial Intelligence Act proposed by the European Commission only requires manufacturers to rank their own technology between low and high risk before putting it on the market and did not include any rules on the use of AI in the workplace.

The European Parliament’s employment and social affairs committee (EMPL) today adopted a report on quality traineeships that sets binding standards for the protection of the rights of trainees across the EU. The report, which was adopted with an overwhelming majority, recognises the important role that traineeships play in facilitating the transition from education to work and proposes measures to minimise the risks of exploitative and low-quality traineeships.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has today announced a seventh consecutive hike in interest rates. European Trade Union Confederation General Secretary Esther Lynch said: "There is a mismatch between what the ECB believes is going on and what is actually going on. The ECB has once again hit the wrong target. 

ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch's message for May Day 2023

Dear Readers, We have just published the April 2023 edition of the ETUC newsletter. To read the document, please click here. Enjoy!

Victims of occupational cancer and their families are today, on International Workers Memorial Day, calling on EU leaders to give workers the highest possible level of protection from asbestos.

The reform of the EU’s economic rules proposed today by the European Commission will allow the return of austerity and prevent climate action, unless changes are made between now and December. The current rules, which limit member state budget deficits to 3% of GDP and debt to 60% of GDP, have been suspended since 2020 to deal with economic consequences of the pandemic.

The European Parliament (EP) today approved the legislative report on Protecting Workers from Asbestos. The document includes measures such as a ban on encapsulating asbestos and the recognition of all asbestos related diseases. It contains an annex for the necessary training of workers and it sets a new framework that will lower the occupational exposure limit to 1,000 fibres/m3 and describes technical aspects for the measurement of asbestos fibres at the workplace.  

The European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) Committee today voted for amendments to the European Commission’s proposal for a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence that would improve the conduct of European companies and hold them accountable for violations of human rights.

The most basic living costs, like housing and utilities, increased up to four times faster than wages across Europe last year, new Eurostat data shows.  

This week the European Parliament voted to adopt the political deals at the heart of the ‘Fit for 55’ package. Including the revision and extension of the Emissions Trading Scheme and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. IndustriAll Europe, and the ETUC reiterate their demand that the industrial and social changes that ambitious climate targets must be accompanied by new rights for European workers to anticipate and manage changes to guarantee a Just Transition for every worker in every region of Europe.

Europe’s record labour shortages are being driven by low wages and working conditions, new research shows. The job vacancy rate in Europe is currently at a record high and more than a quarter of EU businesses reported production problems as a result of labour shortages last year. EU leaders and business representatives have blamed the shortage solely on a skills gap among European workers. Equipping more workers with the skills needed to work in the industries of the future is a crucial part of a socially just transition to a green economy.

Dear Readers, We have just published the March 2023 edition of the ETUC newsletter. To read the document, please click here. Enjoy!

Delays in implementing the EU’s newly passed pay transparency directive would cost women workers an average of €17,000 in lost wages. The directive designed to close the EU’s gender pay gap of 12.7% cleared its last hurdle today after the final text was adopted by the European Parliament. The directive includes a ban on pay secrecy clauses and the right for women workers and their unions to request transparent information on pay.

The prison sentences for union leaders in Belarus upheld today show the EU needs to act in support of unionists who oppose the country’s authoritarian regime.

Tripartite Social Summit – 22 March 2023 -  Intervention of Esther Lynch, ETUC General Secretary "Cracking Europe’s Competitiveness Code" [Check against delivery] President von der Leyen, President Michel, Prime Minister Kristersson, Vice-President,  Commissioner, Deputy Prime Minister, colleagues,

The European Central Bank today decided to increase its three key interest rates by 50 basis points.

The European Commission today published plans for the future of the single market which puts the EU on course for a race to the bottom and takes it even further away from Jacques Delors’ vision of a social Europe. The communications on the 30th anniversary of the single market and “long-term competitiveness of the EU” includes an arbitrary target of cutting “regulatory burden” by 25%.

Dear readers, As European countries count the cost of the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine, trade unions have scored successes in defending workers’ livelihoods, as illustrated for example in our top story in this edition, from Germany. Elsewhere, unions continue to negotiate for higher pay and improved conditions, such as reduced or flexible working hours and a better quality of life. Joining a union is of real benefit to working people. 

The European Commission today proposed a revision of the EU’s internal electricity market design. Commenting on the proposal, ETUC Confederal Secretary Ludovic Voet said: “Working people have been badly let down by the EU’s privatised energy market, which has exacerbated the energy price crisis causing misery for millions this winter. “A reform of EU energy policy which puts people’s right to clean and affordable energy before discredited liberalisation dogma from the 1980s is long overdue.