Brussels, 09/05/2007 At the Congress, the European trade union movement will be going 'On the Offensive' in support of Social Europe, Solidarity and Sustainable Development. The Executive Committee's main task will be to approve a proposal for a 'Seville Manifesto': a summary of the ETUC's Strategy and Action Plan, setting out the main areas for trade union action from now until 2011. The manifesto, to be debated at Congress, will outline key political, economic, environmental and social objectives.

Brussels, 07/05/2007

Brussels, 07/05/2007 The ETUC report identifies three main risks to growth: - Overambitious monetary tightening: If the European Central Bank (ECB) continues to hike interest rates, it will repeat the mistake it already made in 2000, and strangle growth. To avoid this danger, the ETUC is calling for a moratorium on further interest rate hikes over 4%.

Brussels, 04/05/2007 The trade union delegation, led by the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), will urge G8 ministers to prioritise the social dimension of globalisation, focusing in particular on more and better employment, stronger social protection in developing and emerging countries, and the social responsibility of businesses.

Brussels, 03/05/2007 To be checked against delivery I bring the greetings of the ETUC to the Congress of FERPA. I bring the thanks of the ETUC to Luigina de Santis who finishes as your secretary at this Congress. Luigina has been a friendly and effective force for good in the ETUC family. We will miss her and we wish her well in her return to her native country of Italy. I bring the congratulations of the ETUC to your new secretary Bruno COSTANTINI.

Brussels, 02/05/2007 "It is unacceptable for the police to arrest peacefully demonstrating trade unionists and to scatter hundreds of other demonstrators by using tear gas", declared ETUC General Secretary John Monks. "Apparently the press was also prevented from covering the event by the police." The ETUC's members include Turkish trade unions and the organisation is concerned about the turn political events seem to be taking in Turkey at the present time.

Brussels, 30/04/2007 ETUC General Secretary John Monks stated: “Public services fulfil a social cohesion function. Through the petition we have launched, workers are demanding that account be taken of the collective needs that are vital to us all, such as health, social services, housing, water supply and so on.”

Brussels, 27/04/2007 Drawing attention to the entry of China, India and the former Soviet Union into the global economy, ETUC General Secretary John Monks and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney note that this has doubled the size of the globally integrated workforce over the last 20 years.

Brussels, 27/04/2007 According to statistics from the International Labour Organization (ILO), every year over 150,000 people in the European Union die as a result of accidents at work or diseases linked to the workplace.

Brussels, 26/04/2007 With this agreement, the European social partners firmly condemn harassment and violence in all their forms and recognise that harassment and violence can potentially affect any workplace and any worker; even if in practice some groups and sectors can be more at risk. Amongst other, the agreement provides a method to prevent, identify and manage problems of harassment and violence at work, which

Brussels, 23/04/2007 In its response to the Commission's Green Paper on 'Modernising labour law to meet the challenges of the 21st century', the ETUC welcomed the recognition that urgent action needs to be taken to increase protection of the most vulnerable groups of workers in the EU.

Athens, 23/04/2007 To be checked against delivery Chairman, delegates, I am privileged to bring the greetings of the ETUC to this Congress. UNI-Europa, and UNI generally, have gone from strength to strength and play an essential part in European and world trade unionism. The mergers have gone smoothly to my outside but still close eye.

Brussels, 20/04/2007