Brussels, 27/03/2007

Berlin, 16/03/2007 The ETUC took the initiative to set up the Euromed Trade Union Forum in order to develop and to harmonize trade union policies in the context of the Barcelona process. It is clear to everybody that Barcelona is not a success story. One of the reasons for some failures is that the policies conducted focussed mainly on trade, market and economic reform and security. Social aspects especially, but also employment effects of the structural reforms had been neglected.

Brussels, 27/03/2007 ETUC Deputy General Secretary Maria Helena André and Maghreb Trade Union Confederation General Secretary Abdessalam Jrad underlined that this was the first tripartite conference on social issues to take place since the launch of the Barcelona process, thereby meeting a long-standing trade union demand.

27/03/2007

26/03/2007

Rome, 19/03/2007 To be checked against delivery Colleagues, dear guests, Today's conference is a significant step towards a new culture of trade union cooperation and action all over the European continent.

- Please note that only the English version of the European framework agreement on work-related stress is the official one. - The translation into Spanish available on this website is the translation as it was annexed by the Spanish interprofessional social partners to their so-called Acuerdo Interconfederal para la Negociación Colectiva' (AINC) for 2005”.

21/03/2007

Brussels, 20/03/2007 The Executive Committee considers the Group's plan to close the plant in Cadiz Province, thereby turning its back on some 6,000 workers and their families, to be completely immoral; especially in view of the fact that the company has for years benefited from investments and aid from the public authorities of Andalusia and Spain. The closure would see the loss of 1,600 direct and some 4,000 indirect jobs.

Brussels, 19/03/2007 The creation of the PERC is the result of a resolution adopted at the ITUC Founding Congress last November in Vienna. In line with the PERC Constitution, John Monks, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), will serve as its General Secretary while Mikhail Shmakov, President of FNPR Russia, has been elected as the President of the Council.

Brussels, 16/03/2007 This Executive Committee will be the last one before the ETUC's 11th Congress in Seville in May. Some important issues are on the agenda such as the Commission's consultation on the Green Paper on labour law and the assessment of the Spring Summit.

Brussels, 15/03/2007 Inequalities persist and are getting worse in the European Union, even if it remains the area of least inequality compared with other parts of the world, thanks largely to the widespread existence of social protection systems, public services, the social dialogue and trade unions working to guarantee mutual solidarity.

Brussels, 14/03/2007 The ETUC considers that this report brings the debate on CSR in Europe back onto the right track, recovering elements such as multilateralism, accountability and transparency, which seemed to be lost in the recent work of the Multistakeholder Forum.