The general strike taking place in Greece today shows the need for national governments to fully deliver on the minimum wage directive.A 24-hour nationwide walkout is underway to demand government action over the falling purchasing power of working people caused by low pay and skyrocketing rents and prices.The average salary for a full-time worker last year was €17,013, equivalent to levels during the peak of the debt crisis in 2014-2015.

Most European governments have failed to meet the deadline to put the minimum wage directive into national law – and some are actively working against the aims of the directive. More than 20 million people should get a pay rise if the directive is properly implemented by member states, with minimum wages which meet the cost-of-living and more workers covered by collectively bargained wages. 

On European equal pay day, trade unions are raising the alarm over attempts by business organisations to push back against pay transparency measures proven to cut gender pay inequality. The gender pay gap within companies is 17% in countries without pay transparency laws, compared to 14% for countries that have pay transparency, an analysis of OECD data by the European Trade Union Institute has found.

The following speech was delivered by Esther Lynch, ETUC General Secretary, at the inaugural Labour International Congress in Madrid on 14 November 2024.    It is always an honour to represent the 45 million workers and their trade unions in Europe and I am very proud to do so today.  To extend the hand of friendship and solidarity from the ETUC.  

The social cost of European Commission plans to weaken rules on the posting of workers will be far higher than the small savings which would be made by businesses, trade unions are warning.The European Commission today published a proposal to create a single EU system for the declaration of posted workers, the goal of which should have been ensuring better compliance with and enforcement of rules.

European leaders have today called on the Commission to urgently deliver an industrial strategy for quality jobs as part Europe’s competitiveness push.  At a meeting in Budapest, heads of EU governments agreed a declaration for a  ‘New European Competitiveness Deal’ which states: “We invite the Commission to present, as a priority, a comprehensive industrial strategy for competitive industries and quality jobs.”

Commenting on the results of the US elections, ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said: “The ETUC sends our full solidarity to our sisters and brothers in the AFL-CIO. No matter who is in power, coming together in our trade unions is always the best hope for working people and we will keep building solidarity between workers on both sides of the Atlantic.

The European Commission's 2024 enlargement package recognises that strengthening social dialogue, including the capacities of social partners, continues to be relevant in order to address labour market challenges in candidate countries.

Low paid workers spend at least a third of their wages on rent in most member states, new trade union research shows on the eve of the confirmation hearing of the EU’s first commissioner for housing. The average cost of rent for a property of at most two bedrooms eats up 35% or more of the pay packets of workers earning the statutory minimum wage in 14 member states. Rent accounts for half of monthly earnings for low paid workers in three countries (Netherlands, Ireland, Luxembourg) and, in a further eight member states it is equivalent to 40% or more.

Life is becoming increasingly difficult for working people.

This European week for safety and health at work, trade unions are calling for swift EU action to address the rising tide of burnouts and work related stress.The EU’s health and safety agency, EU OSHA, is using the week to highlight its campaign for ‘safe and healthy work in the digital age’.The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) highlights that this laudable objective won’t be achievable without the following legislative initiatives:

The majority of EU member states have still not started the process of putting the minimum wage directive into national law – just weeks before the deadline for implementation.Around 20 million workers should benefit from the directive which requires member states with statutory minimum wages to ensure they are adequate, and for all member states to promote collective bargaining.

A year on, the fight for a collective agreement with car manufacturer Tesla continues for Swedish union IF Metall. To demonstrate the ongoing solidarity with the striking workers and their union, industriAll Europe’s General Secretary Judith Kirton-Darling, together with ETUC General secretary Esther Lynch visit a Tesla picket line in Stockholm today.

European trade unions are calling on the European Commission to give guarantees that social spending will be safeguarded in any reform of the EU budget.The executive of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) agreed a resolution setting out its red lines over the reform of the Multiannual Financial Framework.“Social, territorial and economic cohesion funding and policies, as well as ESF+ must be safeguarded, and spending for social progress objectives must be increased,” it says. Delors

Commenting on the European Council, ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said:

Corporations are harming Europe’s competitiveness by choosing to hoard a greater share of profits instead of reinvesting them to raise productivity and create quality jobs, an analysis of EU data by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) shows. Gross investment has fallen by 9% across the EU since 2019 and is at its lowest rates since 2014, when the economy was still reeling from the financial crisis. 

Speeches delivered at Social Partners' Dialogue meeting on 16 Octber 2024   Speech by Esther Lynch, ETUC General Secretary Speech by Jarkko Eloranta, ETUC Vice-President

On 16 October 2024, a delegation of trade union representatives met with employers and key figures of the European Commission. Esther Lynch, General Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation, made the following intervention (to be checked against delivery). Dear President von der Leyen, Dear Vice-President Dombrovskis,Dear Commissioner Schmit, Distinguished colleagues, and friends,   

On 16 October 2024, a delegation of trade union representatives met with employers and key figures of the European Commission. Jarkko Eloranta, Vice-President, European Trade Union Confederation, made the following intervention (to be checked against delivery). Dear President,Dear Vice-President,Dear Commissioner,Dear social partners, As we approach the new Commission mandate, it is important that we see key elements of the outgoing mandate remain strongly on the agenda.

Trade unions are calling on EU member states to waste no time in putting the platform work directive into action at national level. Millions of workers have been forced into bogus self-employment by platform companies, meaning they miss out on their most basic rights as workers such as the minimum wage or sick pay.  The directive adopted today by the EU Council will mean: 

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Emilio Gabaglio, one of its founding fathers and longest standing leaders.  Born into a working class family in 1937, Gabaglio studied economics in Milan before returning to his home town of Como to begin his working life as a secondary school teacher. During this time he joined the Italian Confederation of Trades Unions (CISL) and rose to become head of its international department. 

A return to austerity when we desperately need to increase investment would take Europe down a road to ruin, the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) warned in Rome today. Speaking at a European conference against austerity organised by the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL), Esther Lynch recalled how the austerity measures put in place after the 2008 financial crisis were a catastrophe for working people.

Citizens say better living standards should be the priority for Europe in the new mandate,

The scale of the action required by Europe’s new housing commissioner designate is laid bare today by new Eurostat da

The European Union must stop fuelling a race to the bottom in pay and working conditions by making public contracts dependent on respect for workers’ rights.Thousands of essential workers are mobilising in Brussels for a Uni Europa demonstration for a progressive reform of the EU public procurement directives. Public procurement, or the contracting of private firms by public authorities to deliver goods and services, amounts to two trillion Euros - around 14% of the EU’s GDP.Lowest cost