Ahead of tonight’s Europa League final, more than 300 trade unionists from across Europe have shown the red card to deregulation and called for the EU to make quality jobs its goal again.
Meeting for the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Mid-Term Conference in Belgrade, representatives of 45 million working people blew the whistle over the European Commission’s deregulation drive which is targeting workers’ rights and trade union rights.
At ETUC Mid-Term Conference, trade-unionists show a Red Card to EU Commission plans that undermine collective agreements
— European Trade Unions (@etuc-ces.bsky.social) May 20, 2025 at 1:25 PM
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The Single Market Strategy published by the Commission today calls the enforcement of basic rights like equal pay for cross-border workers ‘burdensome’. A leaked draft of its Start Up Strategy to published next week attacks sectoral collective bargaining. Both include plans for a ‘28th company regime’ which would allow some companies to opt out of national labour law.
Trade unionists called for the Commission to end this foul play and return to the original goal enshrined in the Treaties for the single market to be at the service of social progress.
In Belgrade, trade unionists adopted a Declaration which says Europe must “not be bullied out of” its strong social model, and instead called on institutions at national and European level to deliver quality jobs in every sector and in every region by:
- Ending attacks on trade unions and promoting collective bargaining to deliver better pay and conditions for workers.
- Delivering new rules on public procurement and social conditionalities that ensure that public money goes to companies with quality jobs underpinned by collective agreements.
- Regulating subcontracting and intermediaries to tackle abuses and exploitation.
- Tackling the epidemic of stress at work through a legislation to prevent psychosocial risks.
- Introducing employment protection measures, and legislation to ensure trade unions role in anticipation and management of change.
ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said:
“Any attack on trade unions and workers’ rights by the Commission represent a betrayal of the Treaty, which demands a single market at the service of social progress - for citizens not just CEOs.
“Deregulation and attacks on workers’ and trade union rights have no place in Europe’s social-market economy. Trade unions have shown the red card to these negative tactics and call for the Commission to return to Jacques Delors’ goal of a social Europe.
“Faced with growing global challenges, Europe must reaffirm – and not be bullied out of – its strong social model. All of Europe’s most successful economies show that our path to competitiveness lays in high investment, highly-skilled workers and a maintaining our reputation for high standards – not austerity, low-pay and deregulation.
"The Commission urgently needs to bring forward a Quality Jobs Package that includes legislation to address the biggest threats to workers today, like unregulated use of artificial intelligence and the stress epidemic in our workplaces, and ensures a fair deal for working people by ending abusive subcontracting and raising their right to collectively bargained pay and conditions."
