Fulfilling the promise of the European Pillar of Social Rights is a moral imperative as well as an economic necessity, the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation told EU leaders today.
Speaking at the Porto Social Forum, Esther Lynch said Europe must deliver on the promise it made to improve the everyday lives of citizens when it launched the Pillar and pointed out this is also crucial to creating a strong economy that delivers for people.
"A Europe built on low wages, precarious jobs, and deep inequalities is weaker, more divided, and more vulnerable,” she said. “But a Europe that invests in its people, that guarantees quality jobs, that protects its most vulnerable, is stronger, fairer, more successful economically, and more united.”
HAPPENING NOW: @estherlynch.bsky.social is outlining workers' priorities to EU leaders today at the #PortoSocialForum. Real rights you can rely on, security you can count on, wages you can live on. That's what we're standing for.
— European Trade Unions (@etuc-ces.bsky.social) September 19, 2025 at 12:46 PM
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The event takes place ahead of the presentation by the European Commission action plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights.
Important initiatives, such as the Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages, the Platform Work Directive, and the Gender Pay Transparency Directive, will already make a positive difference for working people. But the full implementation of the pillar now requires legislation and investments to:
- Ensure quality jobs for all workers and promote collective bargaining;
- Guarantee that economic change is made through a just transition, anticipation and management of change;
- Put artificial intelligence at the service of the people through the human in control principle;
- Stamp out exploitation in subcontracting and labour intermediation;
- Support the creation of quality jobs and quality public services.
“This is the Europe we are fighting for,” added Lynch. “A Europe that puts people first, invests in dignity, and guarantees rights for all. Poverty is not a statistic – it is millions of human lives: the working mother skipping meals, the pensioner shivering through winter, the young graduate trapped in precarious work. The EU must act to end that hardship, and deliver the action plan needed to ensure a Europe without poverty, where the Pillar of Social Rights is fully realized. This is not just a dream. It is our duty.”
