Category Archives: European Trade Unions

Time for our leaders to face up to the facts: Austerity is killing jobs and the recovery

The European Trade Union Congress – the umbrella group for EU trade unions and union federations – has called upon politicians, EU officials, academics and employers meeting this week in Brussels to face up to the failure of austerity programmes across Europe and … Continue reading

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German style mini jobs will create low paid ghetto’s

In a blog posted on the Liasion Committee For The Defence Of Trade Unions website Unite’s Adrian Weir flags up proposals by the extreme right wing Conservative Free Enterprise Group pushing the idea of the introduction of German style low … Continue reading

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Working Time Directive: Commission agrees more time for negotiations

The European Commission has agreed to a joint proposal from the European social partners to extend the negotiating period on reviewing the Working Time Directive to 31st December 2012. The Commission reports that  negotiations are ‘making progress’. László Andor, European … Continue reading

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Austerity is self-defeating – graph version

By Duncan Weldon The TUC, and many others, have long argued that austerity is self-defeating. Slashing government spending and putting up taxes against a backdrop of a weak economy will not only depress growth, it will fail on its own terms … Continue reading

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BBC Newsnight Slams Zero Hours Contracts

The BBCs flagship Newsnight programme last night (August 14th) exposed the use and abuse of Zero Hours Contracts in a hard hitting piece by Allegra Stratton. Companies are using zero hours contracts by not giving their employees guaranteed hours, but … Continue reading

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Turkey: New law bans strikes in aviation

On 10th May, Metin Külünk, a deputy of the ruling political party, proposed an amendment to Article 29 of the existing Collective Labour Agreement, Strike and Lock-Out Law as follows: “It shall not be lawful to call a strike or … Continue reading

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IT Giant HP on collision course with Euro unions over EWC and job losses

On May 23rd the Information Technology giant Hewlett Packard announced plans to reduce its workforce, with 27,000 jobs to be slashed. In response to the announcement a meeting of the companies European Works Council (EWC) was held in Amsterdam between June … Continue reading

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New Unite film tells of workers’ struggle to make it through the month

A new film by Unite, shows how workers’ wages are failing to stretch to the end of the month, with the money running out after just 21 days before they have to start borrowing to get by until the next … Continue reading

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ETUC presents the Social Compact for Europe

Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) presents the Social Compact for Europe in Lisbon, on the occasion of the meetings with Portuguese Government and Parliament.

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Social dialogue in times of crisis

As a number of EU countries drive through ever severe austerity measures the pressure is growing for governments to adopt alternatives. One such alternative is social dialogue. Social dialogue is one of the cornerstones of social Europe and involves employers, workers … Continue reading

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