Verbond van Europese vakbonden bij informeel EU-overleg over werkgelegenheid (en)

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and other social partners will join discussions with the troika of labour, social affairs and health ministers in Helsinki today, in advance of the informal Council meeting taking place on 7-8 July. The first informal Council under the new Finnish EU Presidency has a wide ranging agenda covering changes in working life and Europe's response to globalisation. The ETUC will meet ministers from Finland, Germany and Portugal (the troika of current and future EU Presidencies). Responding to proposals for reform of the European Social Model, the ETUC will be pointing out that European workers are among the most productive in the world, thanks largely to strong social welfare policies.

The European trade union movement is calling for more investment in R&D, training and lifelong learning, to make the EU a genuine and inclusive knowledge-based economy with a high-skilled and diverse workforce, better able to sustain its competitiveness at a global level while developing its social model. The ETUC will argue that trade unions must have a more active role in the anticipation and management of reform and restructuring at all levels. This entails better information and consultation, enabling workers to anticipate and make preparation for change, as well as the creation of more, high-quality jobs. 

We need to pay attention to the agenda of skills, upward worker mobility and gender equality,said John Monks, as well as ensuring fairness and promoting workers' rights in the labour market. The social partners have a responsibility to negotiate innovative and better ways of organising work and working time, so as to improve job quality, to enable workers to have more control over their tasks and to reconcile work and private life.

The ETUC will also urge European leaders to use the EU's influence to promote decent work in other countries, and take a stand against global competition based on a race to the bottom, with poor working conditions and weaker workers' rights.