Highlights of the October issue of our collective bargaining newsletter with the most important developments at European and member state level. France - Insurance sector signs agreement with unions The insurance sector, that employs some 150,000, intends to address the transformation environment... Find out more

Unsafe working environments, precarious employment conditions, and staff shortages have played a crucial role in the spread of Covid-19 infection in elderly care in Sweden, posing a severe threat to both the workers and the elderly. According to a survey study by the Swedish trade union Kommunal... Find out more

Citing force majeure as the cause, the European Commission has announced its intention to suspend its catering activities until at least September 2021, and not to renew the contracts of the two companies responsible for catering. Four hundred jobs at the two companies are under threat. The Belgian... Find out more

From the 17th to 24th of November, the health and safety and working conditions unit of the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) organized two regional forums, one for Balkan countries and one for Baltic states and countries of Central Europe. Bringing together close to 80 participants, these... Find out more

Taking place for the sixteenth time, the annual ETUI seminar on protecting workers against chemical risks was held on 22 October 2020. Attended by some forty unionists from eighteen European countries, its aim was to coordinate their work in this field. Discussions centred on the revision of the... Find out more

For democracy to work well requires democracy in the workplace. ‘You know what? Our whole education is a lie. We learned how to be critical citizens for years, develop our own opinions, question common sense and speak up for our own ideas. Forget all that, my friend—in companies that is not... Find out more

Voices on the US Elections Here are a few of the most interesting commentaries and analyses we found on the outcome of the US elections and its impact on workers and the Green New Deal. MIT Technology Review has an extensive analysis on ‘what Biden will and won’t be able to achieve on climate change... Find out more

The ETUC adopted a resolution on the European Commission's new EU Adaptation Strategy (as part of the European Green Deal). The key demands state that the Strategy should: address the impact that climate change will have on working conditions and employment be legally binding and include a strong... Find out more

In her recent talk during a conference on working time reduction and climate crisis, Professor Juliet Schor from Boston College emphasised that it is impossible to sufficiently decarbonise – say, aiming at reducing emissions by about 10 per cent annually, which is very ambitious – without reducing... Find out more

In recent months, several of the world biggest carbon-emitting countries have joined the European Union in a pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 (Japan, South-Korea) or 2060 (China). All in all, over 110 countries have made similar promises. But what are these ambitious targets really worth... Find out more