Building a more sustainable future for the coming generations | Editorial of CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger

Dear members, partners, and friends,

The murder of a teacher in France by her own student in class and the deadly train crash in Greece show that the road towards safety and integrity is still long for public sector workers.

As trade unions, we must put the safety and health of the workers, of our affiliates, first. To do this, we must constantly raise public awareness, and we must also strengthen social dialogue and collective bargaining both at the European and national levels.

With a dedicated so-called communication and a proposal for a Council Recommendation, the European Commission recently announced its newest plans to upgrade social dialogue in the EU and the Member States.

This initiative is an important step to reinvigorate bipartite and tripartite dialogue, but it can in our view only be successful if it manages to promote inclusiveness, increased representativeness and legitimacy.

To make social dialogue an effective tool for future generations of trade unionists, CESI has also launched a new EU-funded project that is dedicated to the youth.

CESI’s ‘WEP’ project, a development programme for future union leaders from within CESI’s affiliation network, will promote the exchange of experiences and good practices among young trade unionists coming from different countries and backgrounds, and train them in the priorities and activities of European social dialogue.

We strive to help national trade union youngsters of today become national trade union leaders of tomorrow – with a European trade union spirit and transnational trade union awareness.

The participants will have the chance to learn about trade union engagement as a form of participation in EU policymaking.

Another EU-funded project that we as CESI have recently launched is entitled ‘WeEP24’ and seeks to raise awareness of workers and citizens about the upcoming EU elections in 2024, while examining critically the benefits and flaws of the EU. We hope that the project can also spark your interest in the upcoming elections.

We invite you to actively participate in our two new projects and help us make all together a small first step towards a more (socially) sustainable Europe and improved worker participation.

We are always looking forward to your valuable contribution, your ideas, and suggestions.

Our door is always open!