The competitiveness of a social Europe

In the position, the main issues raised by CESI relate in particular to the following:

• European legislators should make a clear commitment to the continued existence of an EU postal directive and advocate, in the case of a revision, for its further development. The central objective must be the maintenance/establishment of a balance between competition, consumer needs, a functioning and economically viable universal service as well as the maintenance of decent employment in the postal and parcel sector. Wage dumping, undue discrimination and the exploitation of workers must be precluded;

• Offering a universal postal service must be conditional upon the provision of a minimal postal infrastructure and the continued achievement of an ambitious minimum level of quality service;

• Given that the employment situation in the postal and parcel service sector often leads to marked social distortions and violations of the laws and rules, the EU should ensure appropriate national-level frameworks fit to counter this undesirable development. In so doing, minimum wage payments, for example, as well as the respect for applicable driving and rest times must be subject to permanent and transparent controls carried out by the competent national authorities. The legislator should intervene, should the rules not be adhered to.

• The distribution of letters and parcels could be subject to licensing for providers. Delivery licences c´should ensure the respect for environmental protection as well as, beyond, the obligation to provide social insurance as well as further non-environmental criteria. In the framework of binding licences, all companies that provide services relating to the delivery of letters and parcels should obliged to report to the national regulatory authorities in a standardised manner, on (1) social data such as number of employees, nature of contractual agreements, staff fluctuation, and pay gaps; (2) social standards including employment standards; and (3) environmental standards;

• The member states’ national legislation should also introduce subcontractor liability in the post and parcel industry. Should a service partner (subcontractor) of a postal service provide violate the law, it should also be possible to hold the postal service provider accountable;

• Beyond this, the legislator should encourage work in the sector within the EU to be part of a collective agreement. It is only through involving the social partners in all EU member states that minimum standards and acceptable wages can be guaranteed and any exploitation and old age poverty precluded;

• As work becomes increasingly digital and online-based, the protection of the personal data of employees and their private lives is more important than ever before. In the framework of the EU postal directive, but also beyond this in the context of the EU general data protection regulation (GDPR), employees and staff must be protected from inadequate surveillance and control by digitial technology potentially deployed by employers. Digital systems purely for the purposes of monitoring staff and employees should be rejected.

The full position is available in English and German language.

“As CESI Secretary-General and as President of the CESI Trade Council ‘Health’, we express our deepest gratitude to all health professionals EU- and worldwide.

The real impact of their work on our daily lives has never been as tangible as today.

We acknowledge the commitment of the hundreds of thousands of nurses and doctors, who do their utmost to care for citizens and patients, and who put our health and safety first.

Our European health systems are the backbone of our societies – and our lives. From the cradle to the grave we want to rely on viable, well-functioning health systems which can respond to our needs in a timely and trustworthy manner.

Despite these needs, and notwithstanding a further increase -such as an ageing population with increasing complex care needs-, the provision of health care has become increasingly difficult. This is due to a continuous lack of investment and an ongoing shortage of staff in the sector.

We, therefore, call for an overall societal reflection on the long-term sustainability of our health care systems. Europe needs better equipped and well-staffed health care services. And this requires more investment!

In concert with our member organisations, we insist on the necessity to pay more attention to the human factor as the key element in the provision of good and sustainable health services.

In light of the recent dramatic evolutions in the world and the drastic safety measures taken, we would like to reiterate our gratitude, appreciation and respect for the work of all our health professionals.

We care for those who care. Thank you.”

Versione in Italiano

“Just last week, the European Commission put forward a new gender equality strategy for the years 2020-2025. This responds to long-standing calls by NGOs and trade union organisations, including CESI and its Commission on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, for a new, fully-fledged vision of the EU for more gender parity in Europe.

In its strategy the European Commission sets out targeted measures it intends to pursue for more gender equality, including in the areas of combating gender-based violence and challenging gender stereotypes, boosting women’s economic empowerment and ensuring equal opportunities in the labour market, achieving more equal pay, and giving both women and men the opportunity to lead and participate in all sectors of the economy and in political life.

If these initiatives are all fully realised and implemented, this would be a great leap forward for women across Europe. This will however require cooperation by the EU’s other institutions, above all the Council; a success depends on the commitment of the member state governments to support the European Commission. As European trade unionists, we call on them not to hesitate. In this way, 2020 can see real improvements for gender parity in Europe.”

The main considerations for a boosted EU Youth Guarantee scheme raised by CESI in its consultation contribution include the following key aspects:

• A reinforcement of the Youth Guarantee should in particular circle around a further promotion of social inclusion and assistance to the most disadvantaged among young people, above all the NEETs. This would help them further escape a vicious circle of precariousness and assist them in avoiding prospects of long-term unemployment and social exclusion.

• CESI generally advocates tri-partite approaches, bringing together employer organisations, trade unions and public authorities and educational institutions, not only for the implementation of the Youth Guarantee but also in the context of broader and further policies and measures to achieve better results in the transition of young people from education to work.

• CESI strongly advocates the need for decent remuneration of all types of internships, traineeships or apprenticeships. A decent and fair remuneration is not only important to fight social exclusion and in-work poverty at an early stage, but equally important to keep young people engaged in transitioning to the labour market and further develop their skills. Their taking-up of a Youth Guarantee should not depend on the ability of the parents to fund their lives.

• For the Youth Guarantee to be an effective instrument to help young people with education-to-job transitions, CESI supports the idea to extend the maximum age of a person eligible to benefit from a Youth Guarantee placement to 29 years. The current maximum age of 25 years means that the large group of young people that has not yet completed its professional degree in its mid-20s is outside the scope of the Youth Guarantee.

• Youth Guarantee should also be considered as one element only in the fight against youth unemployment – It is a reactive tool needed to try to repair damages which were caused by insufficient preventative public investments in social inclusion, quality early childhood education and care as well as primary and secondary education and, importantly, VET. For long, CESI has advocated higher levels of public spending in public care and education/VET, which is a crucial economic investment for the future and represents lower costs than reactive ex-post remedies.

CESI’s full consultation contribution is available here.

As Erdogan has opened the borders to the EU for refugees in Turkey, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on March 1st that Greece will not accept any asylum application for one month – which is, interestingly, in line with EU law. And while a confidential report of Frontex allegedly expects “massive migration flows” into the EU, an extraordinary meeting of the EU interior ministers has been convened for this week.

According to Politico´s Playbook, Manfred Weber, chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, had a wish: “When the EU Commission meets this week, the focus should not be on the pictures of Frans Timmermans with Greta Thunberg, but on the concerns of millions of Europeans about the protection of our external border “.

Not totally false, admittedly. In the light of the ongoing propagation of the Coronavirus Covid-19 and a new imminent migration crisis, it might not be the best moment to tan oneself in the recently heralded new climate change or digitalisation policies. At this very moment, citizens´ expectations could not be more concrete. And they may pitilessly unveil the EU´s (or rather the member states ’!) Blatant failure (especially in the aftermath of 2015) to adopt resilient common migration and asylum policies. For the time being, it´s all about solidarity with Greece and securing the EU´s external border, but how long this may resist to the certainly growing pressure will have to be seen – the stress-test for the new Commission could not be any harder.

***

Solidarity was already missing at the last EU Summit on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of the EU. On Friday, February 21, EU leaders had to recognize that the gap between the so-called ‘Frugal four’ (the net contributors the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria and Sweden) and 17 other member states (the ‘friends of cohesion’) was too big. While the former demanded an EU budget cap at 1.0% of the EU´s gross GNI, the latter advocated a 1.3% ceiling. Different proposals submitted by the EU Commission and the President of the EU Council, Charles Michel, were rejected amidst a plethora of ‘red lines‘.

It is not without a certain irony that among the increasingly pressing debate to link EU spending to the respect of the rule of law and democratic checks and balances, countries such as Poland and Hungary -which are currently challenging the “delicate balance of powers that holds together consolidated democracies founded on respect for the rule of law and human rights“-, are among the fiercest defenders of a higher EU budgetary frame (for cohesion).

Migration, Coronavirus, border control, climate change, digitalization, Erasmus … Given the pressing challenges, more EU money is actually needed – while Brexit leaves a 75 billion hole in the 7-year-budget. (Reasons to assume that sooner or later cohesion policies and the Common Agricultural Policy will be subject to cuts.)

And some further food for thoughts: When comparing, these major challenges with the image of member states fighting over proposed 1.074% or 1.11% GNI caps, either our expectations or the EU´s financial envelope must be reviewed.

***

Regarding the Coronavirus Covid-19, EU solidarity (and the Four Freedoms of its Single Market) may be put to the test too. And images of busses carrying Ukrainian citizens evacuated from China being attacked by an angry mob should remind us that dark ages are far from being over and that our civilization´s layer remains wafer-thin.

It is not without a certain irony either, that we needed an outbreak of the virus to bring back to the spotlight CESI´s mantra-liked demands of the past years to adequately equip and staff the health care sector. But trade unions have to realize that they are more than ‘only’ specific interest representatives – they are overall societal mediators and stabilizers. Having been travelling a lot recently, it still strikes me how many committed activists, pro-Europeans and pro-‘CESIrians’ I meet during my visits in the member states. In French, you would say “Ce sont des gens bien!” Devoted, honest and credible. This is what I mean by mediators and stabilizers.

***

At the CESI General Secretariat, we have had quite some political meetings in the EC and the EP, and have also been busy answering to all the different consultations launched by the European Commission in the aftermath of its January 2014 communication on the future employment and social policy priorities: the EU gender equality strategy, the updated Skills Agenda for Europe, fair minimum wages in the EU, the reinforced Youth Guarantee. And more is yet to come in the coming weeks.

We also agreed with the Bertelsmann Foundation and the EUObserver on jointly hosting the 2nd edition of the Summer Days – mark June 17-18 in your calendars! -, and we look forward to welcoming many of you on that occasion. Because the future of work is our future.

The main considerations for an EU framework for minimum wages raised by CESI in its consultation contribution include the following key aspects:

• A binding framework for minimum wages would represent an important commitment of the EU to the implementation of principle 6 on minimum wages of the European Pillar of Social Rights.

• Action at the EU level for a binding minimum wage framework is necessary especially in the context of increasing numbers of persons being economically active in new and atypical forms of work, including via subcontracting and in (outsourced) bogus and/or dependent self-employment (the ‘independent dependent’) in which the risk of wage exploitation tends to be high.

• EU level action for a binding minimum wage framework is also necessary in the context of the single market which should ensure that workers and employees are granted the minimum wage applicable in the country where they effectively work, and not the minimum wage of the member state in which the employer happens to have its seat on paper.

• The EU cross-sector social partners should strive to reach an ambitious framework among themselves first; however if negotiations are not possible or fail, the European Commission should put forward a legislative proposal for ambitious binding framework.

• Beyond an EU framework for minimum wages, the European Commission should take steps to strengthen social dialogue and social partner negotiations with the objective to increase the share of workers and employees covered by collective agreements. This could include soft measures such as assistance to capacity-building for trade unions as well as hard instruments award criteria for public procurement which take into consideration the coverage and respect of collective agreements.

CESI’s full consultation contribution is available here.

The project has 2 key objectives: (1) to anticipate skills needs in the postal sector, by identifying labour shortages and future skills needed for specific postal occupational profiles; (2) to analyse the positive and negative consequences of digitalisation on working conditions for the identified occupational profiles.

The project seeks to assist the postal social partners to anticipate future skills needs with special regard to the digital ones. The project will assist in adapting social dialogue practices to accompany the postal transformation by addressing the consequences of digitalisation on work organisation patterns and working conditions.

In parallel, the project will enable social partners to exchange good practices in terms of training and re-training programmes and therefore to accompany the change process; it will allow social partners to issue recommendations for future training programmes. The project will also provide the social partners with a common reference framework of skills (digital and non-digital) needs in a time horizon of 3-5 years for specific postal job areas.

The European social partners in the postal sector are subcontracting external expertise to support us in our work on the above project objectives, for the 24-month duration. Specifically, we will require an external consultancy to carry out research and analysis on the impact of digitalisation in Europe’s postal sector, assess and bring together good practices from the social partners at the European, national and company levels in training programmes, skills analysis and in dealing with the impact of digitalisation and work closely with the project steering group to bring all these areas of research together to contribute to the project implementation.

Further details can be found in the call for tender application. All interested applicants must send in their application by March 27 2020 to UNI Europa Post & Logistics Director and project lead coordinator Dimitris Theodorakis at: dimitris.theodorakis@uniglobalunion.org.

Logos: © PostEurop/UNI Europa/CESI 2020

This year, the two-day event for think tanks, trade unions, employers, platforms, institutions, civil society and youth representatives will be focused on ways to face the future of the new workforce by analysing the challenges and by coming up with ideas and proposals to shape tomorrow’s world of work.

Workers are facing important changes in their working environment. The digitalisation of the workplace allows increasing flexibility, agility and productivity.

What are the needs and expectations of workers and employers, and which risks and opportunities do they face?

Will new responsibilities, rights and obligations for workers and employers arise? May new practical approaches and legal definitions for ‘worker’, ‘working time’, ‘workplace’ and ‘work’ itself be required? Which are the challenges in terms of occupational safety and health?

Will labour law and social security systems have to be adjusted to stay future-proof and protective? How decisive are workers’ participation, co-determination and social dialogue? Will trade unions and interest representation become more agile and flexible themselves?

And finally how and at what level (company, national, EU) should these issues be addressed?

These and other questions will be answered during the three-round sessions on:

Event cancelled due to COVID19

9.00-13.30

Venue: Bouche à Oreille, Rue Félix Hap 11, Brussels/Etterbeek

#SUMMERDAYSFOW

Participation at the event is free of charge, but registration is compulsory.

We encourage early registrations

Video interviews from the first edition

The main considerations for a new EU gender equality strategy laid out in CESI’s statement include to the following:

• The European Commission should make sure that the new Directive 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers is implemented properly and swiftly in all EU Member States.

• As part of the European Semester and in line with a much-discussed Child Guarantee, the European Commission should encourage all Member States to invest in childcare with a view to establishing a legal right for all parents for free public early childhood education and care for their children.

• As an indirect way to help reduce wage (and thus pension) gaps, a new EU directive on pay transparency should give flesh to the already existing obligation for Member States to eliminate direct and indirect discrimination on grounds of sex with regard to all aspects and conditions of remuneration for the same work or for work to which equal value is attributed.

• The EU should swiftly advance in its agenda for a binding framework for minimum wages at national levels which should effectively eliminate exploitative and indecently low salaries especially in low-income sectors in which female employment is disproportionally high.

• The EU should also ensure a proper implementation of the directives on part-time work, fixed-term work and temporary agency work. There is an inherent gender dimension in this as, for instance in the case of part-time work, in some countries 96% of workers in this type of employment are women.

• The European Commission should monitor the implementation of the Council recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed by the Member States in particular with a view to detecting structural discrimination, disadvantages and/or risks for women in the area of access to social protection.

• As part of the European Semester, the European Commission should call on Member States to ensure that reduced working time, as a result of a special urgency to care for relatives in need to assistance, will be eligible for adequate pension benefits.

• As part of the European Semester, the European Commission should encourage Member States to attain gender parity in the management positions of their public institutions, entities, bodies and authorities. Moreover, the European Commission should continue to push the adoption of the Women on boards directive as a way to improve ratio of women in management positions in the private sector and help them break glass ceilings. Mandatory and functioning gender equality plans should be encouraged in all public and private bodies to ensure an adequate progress towards gender parity in management positions.

CESI’s full statement is available here. More information about the consultation in general is available on the European Commission’s website

Although I have ever since been advocating a clear cut instead of endless fiddling around, it was still a historically sad moment to see the UK leaving after 47 years of EU membership. For the first time in its history, the EU has declined in size. And not only that: It has lost an economic, military and political heavyweight – in times of increasing global challenges. Political tensions, migration flows, digitisation, artificial intelligence, climate change, demographic challenges will set the agenda for the coming decade, and it is hard to say if this tremendous loss is a first sign for a continuous decline of Europe’s geopolitical (and moral) weight in the world.

It will now be up to the negotiators to find new common grounds on which to place the EU-UK relationship. (According to the Withdrawal Agreement, a transition period will apply until the end of the year, and the Johnson government vehemently rules out a possible extension.) As Fabian Zuleeg, CEO of the European Policy Centre (EPC) and Brexit adviser of the Scottish government, stated during his intervention at a recent visit for a discussion in our premises: “It will either be a ‘no’ or a ‘bad’ deal, especially for the UK.” For Zuleeg, there will be no good Brexit and the blame game is far from being over.

***

Yet what will be the challenges for the remaining 27 members of the EU? After all, Brexit also opens a window of opportunity.

Firstly, Europe is probably well-advised to increasingly insist and set the tone in terms of soft skills: Diplomacy, negotiation, problem-solving, diversity management, awareness for non-discrimination etc. Many of the member states and the EU itself are already recognised mediators in many places of the world.

***

Secondly, however, it is not enough to preach soft skills: As generally known, diplomacy -the transformation of blood into ink- only functions if backed by credible power politics. The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated recently, “Europe needs credible military capabilities.”

I would add: Europe not only needs capabilities but also the political will not to shy away from possible political conflicts if it wants to play a prominent role in the world and in crisis regions. If politics intend to be taken seriously, then ideas thrown into the ring without any readiness for commitment or engagement do not help – on the contrary. Only transparency and honesty can really establish credibility. For this reason, CESI has been advocating for quite some years for a more structured engagement of all stakeholders in the framing of the so-called European Defence Union (EDU). Last week, we launched the so-called European Defence Round Table (EDRT), hoping that this paved the way to a regular and formalised platform for stakeholders, including representatives of the personnel of the armed forces.

***

Thirdly, Europe can set global trends in terms of green policies – if it invests sufficiently and in the right places! I continue having doubts about the possibility to remain economically sustainable and competitive with insufficient public investments, average skills and education systems, radical energy transitions away from coal and nuclear energies and weakened key industries, like for instance the German car industry. Yet as a good European and a strong believer in the necessity of transforming the economy towards climate neutrality, I am willing to follow Ms von der Leyen and the general attitude that “supported by investments in green technologies, sustainable solutions and new businesses, the Green Deal can be a new EU growth strategy.” And by the way, this also seemed to be one of the key messages at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos: “Some say China has all the data, and the US has all the money. But in Europe, we have a purpose.” Let´s hope that all this is not just EU hubris, but that we can truly keep up with the US and China in the coming years and decades, not least to be able to stick to the green agenda.

At CESI, we will have to focus on the impacts and the policy choices flowing from the Green Deal, as we remain deeply convinced that such policies will fail if transitions are not socially fair. In the coming months and years, we will have to sharpen our positions and actions, and I am also planning to call for the establishment of a special advisory group on the subject.

***

Fourthly, Europe must continue its path towards more economic, social and political cohesion, meaning, let us be clear, more integration in some sensitive areas. According to the political guidelines of the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission’s work programme for 2020 and the Croatian Council Presidency’s priorities, the challenges that Europe is facing can only lead to and be tackled by more European unity; there is no other way. As a European trade union confederation, we must accompany these processes in the best possible way, and our so-called ‘Programme Commission’ met last week to set the agenda for the trade councils and commissions for the year to come.

***

On a final note, and as you will probably be aware already, the European Commission just presented its first ideas on how to make Europe more socially just and fair. In a communication entitled ‘A strong social Europe for just transitions’, the European Commission set out its social timetable and initiatives for the year ahead. This will mean extensive commitments and investment from our side too.

As you can see, a full agenda is awaiting us in 2020.

Let’s get to work. And thanks for joining us!

All workers count.

The main considerations for an updated Skills Agenda for Europe raised by CESI in its consultation contribution include the following key aspects:

• Sufficient levels investments, especially public investments, in education and training are crucial in order to keep educational performing. Europe, as a continent relatively poor in natural resources, has no choice but to invest heavily in the capacity of its people and workforce in order to remain internationally competitive and well-equipped for the future.

• There is an important responsibility that lies with employers to embrace training for workers and invest in the further training and re-training of employees. The employers benefit greatly from the training of its workers; hence, next to monetary investments, they should also take a proactive role and ownership in terms of making training possible during working time.

• The Skills Agenda should avoid an excessive focus on a ‘utilitarian’ focus on education as a mere provider for technical skills needed in the labour markets. Instead, education must remain a stronghold for youngsters to be equipped with the ‘humanitarian’ background necessary to become open-minded, responsible and engaged citizens that appreciate the value of liberal democracy and pluralist societies.

CESI’s full statement is available here.

Like every year in January, the meeting of the ‘Programme Commission’ kicked off the new year’s activities of CESI’s Trade Councils and Commissions.

The work priorities were set for all of CESI’s Commissions and Trade Councils against the background of the general agenda of the European institutions and the CESI General Secretariat. The further implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the broader ‘Future of work’ agenda will be fundamental priorities for all sectors.

See here for further information on the topics which CESI’s Commissions and Trade Councils will focus on in 2020.

Against the background of the challenges public services are facing nowadays, digitalization and artificial intelligence, as well as sustainable developments goals on top of many others, the project’s main general objective is to underline the overall societal importance of public services and public sector’s personnel in the context of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) and the new social agenda of the European Commission.

The project will include sectoral working groups, a study featuring some key data on the public sector in the early 2020s, an EU symposium and an EU-level campaign on the value of efficient public services and public sector employees, stressing the social return on investment that they generate.

#PULSER specific objectives are:

• Provide knowledge on the political agenda of the European Commission and developments of the European Pillar of Social Rights to sectoral working groups
• Assess the problem through these sectoral working groups and an expert study which shall highlight in which sectors and in which Member States gaps still persist
• Raise awareness among policymakers and the public about the added value of performing public services with proper public services and its personnel.

The working groups with the representatives involved in the project are:

• Justice services, representing police personnel, prison officers and justice sector staff in all levels of the judicial systems
• Health services, representing hospital staff, nurses and physicians
• Central government administration and finance as well as local and regional administration, representing personnel in all levels and sections of government, agencies and public bodies
• Education and training, representing teachers and educators in primary, secondary and tertiary education as well as in VET and further professional training

In the context of a modernisation of public services, CESI member trade unions will always speak up for the necessary investments in human resources and better equipment, to be considered not as a mere cost, but as a return for the economy and for society, thus supporting public recognition of the value and need for performing public services and public workforce.

Photos of #PULSER preparatory meeting

Video interviews of #PULSER preparatory meeting

Representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission, the European External Action Service, NATO, civil society organisations, academia and trade unions discussed CESI´s proposal to establish a permanent platform on European defence policies. The breakfast was moderated by Steven Blockmans, head of the CEPS EU Foreign Policy unit.

According to CESI, the European Union of today needs to be based on more democratic and transparent practices, and this particularly applies to the defence sector. A 2017 Eurobarometer survey revealed that 55% of the EU citizens are in favour of creating an EU army and this opens a window of opportunity for a future European Defence Union (EDU). However, the complexity and lack of transparency endanger success.

MEP Lukas Mandl and CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger opened the event by emphasizing the importance of a more democratic and transparent frame when establishing the EDU and of taking into consideration the interests of civilian and military personnel of the armed forces and their representatives.

Trade unions are not only an important factor to make sure missions and restructurings are socially fair and sustainable. They are also the decisive link to make sure that EU initiatives in the defence sector are supported by those having to implement it – and not least by the citizens.

The EDU, in order to be successful, urgently needs to consider the “human factor”. “Soldiers are also citizens in uniform, the consideration and protection of their interests is urgently required“, Thomas Sohst, President of CESI´s Trade Council Security insisted.

CESI President Romain Wolff concluded the event as follows: “Today, a first important step was taken. Let´s hope to establish the ERDT as a permanent platform because involving representatives of the civilian and military personnel of the armed forces will be decisive for the success of the EDU.”

Photos of the #CESIBreakfastMeeting

Video interviews of the #CESIBreakfastMeeting

CESI breakfast meeting
‘A European Defence Roundtable: how to ensure better stakeholder consultation in the context of the future European Defence Union’

Realised by Lukas Mandl, Member of the European Parliament, and the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CESI)

A by invitation-only event
Wednesday, 29^th January 2020, 8:00 – 10:00 hrs
European Parliament (ASP 0 G saloon)

Working languages: EN/ DE; no simultaneous interpretation

Confronted with new geopolitical realities and security threats, the EU is under pressure to deliver progress in the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), with the ultimate aim of a genuine European Defence Union (EDU). Support of citizens is strong and a window of opportunity is given, while at the same time, the complexity and lack of transparency in the area of ESDP endangers the process.

Also representing the interests of military and civilian personnel in the armed forces, CESI advocates a more structured engagement in the frame of ESDP and the meanwhile heralded EDU. A European Defence Round Table (EDRT) as a formalised platform for stakeholders, including representatives of the personnel of the armed forces, is being proposed. A structured and regular exchange with key stakeholders is considered key for success. During the breakfast, the feasibility, composition, tasks and potential mandate of such EDRT should be subject to discussion.

Welcome

Lukas Mandl, European Parliament

Introduction

Klaus Heeger, CESI

Moderation

Steven Blockmans, CEPS

Statements

Thomas Sohst, German Armed Forces Association (DBwV)
Wilhelm Waldner, Austrian Armed Forces Union
Delphine Resteigne, Belgian Royal Military Academy
Georgis Bikakis, European External Action Service
Lisa Picheny, NATO
Raluca Csernatoni, Institute for European Studies
Sylvia Kainz Huber, European Commission/DG GROW
Alain Alexis, European Commission/DG GROW

Open discussion with the audience

Concluding remarks

Romain Wolff, CESI

In an explanatory communication entitled ‘A strong social Europe for just transitions’, the European Commission set out its social timetable and initiatives for the year ahead, all centrally bundled under the umbrella of the European Pillar of Social Rights.

We have very clearly welcomed the speedy start of the new European Commission and the swiftly tabled new ideas for more social justice and fairness in the EU and its Member States, and we stand ready to assist and advise the European Commission in shaping a future-proof Europe. We look forward to working to this end with Ursula von der Leyen, Valdis Dombrovskis, Nicolas Schmit and the college of Commissioners.

In 2020, therefore, CESI will, of course, make it a priority to lobby on the most important of the planned initiatives of the European Commission in EU employment and social affairs, which include proposals for an EU-wide minimum wage framework, binding measures for pay transparency and the regularisation of employment in the platform economy. Moreover, our internal trade councils and commissions –most notably those on education, health, defence, central administration and finance, local and regional administration, defence and security– will, of course, continue to drive CESI’s sectoral policy work also in 2020.

We will also continue branding our “own” topic and continue putting it on the EU agenda: The future of work, spanning across the aspects of adequate labour law, social protection and effective interest representation. In December, the Presidium of CESI paved the way for further CESI action when it adopted a first position paper on this topic. One of the centrepieces of our work in this area will be the second CESI Summer Days on the future of work on June 17-18 2020 in Brussels. The first edition last June was a great success, and we look forward to making the next Summer Days even bigger and better!

While our work in the different European social dialogue committees will continue in good cooperation with our employer and employee partner organisations, CESI will strive to further expand the consultation by the European Commission of our members in the annual European Semester process, an activity that we successfully jumpstarted last year as a test if on a small scale.

Our Europe Academy is also looking forward to another year, continuing its projects on precarious work and third-party violence at work, and starting a further project with co-funding from the European Commission on the role of public services and their personnel in the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights. We look forward to the active engagement of all members!

Our year will then culminate in the next ordinary Congress, which will take place in Brussels on December 10-11 in conjunction with festivities on the occasion of CESI’s 30-year anniversary. Mark your calendars already now!

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “I welcome very much the quick action by the new European Commission to swiftly table fresh ideas for more social justice and fairness in the EU and its Member States. Certainly, the sketches of the plans can provide a significant scope for real improvements in the lives of workers and employees. CESI stands ready to assist and advise the European Commission’s work on shaping a future-proof Europe where people like to live and work in dignity, and I look forward to working to this end with Ursula von der Leyen, Valdis Dombrovskis, Nicolas Schmit and the college of Commissioners. ”

Social affairs initiatives announced by the European Commission

• A feedback period will start immediately and be open until the end of October during which public authorities, political actors, social partners and trade unions as well as NGOs and other interested stakeholder can provide the European Commission with expertise and input in relation to an action plan it intends to publish “in early 2021” on how to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights and make it a reality for the people.

• A first-phase social partner consultation will start immediately and run until February 25 in order to assess the need and desirable format of a European framework for a binding minimum wage.

• The Commission also pledged to explore ways to promote social dialogue and collective bargaining, since “strong, representative organisations and their timely involvement in policymaking both at national and European level are extremely important.”

• The European Commission aims to underpin its planned European Green Deal with a new Just Transition Mechanism and Fund in order to ensure that the desired economic shift towards climate neutrality will not have adverse social effects for workers and employees.

• Moreover, the European Commission will propose a European Unemployment Benefit Reinsurance Scheme with the objective to protect citizens and workers during external economic shocks.

• In order to arrive at and maintain high standards, the European Commission plans to review its occupational safety and health strategy and address new risks alongside the more traditional ones, such as exposure to dangerous substances and risk of accidents at work.

• The European Commission will issue a proposal for a European Vocational Education and Training (VET) recommendation and, following a currently ongoing ad-hoc European social partner consultation, update its Skills Agenda for Europe in the first quarter of 2020.

• Also in the first quarter of 2020, the European Commission intends to published an industrial strategy, setting out ways on how all citizens, businesses, regions and cities can benefit from current industrial transformations.

• Moreover, in the first quarter of 2020, the Commission will propose a new European Gender Equality Strategy along with, following an ongoing public consultation, binding pay transparency measures to help reduce the gender pay and pension gap, promote women’s access to labour market and increase the number of women in senior positions in businesses and organisations.

• The European Commission will also present a report on the impact of demographic change in the first quarter of 2020, followed by a Green Paper on ageing in the fourth quarter of 2020 to launch a debate on long-term impacts of ageing, notably on care and pensions, and on how to foster active ageing.

• In the second quarter of 2020, an updated Digital Education Action Plan will be published to help boost the digital skills of both young people and adults, and to ensure that every educational organisation is fit for the digital age.

• To step up the fight against youth unemployment, the European Commission will present in the second quarter of 2020 proposals to reinforce the Youth Guarantee.

• A new Digital Services Act, to be presented during the fourth quarter of 2020, will upgrade liability and safety rules for digital platforms, services and products. This will be preceded by, in the third quarter of 2020, a Platform Work Summit hosted by the European Commission to discuss priority issues and possible solutions, including for example employment status, working conditions and access to social protection of platform workers, access to collective representation and bargaining, as well as cross-border aspects of platform work.

• In the third quarter of 2020, the European Commission will establish a new education and training cooperation framework with the Member States, with a view to further developing the objectives of the European Education Area.

• In 2021, the European Commission plans to launch an action plan for the social economy to enhance social investment and social innovation and boost the potential of social enterprises to create jobs, including for those furthest from the labour market.

• In 2021, the European Commission will present a Child Guarantee to make sure that children have access to the services they need and are supported until they reach adulthood.

• Next year, the European Commission will also present a strengthened strategy for disability, building on the results of the ongoing evaluation of the European Strategy for Disability 2010-2020.

The full communciation along with further accompanying documents is available on the European Commission’s website.

Founded in 1990, the USLIP Iaşi represents education sector personnel mainly in primary, secondary and other pre-university education.

The membership application was approved unanimously by the Board of CESI. Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “We are glad to welcome our new colleagues from USLIP in our CESI trade union family. Their expertise in the Romanian education sector will certainly bring further added value to CESI’s group of national education sector trade unions. We are looking forward to a lasting and fruitful relationship and working together for good employment and working conditions in the education sector in Europe and in Romania. I am sure CESI and USLIP will greatly benefit from each other’s experiences and engagement.”

Further information about USLIP is available in CESI’s membership website section.

The position paper argues that an ambitious common minimum wage framework would be essential to fight social dumping in the EU, prevent a race to the bottom, secure upward social convergence, ensure competitiveness and ultimately reflect the presence European Pillar of Social Rights in the economically and financially already well integrated EU single market.

It stresses that adequate minimum wages are an especially powerful tool to counter precarious employment – even if such a single tool for fairer pay is not sufficient on its own.

Considering that precariousness is about more than pay, further flanking efforts need to complement minimum wages in order to move towards more decent labour rights, social security, healthcare and accident prevention guarantees in so-far precarious employment.

The position paper also emphasises that any regulatory framework should not negatively impact collective bargaining and functioning agreements already established in the different EU countries. In this context, a minimum framework should ideally be established by the EU social partners; however, in the continued absence of an agreement it should be framed by the EU institutions by means of a legal act.

The full position is available in the resources section.

According to Javier Jordán de Urries Sagarna, an affiliate of CESI’s member trade union organisation CSIF (Spanish Central Independent and Public Employees’ Trade Union), it will be key that real improvements are brought especially to those in precarious work. He said: “The European Commission’s proposal for a directive contains some very constructive propositions on how to make sure that all people in de-facto dependent work relationships can enjoy basic minimum standards for decent and transparent employment and working conditions. The directive is a flagship initiative of the European Commission to deliver on several principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights, and I call on the European Parliament and the Council to adopt an ambitious piece of legislation. It would be an important message that Europe can deliver and improve the lives of the people.”

A critical aspect relates to a broad scope of application of the directive, Javier Jordán de Urries Sagarna said: “The directive must not only mitigate precarious work in yet unregulated and exploitative new forms of employment and for the many self-employed people which are in reality in dependent work relationships. Precarious work exists also in the public sector.” He added: “When the negotiators of the European Parliament and the Council discuss exemptions or derogations for public sector workers from Chapter III on minimum requirements for working conditions, I urge them not to apply a flat-rate scattergun approach. In article 10, why should certain groups of persons in the public sector be denied transitions to more stable forms of employment? In article 11, why should they not have rights to training like everyone else? In article 7, is there a reason for really many groups of public sector workers to be exempted from maximum probation period clauses?”

As a European trade union umbrella confederation, CESI has accompanied this dossier closely, having highlighted the merits of an ambitious and broad directive to the European Parliament rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs and to the Council Presidency on various occasions.

Javier Jordán de Urries Sagarna concluded: “Next to possible exemptions for public sector workers, it is a priority for us to ensure an EU directive with teeth: References to transitions to more secure (as opposed to only transparent) forms of employment should be maintained and the information provisions in Chapter II and clauses on minimum predictability of work in article 9 should not be watered down compared to the European Commission’s proposal. In article 10 we would also like to see a real right to more secure working conditions as opposed to merely a right to request this. This would not represent any improvement for workers in real life. Workers do not need a directive to give them a right to ask for something.”

For more information: European Commission proposal | European Parliament negotiation mandate plus Corrigendum | Council mandate (‘General approach’)

Picture: CESI Employment and Social Affairs Commission President Javier Jordán de Urries Sagarna (CSIF) © CESI 2018

In a debate with representatives from UNI Europa, -with CESI recognised European sectoral social partner on the employee side-, and the European Commission’s Directorate-General ‘Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs’ (DG GROW) on the current evaluation and a possible subsequent revision of the EU postal services directive 97/67/EC, the members of the trade council criticised the role of the directive to have contributed to the liberalisation of the sector, with subsequent deteriorations in the quality of delivery service and worsened working conditions for employees in the sector.

The trade council members emphasised in particular the key role of robust and extensive universal service obligations (USOs) for a continued maintenance of a high quality of postal delivery services. It was agreed to continue to push for strong USOs and decent employment in the sector, including together with UNI Europa.

A resolution spelling out CESI’s concrete priorities will soon be published in the resources section. Key issues will include the following:

• European legislators must make a clear commitment to the continued existence of an EU Postal Services Directive and work towards its further development. The top priority is to maintain or establish a balance between free competition, consumer needs, a functioning and economically viable universal service and the maintenance of job security within the postal and parcel industry.

• Appropriate measures should be taken to ensure that the national postal universal service provider does not experience any disadvantages compared to competing companies due to the task assigned to it.

• Since the employment situation in the postal and parcel industry regularly leads to strong social upheavals and violations of the law, the legislation of the member states should create the appropriate framework conditions to counteract this undesirable development.

• In case of a revision, the spirit of the green deal must flow into the EU Postal Services Directive

The next meeting of the trade council will take place in May 2020 in North Macedonia (tbc).

Also a result of the first CESI Summer Days in June 2019, the paper stresses the extent to which ongoing globalisation, rapidly-evolving digitalisation and the continuous development of revolutionary new technologies and mobility concepts on all levels have brought fundamental changes to our economies and societies.

It also underlines how more and more people work online, ‘in the cloud’, perform mobile work or engage in simultaneous employment for several employers, across borders or in different jurisdictions has all led to rapidly diversifying employment and social protection models.

Finally, it emphasises the need for trade unions to adapt or at least complement their role and portfolios if they wish to remain relevant actors and interlocutors to help shape employment, working conditions and social protection for people in de facto dependent, precarious employment and self-employment.

Key demands are in this context put forward in the fields of:

• labour law, including on retraining and skills training, working time, minimum wages, abusive uses of atypical employment models, and the classification of those in precarious atypical work or in bogus self-employment as ‘workers’ or ’employees’ that are subject to basic labour law
• standards for formal, effective and adequate social protection especially for all those in precarious employment, as well as further provisions to improve the transparency and transferability of social security entitlements
• more tailored interest representation of trade unions and ways for trade unions to expand and better represent individualising workforces

The full paper is available for download in the resources section.

The joint statement on the EU postal services directive was adopted following a request by the European Commission, which is currently drafting an evaluation report on the functioning of the directive. The statement acknowledges that the universal service is the core of the European regulatory framework for postal services and that the central focus on the provision of universal services needs to be maintained in the future. The text also recognises that fair working conditions support a sustainable and high-quality universal service provision.

The joint declaration on training of personnel in the postal services sector makes a case for the identification of digital skills useful for new jobs as well as for classic activities in the sector, and calls to monitor closely the impact of digitisation on training and retraining in specific sector activities that requqire new and advanced skills.

Full joint statement on the review of the EU postal services directive
Full joint declaration on training

Logos: CESI/ UNI Europa/ PostEurop logos © CESI/ UNI Europa/ PostEurop 2019

After the successful admission of the CESI Youth as a candidate member at the European Youth Forum (EYF) in November 2019, the Youth Board met to start developing a future-proof strategy

• to continue policy positioning on key youth priorities including better VET and apprenticeship systems in Europe and a strengthened Youth Guarantee,
• to further embed the CESI Youth in the Brussels public arena as a recognised and active advocate for good work for young people,
• to consolidate the CESI Youth’s voice within the CESI mother organisation and its member trade unions,
• to assist CESI and its member trade unions with expertise and strategic advice in their efforts to gain more new (young) members and better retain them in their organisations, which have in many cases been ageing demographically.

CESI Youth Representative Matthäus Fandrejewski said: “Since the inception of the CESI Youth in 2013, I am proud to see how long of a way the CESI Youth has come both within CESI as well as externally as a promoter of decent work for young persons. At the same time, we are all aware that a lot of work remains to be done.

I very much look forward to working with my colleagues in the CESI Youth Board to further root and consolidate our efforts and help making Europe an even better place for young people.”

Under the leadership of Matthäus Fandrejewski, the CESI Youth Board will process the strategic decisions that were taken at the meeting, thus jumpstarting another successful year as a strong voice of young workers and employees.

The project, -in which CESI, the World Employment Confederation (WEC) as well as Zurich Insurance were supporting partners,- saw interventions from the new European Commissioner for Jobs Nicolas Schmit, the national employment ministers of Finland (Timo Harakka), Germany (Hubertus Heil) and Norway (Anniken Hauglie) as well as from other high-level speakers including MEP Yana Toom, Member of the European Parliament Employment and Social Affairs Committee, Heinz Koller, Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and Joost Korte, Director-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission.

CESI was represented by its VET Spokesperson Stefan Nowatschin, who intervened in a panel on ‘Access to training in the 21st century’.

A study that the EPC published in conjunction with the conference takes an in-depth look at how labour is evolving throughout Europe and put forward a set of policy recommendations for the EU, which despite its limited competences, can still be the driving force behind a progressive agenda for the future of work.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “The evidence that the EPC research team found suggests that despite a rapid evolution, how the future of work unfolds is still in human hands, and that with sound decision-making the EU and its Member States can harness the benefits of new technologies, counter the polarisation of labour markets and make sure that no one is left behind. This proactive attitude also reflects CESI’s stated take on the issue, and we call on the European Commission and the Member States to take the new EU legislative term to make labour markets and employment in Europe future-proof – based on the credo ‘All workers count’”.

Further information about the conference is also available on the EPC website. The full study is available for download here.

The focus of the discussion was on the latest case-law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), CESI´s upcoming European campaign on the re-valorisation of public services, the state of play of the third party violence in the public sector project, modernisation challenges faced by public Administrations, possible creative applications coming from “gamification”, the EU´s latest initiatives in terms of tax policies and the current developments of Brexit.

To convey the trade unions’ messages and have a direct exchange, guest speakers from the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Policy Centre were welcomed at CESI premises.

CESI Trade Council ACF President Wilhelm Gloss highlighted the importance of the Trade Council to voice the specific interests and need of the governments´ central administrations and tax authorities:

“Without efficient and well-equipped central state authorities, societies cannot function. Politicians and media are increasingly becoming aware of the need to invest in those. One of the key challenges for the years to come will consist of re-equipping central state administrations and tax authorities. A way forward certainly consists of efficiently fighting tax fraud and evasion, in establishing more fair and just taxation principles throughout the EU.”

On behalf of ALR, TC President Hans Freiler insisted on the contribution of services of general interests to the societies´ well-being and sustainability:

“Data are clearly showing that societies able to guarantee well trained public employees and provide good services to people can expect significant returns, not only social ones but also economic and financial. The Member States of the EU which were the most resilient during and in the aftermath of the financial crisis were those which had invested in people and performing services for the common good. It´s time to rethink the role of the public sector in our societies, crises are mostly created by the private sector and mitigated by the public one.”

Link to CESI project #NOVIOLENCEATWORK:

Trade unions for a zero tolerance towards violence at work: Protecting public sector workers in Europe

Trade Council video interviews

As the Commission´s work program is not yet adopted, looking at the respective mission letters to Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis (An Economy that Works for People) and Commissioner for Jobs and Social Affairs Nicolas Schmit gives an idea of the initiatives to be expected.

As for Valdis Dombrovskis, he is, among other tasks, supposed to overview the action plan to coordinate the European Pillar of Social Rights, to lead the work strengthening the role of social dialogue and to refocus the European Semester on sustainability. In all three areas, CESI has vital interests and has been involved intensively in the different dossiers over the past years. We look forward to continuing the cooperation with Mr Dombrovskis, who has repeatedly shown his sensitivity for trade union pluralism.

The letter of mission to Nicolas Schmit highlighted his tasks as follows:

Delivering on the European Pillar of Social Rights and its 20 principles, ensuring that every worker in the EU will have a fair minimum wage, monitoring and enforcing EU legislation for dignified, transparent and predictable working conditions, and looking at ways to improve the labour conditions of platform workers.

CESI has been deeply involved with all of these subjects, and in the first meeting with Nicolas Schmit, we had a tour d´horizon on the specific challenges of his portfolio. Interestingly, and in addition to his commitment for the tasks assigned, he both underlined his will to further include CESI in the EU decision-making process and highlighted the need to shift of paradigm regarding the importance of the public sector for the economic and social well-being of societies. Something we took positively notes of.

As for the upcoming Croatian Presidency, a “Europe that develops, a Europe that connects, a Europe that protects and a Europe that is influential” will lie/remain in the focus. Croatia´s Ambassador to the EU, Irena Andrassy, highlighted the key dossiers: the Multi-Annual Financial Framework, the European Green Deal and the EU´s enlargement to Western Balkan countries. Here too, CESI has some irons in the fire if one thinks of our new trade unions in the Balkans, our interests in avoiding budgetary cuts in the social sphere and in anticipating the future of industries (and trade unions) in the context of climate change.

***

Speaking of the future, CESI is partner of the EPC project on the future of work. On a major conference which takes place on Monday, December 9 in Brussels, the main findings of the project will be presented.

From CESI´s side, we are invited to comment on some of the aspects of the report, namely on how the actions of trade unions could be reinforced to improve trade unions density among atypical workers, on how to resolve the tension between the fixing of tariffs (e.g. through collective bargaining) of so-called dependent independent workers and competition law, and on how platform workers could be classified in the future. Furthermore, our VET spokesperson, Stefan Nowatschin, will also take part in the panel on Access to training in the 21st century.

One thing appears to be clear: A new systematic approach and strategy seem to be required. Hence, we will support a particular role and function of the EU in the clarification of the status and protection of atypical workers, self-employed and platform workers.

Remember: All workers count.

***

Finally, as this Newsletter is the last in 2019, I seize the opportunity to thank all of you for the great support and cooperation which we could benefit of.

At the last Congress in 2016, Romain Wolff and I highlighted that CESI has achieved a standing within the ‘fabric’ of Europe. And as it seems, this standing could be improved even further.

We would, therefore, like to express our sincerest thanks to all those who have actively participated in CESI´s work: the member organisations, the mandate holders and, last but not least, the staff at the General Secretariat which is as dedicated as ever.

In a recent meeting at the Leuven University, a Belgian professor for social law told us: “In the first time since 25 years, I am again positive when it comes to the social side of the EU.”

Enough reasons to be well-prepared and motivated for the years ahead, don’t you think?

In this spirit, we wish you all Merry Christmas and a happy new year 2020!

CESI Youth has been an observer member of the European Youth Forum since 2006. The pan-European organisation is important because it is the platform which reunites the most representative youth organisations in Europe. The Youth Forum works to empower young people to participate actively in society to improve their own lives by representing and advocating their needs and interests and those of their organisations.

On this special occasion, CESI Youth Representative Matthäus Fandrejewski mentions: “I am very happy about the decision of the Council of Members of the European Youth Forum. In the past 6 years, we worked hard – we are proud that this work was recognized. Now we are looking forward to stronger cooperation.”

CESI Youth is pleased to be part of such a strong organization and it aims to reinforce their mutual interests by ensuring better representation of youth interests within workers organisations and to give a stronger voice to the young workers, unemployed and students in Europe.

With these goals in mind, CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger appreciates once more the outcome of the vote on Saturday and hopes for a fruitful and long-lasting collaboration with the European Youth Forum and its affiliates.

According to the 2019 European Education Monitor, (only) 18% of teachers think that society values their profession, while at the same time 77% of teachers would still choose to work as teachers.

This edition of the monitor is focused on teachers and was presented in its main findings to the members of CESI Trade council EDUC by Bartek Lessaer of the European Commission DG EAC, followed by the presentation of Eurydice Network most report on teachers’ and school heads’ salaries and allowances in Europe by Sonia Piedrafita-Tremosa. Both publications aroused a lively discussion and confirmed once again the good timing of CESI Manifesto for the Teaching profession, which was officially presented to EDUC members. Following the publication of the manifesto in five languages, with the support of the European Commission through a Union grant, CESI secretariat has been working and will continue to work on its dissemination at European level, promoting it towards the new European Parliament and Commission.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “We encourage all CESI members to widely spread and promote the Manifesto so that teachers’ rights are effectively put forward at all levels. As it can never be too much. Especially in times where teachers have to face a number of new challenges, including more stress, work overload and violence, which necessitates support at all stages of their career.”

Violence against teachers was namely high on the agenda of the trade council, also via the ongoing Europe Academy’s project on third-party violence in the public sector. While teachers were once highly respected professionals, valued, trusted and accepted as inspirational role models for young people, reported (or not reported) cases of violence against teachers are growing. Be it physical (in the worst cases), verbal (in most cases) and psychological (in a worryingly growing number of cases, also through cyberbullying and what is known as ‘cyberbaiting’).

As a trade union organisation representing numerous teacher trade unions from across Europe, support for the teaching profession has been a long-standing topic of concern of CESI. Now even more than ever through its Manifesto, which can be summarized into nine main key demands for teachers, including professional stability (#NoPrecariousWork), decent remuneration, basic minimum conditions for professional practice (including #NoViolenceAtWork), the provision of high quality initial and further training opportunities (including on digital skills) and the involvement of teachers in decision-making procedures.

Last but not least, some members’ project around vocational education and training were presented, thus highlighting the important role of vocational teachers in conveying crucial skills for the new world of work, and stressing once again the versatility of the (teaching) profession in the twenty-first century, high challenging time for teachers.

Link to the Manifesto for the teaching profession

Link to video interviews after CESI trade council ‘Education, training and research’

Link to a campaign of Romanian Trade Union USLIP on third party violence on teachers (subtitles)

Together with representatives from the European Commission, upcoming EU policy priorities were discussed, including a new European Unemployment Benefit Reinsurance Scheme, new legislation on pay transparency, a legal framework for minimum wages in Europe, measures to improve the labour conditions of platform workers, an action plan on the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, a reinforcement of the Youth Guarantee, and a further strengthening of social dialogue.

In particular in the realm of gender equality and women’s rights, ways for topical advocacy collaboration were discussed with the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), an active member of which CESI has been for many years.

With input by Fabian Zuleeg, CEO of the European Policy Centre and Brexit adviser to the Scottish government, CESI’s members discussed the implications that Brexit will or might have on public services in the to-be-EU-27 and on the civil servants and public sector employees delivering them.

The next meeting of the SOC and FEMM Commissions will take place in spring/summer 2020.

Video clip of the meeting

Picture: CESI SOC and FEMM Commissions meeting in Brussels © CESI 2019

The event had 3 main objectives:

• to assess the current state-of-play in the up-take of apprenticeship schemes in the EU;
• to enable collaborative thinking and explore good practices in order to ensure more opportunities for young people’s transition to work through apprenticeships;
• to come up with policy recommendations on how to improve the up-take and the quality of the apprenticeship schemes in the EU under current frameworks, such as the New Skills Agenda and the European Pillar of Social Rights, as well as future initiatives.

The event was opened by Tatjana Babrauskienė, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and rapporteur of two opinions on the EU Framework for Quality and Effective Apprenticeships, and on skills mismatch, followed by an intervention Klaus Heeger, Secretary-General of CESI.

Both highlighted the contributions apprenticeships bring to the field of social inclusion and functional economic societies. Ms Babrauskienė further emphasized the importance to focus on inclusiveness and facilitating everyone’s access to the scheme regardless of gender, migrant background or social status. Norbert Schöbel, Team Leader in the European Commission for “Skills for the Young”, added that despite alarming trends in youth unemployment, the situation has improved since 2013 and continues to do so. He was glad to report that the European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA) together with other EU policy and funding instruments have facilitated the #TransitionToWork for many youngsters into professional jobs or higher education.

During an ensuing panel discussion, Matthäus Fandrejewski, CESI Youth Representative, stressed the importance of getting the right career orientation in order to follow a promising career path. From his personal experience, this was the cornerstone of starting an apprenticeship, he reported. He also highlighted the need for proper wage conditions and access to an appropriate ‘in-work’ education plan in order to perform well in both areas (educational development & employment).

Jan Wilker presented the StartNet network of the Goethe-Institut on young people’s transition, highlighting the importance of cooperation across all sectors at the grass roots as well as at the political level. Overall, quality apprenticeships are good for young people’s career path, for companies’ innovation, for youth employment, for the economy and society as a whole, he stressed.

Ben Butters, Deputy CEO at EUROCHAMBRES, welcomed the recent CESI Youth position paper on apprenticeships and underlined the need for improving life-long-learning. In EUROCHAMBERS’ annual survey with responses from over 50.000 small and medium sized companies in Europe, the second biggest challenge for companies in Europe is finding workers with the right skills, he said, adding that in this context, high-quality apprenticeship schemes are even more relevant and valuable.

Key recommendations flowing from the discussions at the event were:

• Relevant stakeholders across all sectors (including parents and youth organisations, employers, education providers, decision-makers and administration as well as civil society) should be more engaged and involved in contributing to quality apprenticeships and supportive policies;
• Apprenticeships should be both inclusive and excellent, providing valuable opportunities to all young people, avoiding any forms of social exclusion or discrimination;
• Career guidance and orientation is needed to reduce mismatches, as well as communication about quality apprenticeships as a first choice, acting against stigmatisation and wrong stereotypes;
• Empowering young people to voice their concerns themselves and to contribute to quality apprenticeships must be a central objective
• More funding opportunities for stakeholders in education/ employment/ support organisations at European and national levels is necessary;
• Reducing the administrative burden to increase the up-take of apprenticeships would be desirable;
• Creating more incentives for businesses to boost the up-take of apprenticeships is needed;
• Creating local and regional support networks for apprenticeships is of central importance;
• Improving the image of apprenticeships via campaigns could give them additional, much-needed visibility and public recognition.

The event ended with the conclusion that apprenticeships can provide suitable solutions to many current or future economic and societal challenges, and that such provisions depend on the support and action from all stakeholders, in policy and practice. These main ideas are also highlighted in the CESI Youth position paper on ‘Bridging education and the world of work – with a focus on apprenticeships’.

This Twitter moment may also serve as a summary covering main aspects of the event.

Picture: CESI Youth Representative Matthäus Fandrejewski moderating CESI’s last CESI@noon panel © CESI 2019

It is true that the Equal Pay Day has shifted by one day, from November 3 to November 4, in comparison to 2018, 2017 and 2016. However, this progress of just one single gained day in 4 years shows just how slow progress towards wage equality is in Europe. Since the first EU Equal Pay Day in 2012, the pay gap between men and women in the EU has been stagnating between 17.5% and 16.0%. “On average, women continue to work almost 60 days for free year after year. Real progress is missing and this is just insufficient”, Kirsten Lühmann said.

In a joint statement issued in advance of this year’s EU Equal Pay Day, European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans and the Commissioners for Employment and for Justice, Marianne Thyssen and Věra Jourová, underlined that “pay transparency, combined with other solutions such as an equal distribution of caring responsibilities between women and men – enabled by new EU Directive on parental and carers’ leave – would help us tackle the root causes of the gender pay gap”, but acknowledged at the same time that “more needs to be done and faster.” According to Kirsten Lühmann, the incoming new European Commission needs to take on decisive measures.

She added: “I appreciate the new EU directive on work-life balance, and I very much welcome plans of the European Commission to look into more effective ways to ensure pay transparency in Europe. These are steps in the right direction, but work must not end until the gender pay gap is eliminated.”

CESI and its member organisations and affiliates will continue to stand up for quick and substantial progress.

Picture: Kirsten Lühmann © dbb 2019

As we represent both firefighters and police forces, it was a particularly sad moment, when it came to clashes between these two forces. Alain Laratta, President of “Avenir Secour” called above all for more security and respect from society and politics. “Being a firefighter is the most beautiful job in the world, but we demand more recognition,” Laratta said.

Against this background, a major CESI-Conference on third party violence against public sector employee took place in Budapest. According to major research findings, “having to deal with difficult customers, patients, pupils etc. are the major risk factors which lead to third party violence”. As a consequence, the public sector is particularly exposed.

In Budapest, more than 130 trade unionists have raised awareness for the problem, and have expressed clear political and legislative demands. “It is not only about our members and their interest representation. It is about society as a whole. We have to understand that safety, education, health and the common good, in general, is in all our interest.

“Violence against those delivering these services is an attack against us all and each one of us personally”, CESI-President Romain Wolff stated in a joint press conference with the Hungarian trade union MKKS and the new mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karacsony.

CESI will launch an EU-wide campaign in the aftermath of the conference on tools, demands and messages. #NoViolenceAtWork

***

This November 9^th, Germany is celebrating the 30^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. A big moment, not only for the Germans.

On the 11^th of November 1989, I took the car and drove with friends from Bonn to Berlin. Although the big party was already over, the feeling was still historic. Open border controls, Trabbies in West Berlin, (Western) shops empty, East German friends crossing borders.

And now?

Although a long time ago, divergences between East and West are still strongly felt. East-Germany is lagging behind economically, many areas suffer from major brain-drain and the emigration of young people, and last but not least not few East Germans still feel like second class citizens.

Added to this comes general political sclerosis, with an extremely weakened Chancellor Merkel at the head of the big coalition government.

So alas, just at this very historic moment, Germany appears to be the sick man of Europe.

With the UK leaving and Merkel has become a “lame duck”, French President Macron is trying to step into the political vacuum.

With verve and enthusiasm, but, according to the NYT, also like a bull in a China shop.

Maybe true. As I wrote recently, compromises are at the very heart and essence of the European project. So bullying does not fit in.

But exceptional times require exceptional measures. And at the moment, a strong leadership may prove itself better for the European project than timid and erratic wavering EU policies.

In a recent discussion with an old friend, I expressed my concerns about the future of the EU and its survival. His laconic reply was simply: “It´s not the EU. It´s the world.”

Also true.

So as I don’t like self-fulfilling prophecies, especially the apocalyptic ones – regardless whether they refer to climate change or to the demise of the EU – I raise my head: Let´s be honest, we are not doing so bad.

Many jobs involve contact with the public, so the risk of falling prey to third-party violence at the workplace (also known as “external violence”) is very high. External violence can take on several forms: verbal, physical or psychological abuse, or rudeness against a worker doing his/her job. The symposium took place in the context of the rising violence at work registered by CESI member organisations representing public sector workers.

With the participation of the newly elected Mayor of Budapest Gergely Karácsony, the symposium provided an opportunity for views’ exchange among CESI affiliates and members from the EU Member States. Important role in this process were the inputs by external experts Tim Tregenza, Network Manager at the EU Agency for Health and Safety at Work (EU-OSHA), Mariko Ouchi, Senior Specialist at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Janina Lara Dressler, Adviser for violence prevention at the Berlin fire brigades, Monique Van Limpt, Psychologist, Master of Labour and Organization. The event was moderated by Dirk Anton Van Mulligen, Leadership consultant at “Habilis Mens in Werk”.

The European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CESI) considers essential to tackle the problem of third-party violence in public service with a #NoViolenceAtWork campaign to be launched in 2020, producing an animation video stressing the role and importance of public services’ workers for the entire European society.

Klaus Heeger, CESI Secretary-General said during the event: “Whenever workers experience violence in exercising their functions, be it verbal or physical, or psychological they have to know that they are not left alone. Through this project and the campaign #NoViolenceAtWork, CESI also wants to convey the message that trade unions’ role is to support workers all over Europe with preventing and accompanying measures in situations of violent behaviours.”

The impact of the crisis, the restructuring processes that have taken place and resulted in a reduction of the number of workers, budget cuts and a shortage of resources have all worsened the situation because the services provided do not always meet the public’s expectations. Public services often become the target of dissatisfaction or social frustration for which the State and society get blamed. Research reports on the subject of third-party violence at work stress the greater vulnerability of women, particularly as regards violence of a sexual nature (whether verbal or physical).

CESI’s project began with two “CESI@home” regional meetings, one in Berlin on 29 March 2019 and the other in Madrid on 21 June 2019, and even before the official launching of the project a first regional event on the topic had taken place in The Hague in 2018. The aim of these regional meetings has been to provide a platform for true testimonies of such violence and present initiatives and best practices to prevent and deal with situations of violence in order to define efficient solutions for the field.

Romain Wolff, CESI President said: “Violence has risen in society in general, not only in the world of work. A general effort is needed by many actors to deal with this situation. Public sector workers work for society, to provide services of general interest to citizens, so it is important to guarantee good and safe working conditions.”

Programme of the symposium

Video Interviews

Photos of the event

Mayor of Budapest declarations

Project additional information

The European social dialogue committee on central government administrations, where CESI forms an employee social partner delegation ‘TUNED’ together with EPSU, had adopted a social partner agreement on more equal information and consultation rights for central administration personnel in December 2015. Since then, the European Commission has objected to propose to convert the agreement into an EU directive.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “This is a disappointing news for 9.8 million central government workers across Europe who are denied similar rights for information and consultation which private sector workers already enjoy under binding EU legislation.

Five years ago, the Juncker Commission promised a new start for social dialogue, but in this case support has been missing. For us, every worker counts.”

CESI will seek to consult with its social dialogue partner EPSU on how to help ensure that in the future all central administration personnel in Europe can be covered..

More information about the case is available on EPSU’s website. The full judgment, including all case documents, can be accessed in all EU languages via the Court’s website.

The objective of the symposium is to raise awareness about developing trivialisations or acceptances of violence against state representatives, to build capacity for improved occupational prevention and repression tools at work which also focus on the protection of victims of violence, and to discuss possible policy solutions for efficient legislation for improved occupational safety and health as well as an effective defence of the interests and rights of victims and more stringent sanctions of violence committed against state agents.

The conference will be held with the participation of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the EU Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) and feature case studies and best/worst practices presented by CESI members including the German dbb, the Spanish CSIF and Dutch CNV-Connectief, in addition to first-hand reports by employee-victims and insights from research experts.

More information about the conference as well as the broader project is available on the Europe Academy website section.

This year, during the 12^th anniversary, the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CESI) brings to attention the principles laid down in the UN’s International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

As established in Article 7 ICESCR, just and favourable work conditions for everyone should ensure:

• remuneration which provides all workers, as a minimum, with fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value without distinction of any kind, in particular women being guaranteed conditions of work not inferior to those enjoyed by men, with equal pay for equal work, and with a decent living for themselves and their families in accordance with the provisions of the present Covenant;

• safe and healthy working conditions;
• equal opportunity for everyone to be promoted in his employment to an appropriate higher level, subject to no considerations other than those of seniority and competence;

• rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays.

Many of these principles are also inherent in national constitutions as well as in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers and the European Social Charter.

This year, CESI is also leading two key projects/advocacy campaigns related to the Decent Work Agenda:

• ”Precarious work: Empowering trade unions to address new challenges” with objectives to inform decision-makers and stakeholders about challenges related to precarious work in Europe, to strengthen the voice of trade unions in their fight against precarious work by equipping them with corresponding (legal) information and tools, and to further develop the capacity of trade unions in this field and raise awareness.
• ”Trade unions for a zero tolerance towards violence at work” with objectives to raise awareness about developing trivialisations or acceptances of violence against state representatives, to build capacity improved occupational prevention and repression tools at work. The project also focuses on the protection of victims of violence, and to discuss possible policy solutions for efficient legislation for improved occupational safety and heal.

CESI strongly advocates to ‘seize’ these principles through advocacy initiatives, projects and conferences on core labour rights, adequate social protection and effective interest representation for all workers.

This is part of our work. Every day, not only today.

Decent work. A human right.

In a panel “Do teachers have the blues? The civil society’s point of view” representatives from the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), the European Federation of Education Employers (EFEE), the European Economic and Social Committee and CESI exchanged views on the future of the teaching profession, the challenges that lie ahead and the attractiveness of the profession.

In his introduction, Secretary General Klaus Heeger underlined: “Education of our children is the most important and challenging task in the world, and we hand over to teachers what matters most in our lives: our children. Despite all challenges and shortcomings, teachers should have tremendous professional pride. They deserve our deepest respect and appreciation”.

The Education Summit highlighted the need to further invest in education and teachers, to fight precariousness, to improve working conditions and, last but not least, to call for the appropriate appraisal of the profession. Trust, autonomy, empowerment, participation, sufficient time resources and support mechanisms were identified as key.

Against the major challenges identified, demographic changes and the professional and societal impacts of the digital transformation, many speakers underlined the need to recruit (and retain!) sufficient qualified and motivated young teachers.

In this context, the recently adopted CESI “Manifesto for the Teaching Profession” established the following demands:

– Social recognition of the teaching profession

– Professional stability

– Decent remuneration and standard of living

– Basic minimum conditions for professional practice

– Access to professional training and development

– High-quality basic and continued training

– Professional mobility (encouraging and promoting the value of experience and stays in foreign countries)

– Recognition of diplomas and professional experience

– Consultation and participation in decision-making procedures

“It is now time that, beyond trade unions and professional associations, teachers find overall societal support; by media, politicians, parents, pupils and the youngsters, “Klaus Heeger concluded his intervention. “To have chosen ‘Teachers first!’ as motto for the 2nd Education Summit reflects these ambitions!”

Programme and videos from the 2nd European Education Summit.

Video – Closing remarks from CESI SG Klaus Heeger at the end of the 2nd European Education Summit.

The symposium took place in the context of the precarious working conditions encountered at the national level by CESI member organisations, highlighting the interlinks between precarious work, absence of social rights and effective remedies from trade unions’ side.

The event, moderated by Pierre Baussand, Head of the Eurofound Office Brussels and in collaboration with the Professional Trade Union Association (ANIEF), provided an opportunity to allow exchanges of views among affiliates and members of CESI from the other EU Member States, together with external experts.

As such, the discussions took stock of the current situation in different sectors, the applicability of EU and the national legislative frameworks, best enforcement practices, challenges for efficient interest representation and inclusive access to social protection.

The two days programme was divided into two parts: “The extent of precarious work” and “Approaches and solutions to end precarious work”.

September 19: The extent of precarious work

• Findings of CESI’s #noprecariouswork survey
• Main rights deriving from EU legislation against precarious work
• EU case-law on precarious work
• Enforcement of applicable national case law
• Links between employment, social protection and welfare systems

September 20: Approaches and solutions to end precarious work

• Effective interest representation, closing legislative loopholes, the principle of equal treatment and access to social rights and protection
• Tools to fight precarious work and to ensure better enforcement of protective labour law
• Social protection as the overall societal safety net and the cornerstone of the welfare state
• Ways to better enforce social rights at the national level
• The role of information campaigns on precarious work at national level
• Better access to social rights through litigation and campaigns

Three webinars will follow the symposium in Palermo and a follow-up seminar in Germany on these findings.

The objectives of this project are to inform decision-makers and stakeholders about challenges related to precarious work in Europe, to strengthen the voice of trade unions in their fight against precarious work by equipping them with corresponding (legal) information and tools, and to further develop the capacity of trade unions in this field and raise awareness.

Video interview with Romain Wolff, CESI President

Video interview with Marcello Pacifico, CESI Vice President and President of the Professional Trade Union Association (ANIEF, IT)

While it remains unclear which impacts it will have on other British and continental European companies, it becomes obvious that tens of thousands of jobs are in the line of fire.

And it goes without saying that in particular (as always) trade unions, national public authorities and not least public treasury will be called upon to alleviate the consequences on the workers and to avoid major spill-over effects on other companies.

Thomas Cook´s bankruptcy will remain a monumental turning point in the history of tourism. And I think it leaves many of us quite deeply concerned.

***

In New York, Greta Thunberg delivered an intimidating speech at the UN, attacking world leaders in an unforeseen manner: “How dare you? … You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words… We are at the beginning of mass extinction, but all you can talk about is money and fairy-tales of eternal economic growth! How dare you?”

Watching the speech made me feel uncomfortable.

Maybe it was because I sensed she may be right. Maybe because, belonging to the older generation, I felt directly concerned by her speech as one of “those who dare”. And maybe because I felt guilty.

And yet, there was something else: Her words and face were expressing strong contempt for “those who dare”, as if, beyond all legitimate concerns, she felt fury and hatred.

In my youth, I spent much time in the forest. We created marshes and planted trees. We built birdhouses and toad tunnels. We saved owls and snakes. And we campaigned, above all against the pollution of the Rhine.

Day after day. Year after year.

It is commonly said that every human being can only be judged in the context of the lifetime, in the given reality he/she lived in.

That applies to the “those who dare” generation too.

Greta Thunberg will not remember it, but also in the eighties, it seemed that nothing less was at stake than the survival of the planet: the ozone hole, the dying of forests and rivers, acid rain… The Global 2000 report had set the tone.

Of course, we were angry at the older generation; for its carelessness, consumption-mindedness and self-centeredness.

And yet: I never felt the moral superiority that Greta Thunberg exhibits.

Many things have improved to the better in the last thirty years.

Some of the “those who dare” even claim that “the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we think”. Let us just mention life expectancy, literacy, health, child mortality, poverty, social and labour protection.

And the water of the Rhine has never been so clean in centuries.

Yes, too much time has been wasted. And maybe, as Greta Thunberg conjures us, it is already too late.

But I am sure that we, “those who dare”, are still willing to give everything to fight climate change. Because Greta Thunberg may be right, when she refuses to believe that we are evil.

And because (which seems to be forgotten in the increasingly robust generational conflict) we love our children too.

***

So this commandment also applies to us trade unions.

Traditional interest representation and defence will have to reflect greener and more sustainable agendas – already now.

That will impact on trade union members, especially those working in CO2 intensive industries and… tourism.

It is not without a certain irony, that a warmer summer has led many Brits to stay home, to fly less, to reduce CO2 emissions.

Ultimately, it led to the demise of Thomas Cook.

We have expressed our deep satisfaction that von der Leyen managed to establish a 13/27 women/men quota. To impose oneself on such a relevant issue is a good start. And as Euractiv put it: “Gender is not the only balance in the EU executive von der Leyen will try to achieve. There is also the balance of political families.” Finally, as von der Leyen stressed herself, the designated Executive Vice-Presidents and Vice-Presidents reflect a geopolitical balance as they represent North and South, East and West of the EU.

On the portfolios, a ‘clustering’ around themes and topics (objectives and priorities) will certainly have been well-reflected, but it always bears a risk of blurring competence and transparency. As different Commissioners will rotate according to the different priorities, friction is likely.

Furthermore, some of the intentions appear to be slightly over-zealous – and possibly paralyzing: for the sake of ‘strengthening the link between the people and the institutions, all members of the Commission will be required to visit every member state in the first half of their mandate. Besides adding (not always necessary, in my humble opinion) hassle to the work, it risks making a travelling circus out of the Commission – while simultaneously proclaiming green and digital agendas. The same goes for the ‘one-in, one-out’ rule to cut red tape: Difficult to imagine how this can be delivered without adding complexity and lengthy political struggles to every single dossier.

It is noteworthy that a very strong focus has been put on ‘European’ values: from the five designated Vice-Presidents, three will be responsible for the ‘European Way of Life’ (Schinas, Greece), ‘Values and Transparency’ (Jourová, Czech Republic) and ‘Democracy and Demography’ (Šuica, Croatia). CESI has always advocated for a strong value-based EU, but placing migration under a new Vice-President post for the defence of the ´European Way of Life´ may not be the most sensitive way of branding it. And credibility suffers if, as in the case of Rovana Plumb, a designated Commissioner has formerly been the object of a criminal investigation request from anti-corruption prosecutors.

The establishment of a new Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space under the determined Internal Market Commissioner-designate Sylvie Goulard, France, is also remarkable. This must be interpreted as a signal to pursue more protective and subsidised European industrial policies, as France, meanwhile reluctantly backed by Germany, has been suggesting for a while. Potential conflicts with the designated Executive Vice-President Margrete Vestager, Denmark, who shall also remain (fortunately!) Commissioner for Competition, are looming.

At CESI, we very much welcome the designation of Valdis Dombrovskis (Latvia) as Executive Vice-President ´for an ‘Economy that Works for People’ and Nicolas Schmit (Luxemburg) as Commissioner for ‘Jobs’. Both have a longstanding proven record of social conviction and cooperation with trade unions. In addition, their respective mission letters focus on the implementation of the Social Pillar and largely reflect our key demands on the future of the EU, the fight against social dumping, more investment in people, a more transparent and social-economic governance and the fight against precariousness. This gives justified hope that further social progress will be achieved. And we are more than ready to deliver our part.

Link to the European Commission press release

The objective of the meeting is to take stock of the precarious working conditions encountered at the national level by CESI member organisations, highlight the interlinks between precarious work and the absence of social rights – with severe impacts on the concerned workers and societies as a whole, and to discuss and propose effective remedies to provide fair employment conditions and access to social rights for all. The focus will be on the applicability of EU and the national legislative frameworks, best enforcement practices, challenges for efficient interest representation and inclusive access to social protection.

September 19: The extent of precarious work
• Findings of CESI’s #noprecariouswork survey
• Main rights deriving from EU legislation against precarious work
• EU case-law on precarious work
• Enforcement of applicable national case law
• Links between employment, social protection and welfare systems

September 20: Approaches and solutions to end precarious work
• Effective interest representation, closing legislative loopholes, the principle of equal treatment and access to social rights and protection
• Tools to fight precarious work and to ensure better enforcement of protective labor law
• Social protection as the overall societal safety net and the cornerstone of the welfare state
• Ways to better enforce social rights at the national level
• The role of information campaigns on precarious work at national level
• Better access to social rights through litigation and campaigns

The event will be moderated by Pierre Baussand, Head of the Eurofound Office Brussels. More information about the project which this conference is part of is available here.

CESI Youth, the Goethe-Institut, EuroChambers and the European

Economic and Social Committee (EESC) invite you to the

next CESI@noon

‘Apprenticeships in the EU: How to ensure a better transition from education to work?’

Wednesday, November 6 2019, 12:30-14:30
(Snack lunch from 12:00)
European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
Rue Belliard 99-101 (room JDE 62/6th floor), B-1000 Brussels
The event will be held in English language.

Here the registration form for the event

With a new European Commission about to start its mandate, the political playing field in Europe is changing. However, youth unemployment at 14.3 % in the EU-28 and above 40 % in numerous regions remains a major economic and societal challenge. The legacy of President Juncker to restore youth employment rates to the numbers before the financial crisis has not been fulfilled, while part-time, short-term contracts or precarious jobs are on the rise. More than one out of five youngsters in the EU is struggling with the transition from education to work, without much security and predictability for future work life. What has been done, and more importantly, what needs to be done to address this remaining challenge in a more efficient way in the near future?

The EU response to this trend, coupled with the changing demographics, has resulted in the following measures:

1. Europe 2020 Strategy launched in 2010 focused on young adults and early school leavers.
2. The Youth Employment Package 2012 created the Youth Guarantee Scheme aimed at offering all youngsters under 25 a good-quality offer of employment, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within 4 months of leaving education.
3. The Youth Employment Initiative allocated so far 6 billion Euros for the Youth Guarantee Schemes.
4. The establishment of the New Skills Agenda and in light of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the European Commission launched a proposal for a European Framework for Quality and Effective Apprenticeship in October 2017.
5. The European Commission proposed to launch a pilot ‘Erasmus Pro’ project, part of the Erasmus + scheme, to broaden the possibilities of financing the mobility of apprentices and increase financial resources for apprenticeships.

Despite all these efforts, there has been only a limited take-up of the apprenticeship model. A few bottlenecks have been identified, which might explain the situation: regulatory frameworks, lack of sufficient implementation at the national level, no sufficient financial investment or support for employers to implement the model, investment in career guidance, and awareness-raising campaigns for all stakeholders.

CESI Youth and the Goethe-Institut with its StartNet project are hosting this CESI@noon event on Apprenticeships to bring more visibility to the factors presented above and to look for concrete avenues to better support the take-up of apprenticeship schemes for young people’s transition to work across the EU. With the help of educational partners but also stakeholders from the national level and employers, we aim to better explore how to ensure more opportunities for apprenticeships under this mandate of the European Parliament and Commission, building on the New Skills Agenda and the European Pillar of Social Rights.

Welcome speech

Tatjana Babrauskienė, European Economic and Social Committee
Klaus Heeger, Secretary General of CESI

Keynote
Norbert Schöbel, European Commission – Skills for the Young

Panel Discussion

Matthäus Fandrejewski, CESI Youth Representative

Jan Wilker, StartNet / Goethe-Institut

Paolo Nardi, Cometa Formazione, Italy

Ben Butters, Deputy CEO of EUROCHAMBRES

Concluding remarks

Matthäus Fandrejewski, CESI Youth Representative

Secondly, the first plenary session in Strasbourg gave a quite clear distinct image of what we can expect in the coming years and months. Not to stand up for the European anthem is one thing, turning your back on it is another. Whatever the reasons for the Brexit vote -no comment on that-, turning one’s back to the performers of the anthem is also a punch in the face of the 48.1% of British voters who voted ‘Remain’.

Thirdly, and as stated in a previous editorial, the heads of states and government totally ignored the ‘Spitzenkandidaten’-formula – hence also the European Parliament’s preferences. Regardless of the question if Ms von der Leyen is qualified for the job, parachuting a candidate in such manner is undermining phrases which had called for more transparency and democracy at EU level. If this had happened in countries on our “democratic blacklist”, we would easily have called it “deception of voters” (punishable by law in not few states). It will unfortunately validate the myth that the big decision in Brussels are really taken via unaccountable back-room deals. And as an ultimate paradox, citizens will end up blaming “the EU” for it.

However, the desperate search for a compromise was definitely more than just a cheap horse trading performance and shady backroom-deal. The cacophony of so many levels, parties, governments and institutions trying to find an agreement remains unique in times and styles dictated by Trump, Salvini, Duterte and friends. Of course, Germany and France are running the show; yet it may be their last time. The resistance to their predominance will continue to increase – and will have impacts on further nominations in the future, possibly even to the detriment of Manfred Weber who was promised the second half-term of the European Parliament Presidency.

Finally, the classic political duopoly of EPP and S&D has passed its zenith. In our digital and social media age, the tendency to bypass “intermediary bodies” will be the decisive challenges for democracy, representation and governance; and also for our traditional concepts of social cohesion as upheld by civil society, social partners and trade unions. For better or for worse.

***

This happened to be the broader context of our SUMMER DAYS: As especially platform work is expected to be increasingly decoupled from time, place, colleagues, employers, trade unions and other communities, the classical structures and interconnections of the industrial age may be challenged.

In my concluding remarks, I quoted a Dutch Professor, Jan Rothman: “We are going from the centre to the periphery, from the vertical to the horizontal, to a movement no longer from the top to the bottom, but from the bottom to the top.”

As disruptions are the new norm, also trade unions will have to question the traditional interrelations of the industrial age. To defend the interest of our members and our positions as recognised social partners is one thing, but having to adapt to the realities and challenges of new forms of works is another.

In order to remain relevant intermediaries, trade unions must increasingly represent atypical workers. So that disruptions do not have devastating effects on individuals. Re-coupling workers to communities, employers, trade unions will be key – in order to ensure social protection, access to social rights and interest representation.

***

We wish you nice summer days, and we look forward to the second part of 2019 – hopefully with your support and engagement! All workers count.

The Youth Board agreed that the Future of Work can only be designed with the participation of young workers. So far, the EU level has been confronted with high youth unemployment, precarious work conditions and less and less access to quality employment for youngsters in the labor market. The CESI Youth Board expressed its concerns that often young people are not equipped with the right skills to enter and remain in the labor market and that they may be largely affected by precarious work.

There was general consensus among the participants that major trends influencing the future of work (globalisation, technological & demographic changes, demographic ageing) are both an opportunity and a challenge for young workers.

Surprisingly, despite remaining high unemployment rates, roughly 40 % of businesses cannot find workers with the right skills (ManPower 2018 talent report). The recent European Parliament study on ‘Shaping the future of work’ highlighted that more and more young people are falling behind on work opportunities because of the lack of proper experience and right skills. CESI Youth Board members, who came from member organisations in Italy, Hungary, Germany, Poland and Luxembourg, agreed that:

• the current European educational systems do not sufficiently teach and cater the skills needed in the job market and that reforms are needed in this field
• a better recognition of work experiences is needed, including through mentorships, apprenticeships, qualifications recognitions following an internship, a Youth Guarantee employment and VETs.

A study by Roland Berger on the future of work and the impacts of digitalisation in all sectors until 2030 predicts that for instance in Belgium 5 % of the jobs will disappear, but that 18% more jobs will be created. Most of the jobs will be transformed. In this context, Sara Rinaudo from the Italian CONFSAL trade union shared experiences of how to ensure upskilling on the job for trade union members through contract clauses and certifications on the job. By doing this, she explained, CONFSAL ensures that their workers receive the recognition of their skills developed on the job which contributes to quality employment and retention in the job.

A representative from the European Commission’s Skills and Qualifications Unit who attended the meeting, Michael Horgan, engaged in a debate on how ‘skills-ready’ European workers under 35 are in relation to the future of work. In the context of the New European Skills Agenda he argued that re-skilling and up-skilling are needed continuously for long-time learning (LLL) and that in these changing times (when a worker is expected to change his/ her job multiple times in a lifetime) such lifelong learning is a mandatory skill. Digital skills and personal/ social skills are also of particular importance, he said, next to entrepreneurial skills. He referred to a recent report of the European Commission which highlighted that most jobs require basic digital skills and that basic digital skills include being able to communicate via email or social media, to create and edit documents digital documents and to search for information, or to protect personal information online.

The societal changes are very rapid and citizens and workers are more and more challenged to adapt quickly. In this context, CESI Youth Representative Matthäus Fandrejewski highlighted that interest representation is more and more difficult because of trade unionism being built on long-term adhesion to a set of values and to an organisation. The CESI Youth Board agreed that the interests of youth workers at European level could be addressed better by:

• establishing youth organisations;
• meeting young people already in schools and universities and talk about trade union work and workers’ rights; and by
• offering adequate training for lifelong learning.

Picture: Members of the CESI Youth Board in Brussels © CESI 2019

The event included a series of plenary meetings and parallel sessions coordinated by the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), the International Labor Organisation (ILO), the European Policy Center (EPC), the European Policy Studies Center (CEPS), CESI and CESI Youth.

“As disruptions are the new norms, also trade unions will have to question the traditional interrelations of the industrial age”, said CESI Secretary-General Klaus Heeger. The event also had a great participation of young workers, which are at the center of the discussion on the future of work.

The importance of a union capable of renewing itself and of intercepting interests and difficulties and of including the prospects of young people stressed was repeatedly.

Given the fact that in particular the work on digital platforms is increasingly disconnected from time, place, colleagues, employees, trade unions and other communities, the classical structures and the interconnections of the industrial age and industrial relations will have to be stress tested. Reflection groups, trade unions, employers, platforms, civil societies and not least the young representatives discussed how to face the future of work by analysing the challenges and formulating proposals to ensure legal clarity, social protection and interest representation in the next future.

The issues addressed? Many – and all central to the future of work: Does the traditional dichotomy of employer/self-employed or employer/employee still apply to the conceptualisation of future forms of work? How useful is the definition of the term ‘worker’ in framing tripartite relations? Which new concepts and legal frameworks are needed to conceptualise new forms of work? Are traditional social protection schemes still adequate to ensure coverage of social security in the platform economy? Will traditional social partners remain the main institutions and will social dialogue and collective bargaining remain the main tools for guaranteeing interest representation for workers? How can the representation of interests, regardless of the actors, remain effective?

CESI Secretary-General Klaus Heeger stressed: “In order to remain relevant intermediaries, trade unions must also become the representative of workers in atypical forms of work. They may become the typical ones in the future. ‘Re-coupling’ workers will be key in order to ensure social protection, access to social rights and efficient interest representation.”

The event highlighted the importance of trade unions capable of facing change through a true dialogue which includes workers, researchers, experts, different social partners, institutions and the youth audience.

CESI President Romain Wolff spoke of the new forms of work in the context of the importance of including young people. “We have addressed the issue of the future of work and new forms of work. When we talk about this we absolutely have to include young people and it is important for the union to face change and readjust to what the new forms of work are. Trade unions need to face and address questions which will help workers find their traditional raison d’être in society and the economy.”

Two days of intense work at the Summer Days included the attention of CESI to the themes of work and of the worker, which must be brought back to the center of political discussions. Surely it will be necessary to work for a more dignifying and satisfactory social protection for all workers in any type of work. It is also important not to demonise flexibility per se, but instead, to fight for new and greater forms of protection within this new framework, CESI took away as a take-home message.

Video interviews on CESI’s YouTube Channel

Photos

SUMMER DAYS full programme

By means of the manifesto, CESI intends to contribute to the discussion relating to the reputation of the teaching profession with a view to creating widespread support within society for education and educational professionals as important agents of social change.

According to the manifesto, a minimum level of harmonisation in education policies in Europe has become unavoidable, and support for teachers should be stepped up in terms of improved working conditions, salaries or academic minima.

Moreover, an adequate promotion of the values promoted by the European Union through duly-recognised professionals is considered an indispensable condition for the viability of a space for tolerance and freedom in Europe as well as an effective lever against violence, social forfeiture and individualism to the detriment of solidarity.

In this context, the member trade unions of CESI reaffirm in the manifesto the utility of teacher trade unions as competent interlocutors and as the legitimate representatives of education professionals, understanding them as underscoring the crucial importance of upgrading the profession. The manifesto finally calls for a re-examination of the place of the teaching profession in our present-day European society with the aim of enhancing its popularity.

The full manifestos are available in EN, FR, DE, ES, IT.

Further information on the project ‘Education professionals and trade unions in Europe: Horizon 2025’: CESI Europe Academy website section

UPDATE 2023: NEW Manifesto for the teaching profession in the era of digital education

The seminar was the second regional event on the topic of third-party violence against public employees in the context of a current larger-scale EU-funded project on ‘Trade unions for a zero tolerance towards violence at work: Protecting public sector workers in Europe’ after a first workshop in Berlin on March 29.

According to the 2014 EU-OSHA European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER 2), 67% of Spanish staff in the education sector and in the social services has been facing a difficult audience in its daily work.

ESENER 2 reports about a 62% rate when it comes to public administration. The objective of the seminar in Madrid was therefore to assess the situation Spain and put light on good initiative and practices to prevent or tackle third-party violence in the country.

Concrete testimonies came from the education, health, prison, local police and railway sector, each delivered by a member organisation or affiliate of CESI. Violence in the private sector, such as in call-centers or in wholesale, was also part of the discussion. Involved speakers and CESI members included: Rosario Delgado Moreno (CSIF, Spain, public sector), Rubén García Bernal (FASGA, Spain, private sector), Alejandro Martínez Treceño (ALE/SEMAF, Spain, train driving sector), Jesús Niño Triviño (ANPE, Spain, education sector), Maria del Mar Rocha Martínez (SATSE, Spain, health sector), Matthäus Fandrejewski (CESI Youth), Isabel Lozano Sevilla (SAE, Spain, health sector), Wouter Prins (CNV Connectief, Netherlands, public sector), Sara Rinaudo (CESI Youth, and Confsal, Italy) as well as Marcella Migliori (CESI General Secretariat), CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger and CSIF President Miguel Borra Izquierdo.

A common element which was put forward in all testimonies was a sense of loneliness of and support for affected workers both at the time of the aggression and after the episode – which is where trade unions should get a greater role, CESI members established.

All experts agreed that in the last years there has been a rise in violence at work, also attributable to cuts in staff and equipment, with workers being victims twice: first of austerity measures, and second, as a consequence, a higher incidence of violent behaviors against them by third actors because they are not always able to perform their tasks in a proper way. It was also highlighted that many cases of violence (especially verbal violence) are often still not reported.

In his intervention, CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger noted the particular vulnerability of employees in the public sector to violence and third-party aggression: “Next to rising incidents of violence against public sector workers, there is also an unacceptable trivialisation of violence in our societies. Attacks on policemen, teachers or healthcare personnel is a major offense. Specific legislation should also be in place to make sure that no victim is left behind after experiencing violence.”

CESI’s project will continue with further workshops and symposia coming up on October 25 in Budapest and in France in June 2020, with a view to presenting conclusions and launch an awareness campaign on the subject matter at the EU level.

Picture: CESI Europe Academy conference in Madrid © CESI 2019

As a representative of the Spanish Central Independent and Public Employees’ Trade Union (CSIF), this completes the Presidium of CESI after José Fernández Vidal, also from CSIF, had deceased in December last year.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger welcomed Javier Jordán to the Presidium of CESI: “Javier has been a dedicated trade unionist, convinced of the European cause, and active within CESI in different positions already for many years, including as President of CESI’s Employment and Social Affairs Commission, which he will continue to chair.

I am appreciating very much that he will be taking on a leading role within CESI. We count on his reflections and expertise as an experienced fighter for worker rights.”

Picture: Javier Jordán de Urries Sagarna © CESI 2019

ANFOS (Associazione Nazionale Formatori della Sicurezza sul Lavoro) represents health and safety instructors in Italy. Anfos protects their moral, intellectual and professional interests and carries out any direct and indirect action for the safeguarding and valorisation of training activities in the field of workplace safety.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “I am glad to welcome our new member organisation ANFOS from Italy, now our 4th Italian member organisation. ANFOS’s specific expertise in the field of health and safety at work complements CESI’s expertise and interest in this field. ANFOS can be an asset to also inform further the work of CESI’s trade councils and commissions on topics related to health and safety at work.”

Logo: ANFOS 2019