(24 April 2013) Last week EPSU held its Executive Committee. A broad range of issues were covered, updates on the water campaign, the state of play on the public procurement and concessions directives as well as the plans for the EPSU tax justice campaign. Preparations for the 9th EPSU in May 2014 are in full swing. The congress will be a key moment to take stock of what has happened to public services, to workers rights and to democracy in Europe over the last five years. As we are only (...)

(13 March 2013) On the eve of the next European Council meeting, the ETUC is calling again for a protest action on 14 March in Brussels. This follows on from several weeks of mobilization in Ireland, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, Belgium and Portugal, where mass demonstrations took place against government’s austerity plans in February and March. This week’s tripartite summit will start against the background of thousands of workers across Europe saying:"Together for a better future: No to (...)

(12 February 2013) The month of January has been a whirlwind for the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) but we have made history! We are the first organization to have collected over 1 million signatures for a European Citizens Initiative. The ‘Right to Water’ ECI has proven to be successful and we have managed to achieve the first target, the first million. Now we will continue the campaign to ensure that we have as many countries as necessary and to get as close as we can (...)

Dear readers, We are heading towards the end of 2012. This year, especially in the second half, we have witnessed a huge movement of workers, trade unions and other social society groups against the austerity dictate across Europe with a highlight on 14 November. This European Day of Action and Solidarity marked a milestone for Europe’s trade union movement. It was a success in terms of mobilization and visibility. We have covered a very heavy agenda during 2012. We have now fully (...)

(5 December 2012) On November 14 the ETUC called for a Day of Action and Solidarity to mobilise Europe’s workers in support of the ‘Social compact for Europe’. Many public sector unions followed the call with strikes, demonstrations, protests, meetings, media events and so on. This European mobilization was a strong show of support for the trade union demands from workers across Europe. This transnational way of protesting is a big step forward in the trade union movement. We will continue to (...)

(23 October 2012) This is a special issue of our newsletter. The ETUC Executive Committee of 17 October decided to call for a day of action and solidarity on 14 November. It will be a key event against austerity policies since the beginning of the crisis, including one-day general strikes, demonstrations, rallies and many other forms of actions to mobilise for a political alternative in many EU countries. Such alternatives are developed by the ETUC in its social contract for Europe. This (...)

(11 October 2012) In the last few weeks we have tried to maximize our pressure to free the 9 KESK (Public Sector confederation in Turkey) members that were facing the judge on October 4 in Ankara. The result of the joint campaign [together with ETUCE (European Trade Union Committee for Education)/ ETUC / ITUC] has been the release of 6 of the accused KESK members. However 3 KESK members continue to be in jail. We will therefore have to keep up our efforts to mobilise for their release. Our (...)

(3 October 2012 - Press Communication) On October 4, 15 female members of the confederation of Public Employees trade unions (KESK) will be in court accused of belonging to a terrorist organisation, while simply trying to organise women workers and fight for better jobs and conditions. The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) is mobilizing its members in solidarity with KEKS members in court. The international trade union movement has been observing the alarming situation (...)

(26 September 2012) Tens of thousands of workers and citizens take to the streets to say no to austerity in several European countries. The financial and economic crisis is taking its toll on Social Europe. Some countries face a social catastrophe which the Argentine President Fernandez compares to the situation in Argentina in 2000. She condemned the repression against the indignados in Madrid 25 September in her speech to the UN General Assembly. In Portugal and Spain over two million (...)

(6 September 2012) We have launched the ‘Water is a Human Right’ European Citizens Initiative (ECI). This is the first ever ECI collecting online and paper signatures. We have solved the problems that were part of the Commission technical platform! Now we need more than 1 million signatures in at least 7 Member States. We count on you to help us achieving this. We are demanding the European Commission to act to ensure that all inhabitants enjoy the right to water and sanitation, that water (...)