Time flies, especially when you’re young. And young trade unionists continue to prove they know how to make the most of every precious minute in their quest to improve the lives, working conditions and opportunities for young people across Europe.
As we welcome in a new year, now is a good time to provide an update on the youth-related activities at EPSU and beyond, and to look forward to upcoming projects for 2016.
First and foremost, the last meeting of 2015 for EPSU’s Youth Network took place in Madrid in October. The Network, composed of representatives nominated by our trade union affiliates, defined its thematic priorities for the coming year: the Youth Guarantee, education-to-work transition and activating young members. It also elected a new Steering Group to guide these priorities into 2016. Ten young members from across Europe were selected for the role, led by Michael Schuh from our Austrian affiliate GÖD-FSG. The first action will be to lead a series of webinars on the major issues facing young people in Europe today, the first of which will take place on 14th January.
Michael will also join youth representatives from four other European Trade Union Federations (ETUFs) in Brussels on 21st January to meet with Marianne Thyssen, who is in charge of Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility at the European Commission. The meeting will be attended by Confederal Secretary for Youth at the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Thiébaut Weber, and will provide an exciting opportunity to hear from Commissioner Thyssen about her plans to tackle youth unemployment and the future of the Youth Guarantee. It will also give our young attendees the chance to present the views of the trade unions and civil society on what more needs to be done to support the young. We will keep you posted on the outcome of this discussion.
More elections took place in December, this time at the Youth Committee of the ETUC. At its final meeting of 2015 on 15th December the ETUC Youth Committee, made up of young trade unionists from across Europe, chose a new team to lead it for the next two years. Tom Vrijens, a youth officer at Belgium’s ACV-CSC since 2010, was unanimously elected as President, supported by seven new appointees to the Committee’s ‘bureau.’
Young people in Europe continue to be hardest hit by economic stagnation. Young Europeans are on average 2.6 times more likely to be unemployed than older European citizens, and youth unemployment rates are as high as 50% in some EU countries. This leaves youth vulnerable to poverty and social exclusion, and furthermore exposes them to future market shocks and continued austerity policies.
“Now more than ever, it’s time for young trade unionists to work together to guarantee a more social Europe with better working and living conditions,” said Tom upon his election to the role. “Priority one is to create quality, sustainable jobs for young women and men”
At the same meeting, positions were adopted on climate change, the ongoing refugee crisis and LGBTQ rights in Slovenia. The Committee also agreed on an Action Plan for organising young workers in the future, with recommendations for the ETUC, European Trade Union Federations ETUFs), national and local affiliates. One recommendation is to strengthen youth sections within trade unions by providing them with greater financial and personal resources and a guarantee of voting rights in decision-making bodies. Others include the development of a pan-European communications strategy, an Erasmus programme for young trade unionists and the building up of alliances with civil society, NGOs and student organisations.
It is hoped that taking concrete steps to build greater representation of young people will provide a much-needed boost to the trade union movement, support those members of society furthest away from full employment and improve the democracy of labour markets and society as a whole.
We look forward to working with the new ETUC Youth bureau and will keep you updated of the Committee’s programme and progress over the coming months.
Finally, the European Trade Union Federations’ joint project on the integration of young workers continues full-steam ahead, with the first of three regional seminars to take place in Madrid on 25-26th January. These seminars follow on from the project’s main conference in Dubrovnik last May and will take a closer look at best practices for the integration of young workers into trade unions and trade union structures.
The EU-funded project, entitled ‘Empowering the integration of younger workers in the European Metal, Transport, Food, Services, Construction and Wood,’ provides not only a forum for young workers to exchange experiences but also the chance to develop concrete recommendations for how to make the European trade union movement more friendly for young people.
The second seminar will take place from 15-17 February in Ostende, Belgium. We will continue to update you on the progress of this important project and the outcomes of these seminars throughout the year. In the meantime, if you have any further ideas for future projects for EPSU’s Youth Network or want to get involved, please don’t hesitate to send an email to our Youth Officer Ruby Waterworth at [email protected].
All that remains now is to wish you a very happy new year!
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