Newsletters

Most European countries are rapidly reducing the restrictions imposed during the pandemic. Economic, cultural and social life is picking up again. Workers who have been teleworking for more than a year are returning to their offices. The implications, risks and opportunities will become clearer. For

EPSU staff joined Belgian affiliates in a protest action in not-for-profit care in Brussels last week. The demands are so similar across Europe: higher wages, better conditions, action to reduce workloads and increase staffing. These are all needed to secure quality care as is the case more broadly

On 23 June EPSU is organising a number of panel discussions and we are delighted that Olivier de Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and extreme poverty will join debate on (re-)valuing public services. Based on his vast experience and research he will share with us how he sees the

The Global Health Summit will take place 21 May. It is organised by the European Commission and the Italian Presidency of the G20. It will see government leaders discuss how pandemics can be best prevented and how to improve global public health. EPSU/PSI and global civil society have outlined our

The Porto Social Summit of 7 May will see employers, unions and the European institutions confirming their support for the EU Pillar of Social Rights and implementation of the social action plan. This is welcome but the same employers, primarily represented in BusinessEurope, are working hard to

It was big news in the Brussels bubble this week when German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she is not against Treaty changes, “if these make sense”. She referred specifically to health competencies for the EU and even mentioned majority decisions on tax policies. Her remarks were in the context of

All people across the world need the chance to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if we are to leave the pandemic behind us. However, the current distribution of vaccines is contributing to big differences between countries and reinforcing health inequalities. Developing nations are only getting a

On 20 March, with a total disregard of the democratic process the Turkish government withdrew from the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women. Turkish unions and women’s groups condemned the act and took to the streets. EPSU, the ETUC, the Council of Europe and the

One year ago today, the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The last year has magnified the strengths and weaknesses of our societies. In Europe, it has exposed the fragility of public health systems, and the total lack of capacity to respond to such a shock. The tragedy

Vaccination is being rolled out across most of Europe but some countries, like Montenegro and Armenia, are lagging seriously behind. Access to vaccines is difficult and costly and more needs to be done to tackle this. That is why EPSU with the ETUC and PSI continues to call for the waiver of the

The role of the state and public services have been vital in the response to the pandemic, underlining the importance of systems based on solidarity, cooperation, coordination and social dialogue to our economies and societies. This was one of the main messages from several speakers, including

Faced with the failure of big pharmaceutical companies to deliver on the contracts to supply COVID-19 vaccines, Member States and the European Commission are ideologically blind to the real solution. As early as March last year EPSU argued for bringing production into public ownership or under

A New Year – old challenges – new prospects and opportunities I wish you all good health for the new year. It begins for many of us with further, sometimes stricter, lockdowns. However, the anti-COVID vaccines are being rolled out, notably with a high rate of vaccinations in Israel as well as early

Nobody will forget 2020. We have shared the same experiences of the pandemic in all corners of Europe and beyond. It has swept through our workplaces and impacted on our lives. The images of health and care workers trying to cope is deeply ingrained in our memories. Some of us have lost loved ones

The pandemic continues to rage across Europe and beyond. As governments start to contemplate their vaccination strategies, there will be additional pressures on the health workforce which still has to cope with need to catch up with many delayed treatments. Years of austerity and underfunding have