The results of the Hungarian parliamentary elections brought back its authoritarian prime minister Orban with close to 50% of the votes and a large majority in Parliament Sunday 8th April. The main opposition is the extreme right wing party Jobbik. The observers of the Organisation for Security and
Public service workers know that the EU coordinated austerity policies lead to restructuring of public administrations, agencies and services. Information and consultation rights are essential to address and understand the reasons, consequences and implications for such acts. However, European
Several EPSU affiliates are planning symbolic strike actions on International Women’s Day and many will be organizing events and rallies. Others will focus on politicians and social media campaigns. We will all be active on this symbolic day and by using our common symbols, logos and slogans we can
We have had enough of the continuing discrimination against women on the labour market, of the gender pay and pensions gaps and violence at home and at the workplace. That was the message from the trade union activists – women and men, young and old – at our conference in Prague last week. They
On 30th January the EPSU President and General Secretary, as representatives of the Right to Water campaign, met European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans and Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella to hear about proposals to improve access to drinking water for vulnerable people in Europe
The new year started with the news that the UK based company Carillion, a major provider of public services had collapsed. Thousands of workers face the loss of their jobs and the government had to step in to keep public services running. A sad example but one that underlines our demands that public services should be kept public.
On 14 December, Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici attended the ETUC Executive Committee to discuss the Commission’s package to deepen the Economic and Monetary Union. Union leaders recalled their rejection of the Fiscal Compact, one of the key elements of the package, that
The final weeks of the year will be busy ones. We expect proposals from the European Commission to integrate the Fiscal Compact in EU legislation. Will it be used as an opportunity to give more teeth to the social pillar and provide a solid basis for making social progress in EU legislation? Or will
Europe’s unions made their voice heard over the past few weeks leading up to the declaration of the EU Pillar of Social Rights in Gothenburg on 17 November. EPSU launched a video to support the social dialogue and demand progress with the agreement on information and consultation rights for over 9.3
On 18 October the Tripartite Social Summit – bringing together representatives from European employers, trade unions, the European Commission, Council and Presidency - took place. The Summit was an opportunity to consider the state of social Europe. Discussions covered the upcoming Gothenburg summit
This week Europe’s workers are showing anger over the lack of investment and continued austerity. One of the Belgian public service unions is organizing on 10 October a strike as the Government continues its austerity policies. Members of the German trade union Ver.di are demonstrating on the same
European Commission President Juncker gave his State of the European Union speech on 13 September. Reactions have been mixed to say the least. It misses credibility. Millions of workers are denied a solution to strengthen their information and consultation rights as nothing was said about bringing
An intense political year comes to a close during which we focused extensively on human rights violations and threats to democracy in Turkey. The Turkish authorities have been attacking voices critical to its regime for over a year now. The failed coup attempt of 15 July 2016 in which almost 250
A groundbreaking report on remunicipalisation is now available with information on over 835 examples of services being brought back under public ownership or control. The report is published by the Transnational Institute (TNI) with the support of EPSU – the European Federation of Public Service
We will celebrate Public Services Day on the 23rd of June, when we all recognise and honour all those in public services who make such a valuable contribution to all of our lives. Millions of public service workers selflessly provide us with quality services, despite suffering close to a decade of