Covid-19, lockdown and physical distancing incentivized individuals around the globe to "click to purchase". The result is an unprecedented growth in profits and power of the e-commerce giant. While the company is breaking financial records, its social record is not that shiny. Work in the... Find out more

On 3 August 2020, SATSE (Sindicato de Engermería), a Spanish nursing union, lodged a case with the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for the annulment of Directive 2020/739 of 3 June 2020 which classifies SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing Covid-19, as a risk group 3 human pathogen, and not... Find out more

At the end of August, the occupational exposure limit (OEL) for crystalline silica was modified in Quebec's occupational safety and health law. It has been lowered from 0.1 mg/m³ to 0.05 mg/m³, thereby better protecting workers exposed to this carcinogenic substance in many industrial sectors... Find out more

On 10 September 2020, the European Federation of Trade Unions in the Food, Agriculture and Tourism sectors (EFFAT) tabled ten demands for action to reform the meat processing sector at European level. For many years now, EFFAT has been slating the deplorable working conditions among meat workers in... Find out more

On 8 September 2020, the French Ministry of Employment published the results of the psychosocial strand of its “SUMER” survey conducted in 2016-2017. Originally set up in 1994, the aim of this regular survey is to track the development of occupational risks and assess the effect of prevention... Find out more

The ETUI hosted the Annual Strategic Meeting of the Workers' group of the Advisory Committee for Safety and Health at Work (ACSH) on the 15th and 16th of September. The two-day panel, gathered experts in the field of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) coming from the ETUC, ETUI, ILO, national... Find out more

An executive order, published on Tuesday 15 September 2020, restricts the automatic recognition of Covid-19 as an occupational illness only to those healthcare workers who have needed oxygen supply to treat an infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The French government had announced at the end... Find out more

Citizens’ climate assemblies Britain and France have asked citizens to develop ideas and recommendations for future climate policies. These ‘citizens’ climate assemblies’ are rapidly becoming a useful tool for governments to get buy-in for the difficult policymaking of the Social-Ecological... Find out more

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) wrote a letter to the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission to ask for urgent meetings with the aim to discuss how to reinforce the social partners’ involvement in the design, governance and implementation of the Multiannual... Find out more

Ludovic Voet is confederal secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation. His responsibilities at the ETUC cover sustainable development and climate change, migration, youth policy, non-standard work and the platform economy, education and training, and equality and non-discrimination, plus... Find out more