Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
Slowly but surely, Belgium is entering into crisis. Inflation, especially in energy prices, is hitting the working classes hard. Mobilizations are multiplying but a coordinated and combative response, capable of making the government and employers tremble, is lacking.
On 9 November 2022, a (...)
Negotiations between the Slovak government and the Medical Trade Union Association (LOZ) ended on Saturday with an agreement, the details of which are not yet known. According to initial statements from both sides, all the union’s demands should be largely met, from the top-up of hospital (...)
17 November 1973 is one of the key dates in contemporary Greek history and in the country’s political and social struggles: following the countless acts of resistance to the fascist regime of the colonels’ dictatorship (1967-1974), which was put in place at the instigation of the CIA, hundreds of (...)
For several months now, strike movements and popular mobilizations have been developing in Europe – both inside and outside the European Union - to resist the explosion in the cost of living.
The price of energy, food, rents, transport has increased over the past two years in all countries, (...)
Belgium is no exception to the wave of strikes in this hot European social autumn.
The general strike decided by the three trade union organizations - the socialist FGTB (General Federation of Labour of Belgium), the Christian Democrat CSC (Confederation of Christian Trade Unions) and the (...)
After months of discussion at discreet negotiating tables, the government, led in this case by Yolanda Díaz, CCOO and UGT trade unions and the CEOE (Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales – the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations) announced an agreement to readapt the (...)
On Sunday, 26 September 2021 a large majority (56%) voted in favour of the socialization of big real estate groups in Germany’s capital, Berlin, in a popular initiative referendum.
This referendum followed a democratic self-organised campaign that has already been going on for several years (...)
Across Europe, worker-led delivery collectives are springing up to reclaim control from corporate platforms
Cristina González did a lot of waiting in 2018. Back then, the 29-year-old was a courier for the Spanish food delivery platform Glovo in her Basque home town, Vitoria-Gasteiz. She talks (...)
Like many workers in Malta affected by lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, Robert (not his real name) has been furloughed. But while work is important to him, home is where he feels most comfortable. There, Robert’s wheelchair fits everywhere he needs to go. He no longer needs to (...)
On March 20 we took part in a teleconference with Amazon. The company presented to us its proposal of a bonus of 4 złoty before taxes (0.61 euro net) for every hour worked between March 15 and April 30. Amazon was not open to negotiating the bonus amount or conditions.
We demanded the (...)
Unions are calling for a halt to all non-essential production to ensure safety and sanitation of workplaces.
Italy’s coronavirus epidemic has triggered nationwide strikes running from shipbuilders in Liguria in the north to steelworkers in Puglia in the south, forcing the government to open (...)
It’s a seller’s market!
I speak of the Slovenian Labour Force Market, “sellers” being workers selling their labour power. Statistically speaking, the country’s unemployment rate is at a record low level: 7,2 percent as of September. Compared to almost twice that number at the peak of the last (...)
A conviction that lies at the very heart of international trade unionism is that a worker is a worker, wherever he or she is from. But how can unions put this principle into action when it comes to migrant workers ? With over 22 million non-EU citizens living in the EU in 2018 (according to (...)
Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff once employed 35,000 people writes Barney Cassidy. Its workforce was the aristocracy of the city’s working class. They were heavily unionised and well paid by local standards. They were also enthusiastic participants in every major sectarian pogrom in 19th and (...)
Once Greeks start to get old, they start saving money for “apoklistiki” (medical assistants) – just as Bulgarian pensioners save money for funerals. Due to the lack of sufficient personnel in hospitals, the care of old people is done mostly by foreigners, who predominantly work illegally.
A few (...)
On 1 January 2019, a comprehensive pension reform came into force in Croatia, but for trade unions, they went too far too quickly. As well as raising the retirement age to 67, the reform also includes a 3.6 per cent pension reduction for every year of early retirement.
In response, between 27 (...)
How the Italian mafia makes millions by exploiting migrants.
On 6 August last year, 14 immigrant farmhands in Foggia, on the ankle of the Italian boot, were coming home from a 12-hour shift picking tomatoes in 40C heat. The minibus carrying them was registered in Bulgaria; the driver didn’t (...)
Just before Polish teachers suspended their strike to allow for exams, Philippe Alcoy interviewed Dagmara. She gave us an insider view on the causes of the historic struggle of Polish teachers as well as on the solidarities of pupils and parents. From the French: Celine Cantat.
Dagmara (...)
On April 8th, 74% of schools and kindergardens in Poland went on strike. The strike’s organizer is The Polish Teachers’ Union (ZNP), close to the Social Democrats, but the strikers are also members of the pro-government Solidarność (Solidarity) union and non-union members. It is the biggest (...)
A nationwide teachers strike is underway in Poland. It’s challenging the authority of the church and forging links with the country’s resurgent feminist movement — while radicalizing a growing number of students.
On April 8, staff in over fifteen thousand schools and kindergartens in Poland (...)
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