Marie-Hélène Ska

Marie Hélène Ska is general secretary of the Belgian trade union confederation ACV-CSC.

Marie-Hélène Ska

Why Belgian Workers Are Striking Today – The Real Cost of the Arizona Coalition’s Austerity Agenda

Marie-Hélène Ska 31st March 2025

Belgian workers today protest deep cuts and the government’s refusal to tax the wealthy as needed.

Belgian workers against austerity and for social justice

Marie-Hélène Ska 13th January 2025

Today, on 13th of January 2025, Belgian trade unions demonstrate in Brussels against austerity measures.

European elections: beware the ‘little man’ sorcerers

Marie-Hélène Ska 4th June 2024

European workers enjoy more social support than five years ago but the far right and strict austerity are looming threats.

Far right against women workers’ rights in Europe

Marie-Hélène Ska 8th March 2024

They will claim to stand up for ‘the people’ in the June elections. But the extreme right only stamps on women’s rights.

General strike in Belgium

Marie-Hélène Ska 9th November 2022

Belgian trade union confederations this week led strikes and other actions to challenge the impact of inflation on purchasing power.

Belgium: heat rising over cost of living

Marie-Hélène Ska 21st September 2022

Thousands of workers join a union rally in Brussels to defend their purchasing power.

Why we are on Brussels’ streets

Marie-Hélène Ska 20th June 2022

Tens of thousands of Belgian workers today demand better wages and purchasing power.

Building social Europe, winning public confidence

Marie-Hélène Ska 14th February 2022

Trade unions demand an ambitious directive on minimum wages and collective bargaining.

How can Europe adapt to an ageing workforce?

How can Europe adapt to an ageing workforce? What impediments do older workers face at the workplace? How are changing technologies and job quality influencing the retention of older workers on the labour market?

This episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast series sets out to answer these questions in the context of changing demographics in Europe and the need to make work more sustainable.

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

The Spring issue of The Progressive Post is out!

Since President Trump’s inauguration, the US – hitherto the cornerstone of Western security – is destabilising the world order it helped to build. The US security umbrella is apparently closing on Europe, Ukraine finds itself less and less protected, and the traditional defender of free trade is now shutting the door to foreign goods, sending stock markets on a rollercoaster. How will the European Union respond to this dramatic landscape change? .

Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss European defence strategies, assess how the US president's recent announcements will impact international trade and explore the risks  and opportunities that algorithms pose for workers.

READ THE MAGAZINE

WSI European Collective Bargaining Report 2023/2024

Real wages in the European Union continued their decline in 2023—despite an acceleration in nominal wage growth and falling inflation rates. For the current year, there are only tentative signs of a slow recovery in the purchasing power of wages.

A resumption of real wage growth would stabilize the functional distribution of income and strengthen domestic demand. However, even under this benign scenario, the crisis is far from over from workers' point of view. They have borne the brunt of real income losses associated with the energy-price shock resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The lingering reduction in real wage levels means that wage policy still needs to catch up to contribute to a fairer distribution of the burden between labor and capital.

This new book published by Oxford University Press presents the findings of the multiannual ERC research project “Researching Precariousness Across the Paid/Unpaid Work Continuum”,
led by Valeria Pulignano (KU Leuven), which are very important for the prospects of a more equal Europe.

Unpaid labour is no longer limited to the home or volunteer work. It infiltrates paid jobs, eroding rights and deepening inequality. From freelancers’ extra hours to care workers’ unpaid duties, it sustains precarity and fuels inequity. This book exposes the hidden forces behind unpaid labour and calls for systemic change to confront this pressing issue.

DOWNLOAD HERE FOR FREE