Mark Bergfeld

Mark Bergfeld is director of property services and care at UNI Europa, representing cleaners, security workers and private care. He holds a PhD from Queen Mary University of London.

Mark Bergfeld

Cleaners come out from the shadows to mobilise

Mark Bergfeld 13th June 2024

After the European Parliament elections, cleaners’ fight for justice goes into the next round.

Airport chaos: security guards and cleaners still key

Mark Bergfeld 4th July 2022

The ‘key’ workers of the pandemic need sustained recognition. The chaos at airports shows what happens otherwise.

From Fridays for Future to a global climate-justice unionism?

Mark Bergfeld 18th September 2019

Since the social and ecological crises are so intertwined, a ‘climate-justice unionism’ is required to address them in a holistic way.

Is Europe’s teleworking experiment coming to an end?

A new episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast looks at data from the Living and working in the EU e-survey showing a decline in the number of respondents engaged in remote work, with the percentage of people working entirely from the workplace increasing from 36% in 2023, to 41% in 2024.

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

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The policy brief series by FEPS and FES on Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) offers timely insights into how the EU can advance gender-sensitive and sustainable peace agreements in a time of mounting militarisation.

While current measures being considered are framed as necessary responses to geopolitical instability, especially concerning Ukraine, there are significant concerns from an FFP perspective and broader security critiques.

We highlight five urgent considerations:

Feminist considerations for EU security and defence
Reversing cuts to feminist movements
Learning from Latin America’s Feminist Foreign Policy
Placing Feminist Foreign Policy at the heart of EU External Action
Embedding FFP into EU Foresight Practices

READ THE SERIES

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.

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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

Cleaners come out from the shadows to mobilise

Airport chaos: security guards and cleaners still key

From Fridays for Future to a global climate-justice unionism?

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