Social Europe

  • EU Forward Project
  • YouTube
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

Oliver Roethig


Oliver Roethig heads UNI Europa, the European service workers’ union.

Oliver Roethig

Homecare and domestic workers deserve better

Oliver Roethig 2nd June 2024

A survey shows an alarming malaise in a sector heavily dominated by women and migrant workers.

When too few employers means too low wages

Oliver Roethig 15th March 2024

Collective bargaining can redress the vulnerability of workers who find themselves in a buyers’ labour market.

Amazon: call to ban its lobbyists backed

Oliver Roethig 13th February 2024

Support is mobilised behind the demand by MEPs that Amazon’s lobbyists be barred from the European Parliament.

Worldwide strikes, protests—making Amazon pay

Oliver Roethig 24th November 2023

The monopoly online retailer has extracted vast rents from workers and citizens who are raising their voices globally.

Collective bargaining: Romania shows the way

Oliver Roethig 12th September 2023

Romania’s recent law strengthening collective bargaining offers a way forward for the European Union.

EU funds need stronger social conditionality

Oliver Roethig 11th May 2023

The rules for allocation of EU funds should be more transparent and provide a meaningful role for the social partners.

Euronews: public-interest journalism in jeopardy

Oliver Roethig 9th May 2023

Workers and their unions are today sounding the alarm for media independence at the heart of Europe.

Setting human-rights due diligence back on track

Oliver Roethig 15th November 2022

A carve-out for the finance sector would water down the ambition of the EU’s human-rights due-diligence legislation.

Achieving wage justice in Europe

Oliver Roethig 13th October 2022

Making public contracts for private firms conditional on collective agreements can help stem the falling labour share.

Reversing the procurement race to the bottom

Oliver Roethig 30th November 2021

Companies must be denied contracts if they refuse to respect workers’ rights.

Workplace, public space: workers organising in the age of facial recognition

Oliver Roethig 2nd June 2021

‘Surveillance capitalism’ is increasingly threatening workers’ collective action and the human right to public protest.

Public procurement: ending the race to the bottom on workers’ conditions

Oliver Roethig 28th April 2021

On International Workers’ Memorial Day, it’s worth remembering that when workers don’t have a say they may lose more than their voice.

Collective bargaining—a legal right unrecognised in Ireland

Oliver Roethig 8th July 2020

The EU recovery plan must link company bailouts to enforcement of collective-bargaining rights.

Resilience in the corona crisis—strongest where workers enjoy collective power

Oliver Roethig 14th April 2020

It may not have been thought of as an antidote to the coronavirus but collective bargaining is protecting workers’ health and security against its ravages.

KU Leuven advertisement

The Politics of Unpaid Work

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

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

What kind of impact is artificial intelligence (AI) having, or likely to have, on the way we work and the conditions we work under? Discover the latest issue of HesaMag, the ETUI’s health and safety magazine, which considers this question from many angles.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
How are minimum wage levels changing in Europe?

In a new Eurofound Talks podcast episode, host Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound expert Carlos Vacas Soriano about recent changes to minimum wages in Europe and their implications.

Listeners can delve into the intricacies of Europe's minimum wage dynamics and the driving factors behind these shifts. The conversation also highlights the broader effects of minimum wage changes on income inequality and gender equality.

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

LISTEN NOW

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

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

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Social Europe

Our Mission

Team

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Social Europe Archives

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Miscellaneous

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641