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Oliver Roethig

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

Homecare and domestic workers deserve better

Oliver Roethig and Kristjan Bragason

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

When too few employers means too low wages

Stan De Spiegelaere and Oliver Roethig

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

Amazon: call to ban its lobbyists backed

Bram Vranken, Oliver Roethig, Margarida Silva and Max Bank

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

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 and Stan De Spiegelaere

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

EU funds need stronger social conditionality

Claes-Mikael Ståhl, Judith Kirton-Darling, Jan Willem Goudriaan, Kristjan Bragason and Oliver Roethig

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 and Ricardo Gutierrez

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

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

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 and Stan De Spiegelaere

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 and Diego Naranjo

‘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

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

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

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.

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HESA Magazine Cover

European productivity: the real constraint is not debt, but investment

The EU’s Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) has become a central tool for shaping national budgets under the new economic governance framework. According to a new ETUI paper, it is also systematically undervaluing the economic benefits of public investment—at the expense of productivity and long-term growth. “Rethinking the role of public investment does not mean abandoning fiscal discipline. It means recognising that certain investments strengthen long-term debt sustainability by generating higher growth and stronger public revenues,” explains Christos Pierros, the author.

READ HERE

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Mental Health
Eurofound Talks: Europe's productivity paradox

This episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast looks at why Europe has experienced a more profound slowdown in growth compared to other developed regions, and why greater labour input and higher human capital has not translated into higher output per worker. Mary McCaughey and John Hurley also discuss whether Europe can, and should, look to compete with countries such as the United States and China in the race to harness artificial intelligence.
LISTEN HERE

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Progressive Post Issues

The Autumn-Winter issue of The Progressive Post is out!”

Among this issue’s highlights, we debate war and defence, underlining the urgent necessity of peace. We look at the European Commission's budget proposal, particularly the fate of the cohesion funds, and at the EU's international partnerships and ask whether the EU can pursue its strategic interests while simultaneously promoting its partners' genuine development. Finally, we address COP30 and the issue of fossil fuels, which was intentionally ignored during the negotiations held in Brazil.

READ NOW

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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. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the European Minimum Wage Directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50% of the average wage.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

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Cohesion Policy

S&D Position Paper on Cohesion Policy post-2027: a resilient future for European territorial equity

Cohesion Policy seeks to foster balanced development and reduce economic, social, and territorial disparities, focusing on rural areas, regions in industrial transition, and those with severe or permanent natural or demographic disadvantages, including outermost, sparsely populated, island, cross-border, and mountain regions.

READ THE PAPER HERE

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Health

🇪🇺 Building a Resilient, Equitable EU Health Union: The S&D Blueprint


From securing pharmaceutical autonomy and guaranteeing universal access to care (the European Health Guarantee) to combatting non-communicable diseases and closing the Gender Health Gap. Read the S&D Group in the European Parliament Position Paper demanding that health becomes a priority across all EU policies.

READ THE POSITION PAPER

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