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Avatar photoOliver 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.

European Commission DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion advertisement

Social Europe

The European Employment and Social Rights Forum is back in Brussels and online on 3-4 March 2026

This year’s edition will address the EU’s response to the challenges many people face today: the rising cost of living, job insecurity, and changes in the labour market. Opinion leaders, policymakers, businesses, academics and civil society are invited to explore bold ideas to support Europe’s greatest strength: its people.

REGISTER NOW

S&D Group in the European Parliament advertisement

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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HESA Magazine Cover

Revisiting worker representation on boards

Board-level employee representation (BLER) has repeatedly resurfaced in times of crisis — from the 2008 financial crash to the Covid-19 pandemic — as a response to mismanagement and democratic erosion. Yet codetermination remains unevenly spread across the EU and underdeveloped within EU industrial relations. This ETUI volume revisits worker representation on company boards by shifting the focus beyond the usual German-centred lens and exploring debates, practices and social partners’ positions in ten often-overlooked EU Member States, to assess the prospects for such an institution to thrive in national social policy.

READ HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Mental Health
Eurofound Talks: The housing struggles of Europe's youth

The generational housing crisis is the focus of the most recent episode of Eurofound Talks. The discussion highlights the pervasive challenge of rising property prices across the European Union which have surged by over 55% since 2010, while rents have followed a similarly aggressive upward trajectory. From the rise of boomerang children to the role of the new European Commissioner for Housing, this episode examines how to restore affordability for a generation.
LISTEN HERE

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Progressive Post Issues

The Progressive Yearbook is out!

With the volatile start to 2026, what insights can progressives learn from 2025? The 7th edition of the Progressive Yearbook is out now!
In this edition of the Progressive Yearbook, we offer analyses of the EU’s domestic issues—ranging from defense and digital autonomy to what remains of the previous Commission’s Green Deal—as well as global questions such as international trade, tariffs, and the emerging new world order.

READ THE PROGRESSIVE YEARBOOK

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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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