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Susanne Wixforth


Susanne Wixforth is deputy head of the Economic Policy Department in the Vienna Chamber of Labour.

Susanne Wixforth

Price and profit curbs—or how really to fight inflation

Susanne Wixforth 26th April 2023

A crude, one-club monetary policy has already caused bank collapses. More damage will follow more interest-rate hikes.

Reviving democracy in a fragmented Europe

Susanne Wixforth 8th February 2023

Addressing economic inequality is key to restoring political participation and democratic legitimacy.

Social-ecological public procurement

Susanne Wixforth 15th December 2022

The vast sums disbursed in procurement and subsidies by public institutions must lever good work amid the green transition.

Inflation: free markets or freeriding?

Susanne Wixforth 7th December 2022

Companies with market power are increasing prices beyond rising energy costs—because they can.

‘Greedflation’: who wins, who loses?

Susanne Wixforth 17th October 2022

With inflation driven largely by corporate rent-seeking, rather than suppressing wage claims windfall profits must be taxed.

Towards social sustainability: a social taxonomy

Susanne Wixforth 4th October 2022

A ‘social taxonomy’ should be developed as a counterpart to the green investment taxonomy, with comprehensive employee involvement.

Transnational labour and social rights

Susanne Wixforth 8th April 2022

A European layer of social insurance is increasingly necessary.

Fair pay for truck drivers

Susanne Wixforth 16th March 2022

The Conference on the Future of Europe needs to hold out a prospect of a single market that works for its mobile workers.

A chance for a social future

Susanne Wixforth 21st July 2021

Can the Conference on the Future of Europe be a turning point from a mere economic union to one of social rights?

How can the EU achieve a fair distribution of the tax burden?

Susanne Wixforth 10th November 2020

Falling corporate taxation has been matched by a rising contribution from labour. But there are ways to redress the balance between citizens and companies.

Material concerns about posting of workers

Susanne Wixforth 8th January 2020

Legal arguments over the EU posting of workers directive raise the issue of which is to prevail: workers’ rights or unregulated markets?

Welcome to GAFA land—where the winner takes it all

Susanne Wixforth 30th May 2019

The Big Tech platforms have established monopolies which disempower their competitors as well as their workers. EU competition law can be used by unions seeking to bring them to heel.

The Celtic Tiger leaves Irish workers scarred

Susanne Wixforth 9th May 2019

Workers in Ireland are still bearing the brunt after the Celtic Tiger’s demise—but with a modest gain against the precarisation of work.

The European Hydra: Wages And Social Dumping – Competition Law As A Way Out

Susanne Wixforth 20th November 2018

Fighting against transnational social dumping can best be compared to Heracles’ struggle against the Hydra of Lerna – the multi-headed serpent in Greek mythology. This struggle is highly uneven because every time a head is cut off, the monster regenerates two new ones to replace it. Similarly, when trade unions succeed in revealing a case […]

The New EU Budget Under The Constraints Of Brexit And The Debt Brake

Susanne Wixforth 13th July 2018

The UK’s exit from the EU means a contributions gap of an estimated €10-14 billion per year, around 7 percent of the EU Budget. Thereby, the discussion about the multi-annual financial framework has already set off in one direction: How do we fill the gap rather than how do we reform the budget? At the […]

The Future Of Europe – A Space For The Social Policy Avant-Garde

Susanne Wixforth 31st January 2018

On March 1 2017, the European Commission set out a White Paper on the Future of Europe. There was none of the fierce debate that might have been expected after the UK’s Brexit vote and application to leave: the European Union simply remained trapped in its daily routine. Brexit negotiations, the row about refugee quotas […]

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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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. 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.

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