ETUI

'When trade unions learn to innovate: case study evidence from across Europe'

🔍 This chapter analyses two cases of policy innovation involving novel types of union-building projects within the General Confederation of Labour.

📕 Download or order a copy of the book 🔗 etui.org/Z9S

👀 Freely accessible for one month:

📄 Social dialogue in the shadow of ad hoc government advisory bodies: the case of Central and Eastern Europe buff.ly/OwNvkw4

📄 Social dialogue in defence of vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic: comparative analysis of Italy and Spain buff.ly/K8Baxtm

👉 The collection shows that while crises can open space for new alliances and innovation, long-standing power relations continue to shape who is represented, and who remains vulnerable.

💡 Explore how COVID-19 is reshaping European industrial relations and what lessons it offers for future crises.

🌐 This issue brings together comparative evidence from across Europe, and two EU candidate countries, to examine how governments, trade unions, employers and emerging actors responded to unprecedented labour market vulnerabilities in 2020–2022.

🚨 New #Transfer issue out now!

Crisis corporatism and institutionalised power relations: reshaping European labour markets to defend vulnerable workers

How did the COVID-19 pandemic reshape European labour markets, and what does this mean for the future of #SocialDialogue❓

🔎 etui.org/4k2

🌐 This issue brings together comparative evidence from across Europe, and two EU candidate countries, to examine how governments, trade unions, employers and emerging actors responded to unprecedented labour market vulnerabilities in 2020–2022.

Here comes the sun: The formal transposition and political impact of the European Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages in the EU

📄 In a new report, Torsten Müller, ETUI senior researcher, explores the Directive's impact on #MinimumWage setting & #CollectiveBargaining.

🔍 Read more: etui.org/4kB

'Time for an eco-social minimum income: rethinking welfare for ecological transformations'

📄 Read a recent policy brief by @biancalunafabris.bsky.social and Matteo Mandelli: etui.org/4kx

Hoe kunnen vakbonden hun ledenaantallen weer opkrikken? Decennialang was België de uitzondering op de dalende syndicalisatiegraad, maar nu niet meer. Welke innovaties kunnen vakbonden uit de neerwaartse spiraal trekken?

How can trade unions boost their membership numbers again?

🗞️ Read a new article by @kurtvandaele.bsky.social in @sampolmaandblad.bsky.social, analysing what innovations Belgian unions can introduce to reverse the downward trend & strengthen their role in a changing world of work.

🔍 buff.ly/tZPEPdQ

▶️ The debate around the Digital Omnibus isn’t just technical, it’s social, it’s political, and it affects all of us.

🤖 This marks the beginning of a wider rollback of EU digital protections, with implications for society, workers, and fundamental #rights.

🔍 The speakers explored:
🔺 What’s really changing
🔺 Which rights are being weakened
🔺 Who gains—or loses—legal certainty

While the European Commission presents its Digital Omnibus as a technical simplification, the discussion showed how its impact reaches far deeper. Rather than cutting red tape, the proposal deregulates core concepts of EU digital law—from the GDPR and ePrivacy Directive to the AI Act. 👇

🌐 The (omni)bus takes the wrong turn: is the EU weakening our rights?
Today’s #AITalk moderated by Aída Ponce Del Castillo, ETUI senior researcher, featured Laura Lazaro Cabrera, Centre for Democracy and Technology Europe, and Daniel Leufer, Access Now, to discuss the Digital Omnibus and its impact.

@biancalunafabris.bsky.social @kurtvandaele.bsky.social @teajarc.bsky.social @etuc-ces.bsky.social

💡 Union renewal is not only possible, but already in progress. These new ETUI publications offer a roadmap of innovative experiments, lessons, and pathways shaping the future of trade unionism in Europe and beyond.

Watch the full event recording here 📽️ etui.org/4ke

🗣️ ETUC General Secretary, Esther Lynch, stressed how renewal is also about narrative. It’s about crafting a modern, unifying story of working people. "The fundamental building block towards trade union renewal is to build a unified story of working people in which everyone stands up for one other."

Participants highlighted how innovation isn't an isolated act but a strategic mindset: a way of designing, implementing, and scaling ideas that respond to today’s realities. 🤝

👉 During this joint ETUI–CRIMT event, leading scholars and trade union practitioners from Europe and North America came together to share concrete examples of unions experimenting with new approaches, strengthening capacity, and developing diverse pathways to #renewal.

How can trade unions innovate & stay strong in a changing world?

📚 Last week's launch of two ETUI publications, 'Experimenting for Union Renewal: Challenges, Illustrations, and Lessons' & 'When Trade Unions Learn to Innovate', offered insights into how unions can adapt in an evolving world of work.

⚖️The CJEU has kept the Directive alive and opened the door to progressive experimentation in EU labour law.

Read both parts now on the OHRH Blog👇
Part I: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/the-cjeu-rul...

Part II: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/the-cjeu-rul...

🔍 Part I explains the Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages and the challenge to its validity before the CJEU.
🔍 Part II analyses the Court’s reasoning, its narrow view of the 'pay' and 'right to association' exclusions, and how the judgment opens space for bold social policy-making.

📘 The Oxford Human Rights Hub published a two-part blog by ETUI senior researchers, @karabadjieva.bsky.social and Ioannis Katsaroumpas, analysing the CJEU’s landmark ruling in Denmark v Parliament and Council (C-19/23)—the most significant judgment for Social Europe since Viking & Laval.

'How #platformisation is shaping the future of domestic work: A mapping of home care and cleaning platforms in six EU countries'

📄 Read more in this paper by Francesco Bonifacio and Ivana Pais 🔗 etui.org/ZRd

👉 These issues are at the heart of today’s ETUI–CIES–Iscte conference in Lisbon: 'Reviving #WorkerParticipation in Portugal and Europe.'

💭 A crucial space for academics, trade unionists, policymakers, and activists to rethink how worker voice can drive a more democratic economy.

🔗 etui.org/4kA

❗ Why this matters now:

Portugal is a perfect example. #WorkerRepresentation is protected in the Constitution, yet BLER remains limited in practice.

Current debates around the Trabalho XXI labour reform add urgency to the discussion about the future of worker participation.

📢 New book!

📘 Edited by ETUI senior researcher Sara Lafuente, this new volume provides a deeper understanding of current debates and practices around board-level employee representation (BLER) & assesses prospects for development in this area of social policy at national & EU level.

🔗 etui.org/4kM

'Mobility for people with disabilities in the EU: next steps'

📄 On occasion of the #EuropeanDayofPersonswithDisabilities 2025, read a recent policy brief by Paula Gonzalo and Alonso Escamilla, offering key insights into the future of accessible #mobility across the EU.

🔗 etui.org/4kf

🗞️ The ETUI in the #media

✔️ @kurtvandaele.bsky.social on why Belgian unions must innovate to stay close to workers in @lesoir.be, & on the surge in Belgian strikes in @nieuwsblad.bsky.social, @knack.be and more.

👉 Check out the full round-up of our latest appearances on European media: etui.org/4kd

As our speakers highlighted: "Industrial heat electrification is essential for a competitive and sustainable industrial system." 🏭

Download the slides: etui.org/4kY

Participants discussed how cleaner production is reshaping supply chains & how new industrial hubs are emerging across Europe where renewables & critical raw materials are concentrated.
Themes:
⚙️Direct vs. indirect electrification
👷Impacts on workers & regions
🌍Opportunities & risks of restructuring