General industrial policy

- New industrial policies, workers' participation and structural change.

Joint EMCEF/EMF/ETUF:TCL project

Seminar and Conference

Belgian Presidency Ministerial Conference on Promoting Green Employment : a Major and Indispensable Driver behind a Successful Transition towards a Competitive Low Carbon Economy on 28-29 September in La Hulpe (Brussels), Belgium.

EMF calls for mobilisation on the ETUC Day of Action: 29 September 2010

The European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) is mobilising on 29 September, in response to the call from ETUC, to demonstrate against the excessive austerity measures being pursued by European governments simultaneously. These measures are directly threatening the fragile recovery in our industries and promoting greater deindustrialisation in Europe and a deep social recession.

The joint EMF-ETUI Industrial Policy Summer School taking place from 31 August - 2 September in Croatia, will kick off with a welcome address and presentation by Vedran Dragicevic, President of the Croatian Metalworkers' Federation, on the situation in Croatia.

The ensuing debates and presentations, involving a range of national and European trade unionists and speakers, will be based on a thematic approach to European, national and international industrial policy.

A full agenda of the event can be found here.

The EMF is joining the two-day conference on economic, environment, and social dimensions of sustainability in Toronto organised by the global unions IMF and ICEM.

The conference is aimed at forging a worldwide workers' and communities' declaration for the upcoming G8 and G20 summits.

Video segment in Spanish and English.

La Federación Europea de Metalúrgicos ya ha trasladado a la Presidencia Española de la Unión Europea sus propuestas sobre el tipo de industria que necesita el viejo continente.

Hace unos días una delegación de los sindicatos europeos del metal, con CCOO a la cabeza, se reunió con el ministro de Industria para trasladarle sus demandas. El secretario general de la FEM, Peter Scherrer, las explica a INDUSTRIATV.

The first international trade union website using social networking tools – beerworkers.org - is online today. Its launch follows a successful conference last week for trade unionists representing workers in the world’s biggest beer companies: AB InBev, SAB Miller, Heineken and Carlsberg.

In a seminar organized Wednesday by the Social and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, EFFAT underlined that issues like combating social dumping, fight precarious work and labour exploitation lack from the Stockholm Programme and should be part of the Action Plan of the Commission.

Trade unions representing AB InBev workers across Europe have issued a joint statement condemning management’s plan to cut 10 % of the European workforce and warning of possible European actions if things don’t change.

EFFAT and GEOPA launched a CD to support the members of the social partners’ organisations of agriculture within the process of the social dialogue in the new member states and in the accessing countries of the European Union.

The Charter against precarious work, adopted by the 3rd EFFAT Congress on 20-21 October 2009 in Berlin, is a central document for EFFAT, particularly this year when the fight against poverty is at the top of the European agenda: The European Commission declared 2010 as the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.

Berlin, 21st October 2009

Under the motto: “Social Justice from Farm to Fork. Fight Precarious Work!” the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT) launched its Charter on Precarious Work at a press conference today, during its Congress in Berlin. Statistics for the sectors in question emphasise once again that the situation on the European labour market is actually getting worse, not better.

There is something different about this crisis. Recent decisions by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and spiralling social conflicts in the UK (Lindsey strikes), France, Italy and elsewhere all show that the EU is facing not just an economic, but also a social crisis. See election results: http://www.elections2009-results.eu/en/index_en.html

17^th March 2009, European Commission was holding a High-Level Group meeting on the future of the agro-food industry competitiveness. EFFAT Secretary-General, Harald Wiedenhofer was present there and stood for a sustainable competitiveness.

On 17th March 2009 the Commission held a high-level conference on Industrial Competitiveness - Challenges, opportunities, and the role of policy in difficult times. Peter Scherrer was one of the speakers alongside Commission President Barrosso and Vice-President Verheugen as well as representatives of academic circles and business.

Supporting the competitiveness of our industry in Europe, likely to become a promising sector for the future within the Union

The textile, clothing, leather and footwear industry has a future in Europe, but for that future to materialize the sector needs to bank more strongly on quality, creativity, technological development, research and development, and on a greater ability to respond more efficiently and more quickly to market requirements; the sector must also noticeably improve the level of vocational and continuous training. This implies that whenever necessary, our companies should favour investments in countries that are compatible with sustainable development in Europe. Considering that the average hourly wage cost in the 15-nation EU is around 15 euros, compared to the 45 cents in India, 40 cents in China and 25 cents in Bangladesh, it is obvious that competitiveness in European TCL sectors cannot be based on wages. Because of the difference in costs no price-oriented competitiveness strategy can win against emerging countries. Companies have a special responsibility to seek such non-wage cost competitiveness.

Sustainable development seeks to "meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” in the sense of balance between economic, social and environmental elements.

• Still, increasingly rapid global changes, from the melting of the icecaps to growing energy and resource demand, are challenging this objective.

European industrial workers are facing the challenge of a life-time. Now is the time for European politicians to stand up and actively pledge their commitment to fight for the creation and maintenance of good quality jobs in European manufacturing.