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It's World Day of safety and health at work!
The World Day for Safety and Health at Work (28 April) serves to raise awareness about occupational safety and health and gives us an opportunity to talk about the causes of work-related injuries, diseases, and fatalities, and measures to prevent them. This year, on Occupational Safety and Health Day, the focus is on the impact of climate change.
Occupational Safety and Health
Bulgaria renews its commitment to the promotion of occupational safety and health
Bulgaria ratifies the two fundamental Conventions Nos. 155 and 187.
Informal EPSCO
Promotion of social justice essential for sustainable and equitable recovery, ILO tells EU ministers
Speaking to EU ministers of employment and social affairs, the ILO Director-General underlined the need to put social justice back at the centre of policy-making, using concerted and decisive action.
Trade unions
Workers’ rights in Europe in decline, says ITUC Global Rights Index 2023
In July 2023, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) released its 10th Global Rights Index. The report paints a grim picture of workers’ rights around the globe. According to ITUC, Europe is no longer a bastion of workers’ rights.
Three essential questions
What are the proven means to reduce informality?
In our series of interviews with leading researchers, economists and policymakers, we interviewed Professor Ioana Alexandra Horodnic, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iași, Romania on how informality (including “envelope wages”) affects workers and society, and what measures work best in reducing it.
ILO Director-General discusses bilateral cooperation with the European Commission
During his first official visit to Brussels, the ILO Director-General met the Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, the Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, and the EU Commissioners for Jobs and Social Rights and for International Partnerships. They discussed ongoing work and the priorities ahead.
Workers' rights
ITUC Global Rights Index 2022 shows that many workers in Central and Eastern Europe have no access to rights
In July 2022, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) released its yearly Global Rights Index. It shows that in Europe, the most frequently violated rights have been the right to strike and the right to bargain collectively. Through ratifications of ILO Conventions, governments of Central and Eastern Europe made obligations to implement workers’ rights. In reality, many workers face obstacles in accessing their rights.
ILO-EU Relations
ILO and European Commission reaffirm mutual partnership at 16th High Level meeting
Voices
I dreamed a forest into life
Raya Ubenova asked herself what she could do about climate change. Her solution: to plant a forest of 7,500 trees in her home country, Bulgaria.
Youth labour markets in the EU
Three essential questions: Interview with Pola Schneemelcher, Project Manager at Institute for Macrofinance, Berlin, Germany
We interviewed Pola Schneemelcher, Project Manager in the area of labor market and fiscal policy at the think tank Dezernat Zukunft – Institute for Macrofinance. She shared her insights on how youth labour markets in the European Union were impacted by the pandemic, what measures she has seen and whether governments can afford these measures or not. The Dezernat Zukunft is a non-partisan think tank aiming at rethinking and explaining monetary, financial, and economic policy in a comprehensible way.
ILO welcomes renewed EU focus on decent work worldwide for a just transition and a sustainable recovery
The European Commission has adopted a Communication on decent work worldwide, which sets out how the EU will act upon the challenges linked to a just green and digital transition and a sustainable recovery from the pandemic.
Labour rights infringed during the pandemic
Three essential questions to Aleksandar Ristovski, Professor of Labour Law, Skopje
In the third issue of short interviews with important researchers and practitioners from Central and Eastern Europe on burning questions concerning labour and social policies, we talked to Aleksandar Ristovski, Professor of Labour Law at ‘Ss. Cyril and Methodius’ University in Skopje, North Macedonia. We asked him about the restriction of labour rights following the COVID-19 crisis, particularly those of the most vulnerable, and about how to guarantee labour rights as we are building back better.
Job-rich recovery for women
Three Essential Questions: Interview with Réka Sáfrány, President of European Women's Lobby
This is the second issue of short interviews with important researchers and practitioners from Central and Eastern Europe on burning questions concerning labour and social policies. The interviewee this time is Réka Sáfrány, newly elected President of the European Women's Lobby. We asked her about women's labour participation in the region, why the pandemic hit women disproportionally and the most vulnerable within this group of workers.
ILO support for Trade Unions during the pandemic
ITUC Global Rights Index for 2021 shows that COVID-19 impacted workers’ rights in Central and Eastern Europe
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has released its yearly Global Rights Index for 2021. The report shows that the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in violations of workers’ rights across the globe. In Europe, the most frequently violated rights have been the rights to strike, to go for collective bargaining, and to establish and join a trade union. For Central and Eastern Europe, the index shows a mixed picture. While some countries increased workers’ access to rights, other countries moved in the opposite direction.
Protection of workers
Non-standard forms of employment: assets or liabilities?
Temporary employment, part-time work, temporary agency work, fixed term contracts, disguised employment: non-standard forms of employment can help enterprises adjust quickly to market dynamics and tackle labour shortages. However, when misused to reduce labour costs at the expense of fundamental labour rights, they deprive workers of fair pay, decent working conditions and limit their access to social security. The new ILO report looks into how non-standard forms of employment are implemented in Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.
Social Summit in Porto
ILO Director-General addresses EU Social Summit in Porto
Europe must seize its opportunity to increase investment in training, social protection, social dialogue and the jobs of the future, ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder, told EU leaders at their Social Summit in Porto, Portugal.
International Training Centre of the ILO
New challenges for TVET and skills development - what do you want to learn today?
The importance of learning new skills has never been as evident as in the last year. Almost overnight, all of the global workforce had to admit they faced challenges with their digital skills. We had to switch to new ways of managing work and doing business, of participating in learning and delivering education and training to young people and adults alike. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education and skills development systems has been profound. Teachers, coordinators and policy makers discovered the challenges, but also the opportunities of applying digital learning technologies.
EU and ILO mark anniversary of the Council Recommendation on a European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships
At a high-level conference on quality and effective apprenticeships, organized by the ILO and the European Alliance for Apprenticeships, the ILO Director-General said that the pandemic has severely affected skills and lifelong learning. The effects of the pandemic on apprenticeships and internships stand to last long after the lockdown measures are lifted.
ILO joins informal EPSCO meeting on Priorities for a stronger social Europe
Speaking to the EU Ministers for Employment and Social Policy, the ILO Director-General underlined the need to invest in people, in the institutions of work, and in the jobs of the future. He welcomed the process towards an Action plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights, which is of strategic importance for the recovery.
Lifelong learning
Why Trade Unions should act on Skills Development – and how?
To build a ‘better normal’ in the post-COVID-19 world of work, skills development and lifelong learning need to be part of economic transformation. This responsibility should not reside with governments and companies alone. Trade Unions have an important role to play in shaping the professional development of workers at any age. A new, easy-to-use ILO Resource Guide illustrates how Trade Unions can engage more effectively in skills development policies and practices.