Report
To the seminar participants
For information: to the member of the ETUC Youth Committee
Young trade unionists in @ction in the enlarged European Union
Report
Seminar in Nicosia, Cyprus, 7-8 November 2005
When the seminar opened, after greeting the participants Youth Committee coordinator Juliane Bir reviewed the framework for the project.
In the past, the European Trade Union Confederation had already organised special projects for ’candidate countries’, which had now become new Member States. The theme of one such project, financed with the support of DG Education in 2002, was the impact of the White Paper on young trade unionists in CEECs. During the seminar, it became quite clear to the young participants that an initiative linked to enlargement and its repercussions would prove very useful, since young people in the countries in question know very little about the European institutions, European legislation and even the European dimension of trade unionism.
The most frequently asked questions were:
How does the European Union work?
What are the EU’s institutions?
How are workers represented at European level?
What kinds of European trade union actions are being or can be taken?
This information is all invaluable when measuring the impact and challenges of enlargement on and in those countries.
The conclusions of the aforementioned work also highlighted a major deficit in terms of the involvement of young people in youth organisations, and especially in unions.
Right across Europe, levels of unionisation are at best stagnating and at worst declining in real terms. Young workers had given various reasons for not joining unions, mainly concerning specific countries or sectors. However, a number of common reasons can be pinpointed in those countries:
Lack of knowledge about trade unions;
lack of contact with the trade union world;
insecurity at work and re turnover;
a skewed image of the respective unions;
union structures that supposedly find it tough to adapt to job changes by young people;
an ’anti-union’ sentiment permeating some work environments.
Accordingly, when the young people had spoken out, they had talked about union recruitment and membership as a challenge in terms of citizenship and its European dimension (via ETUC) as one of the keys of European identity.
Therefore the Youth Committee had decided to submit this project in a bid to plug these gaps and meet the needs of our young members.
The project would entail three stages:
Preparations serving to produce the material for a European campaign;
main activities: three training seminars organised in three new Member States, including Lithuania, where the first seminar was held;
the project’s evaluation, which would take the form of a meeting bringing together young trade unionists from all the new countries involved in the main activities, and attended by representatives from the four candidate countries as well as representatives from the former EU-15.
Juliane reiterated that the project was primarily aimed at young unionists in the 10 new Member States.
She also explained the two key work objectives:
I) Training (given to the participants) in:
the institutions of the European Union;
the Constitution and Community acquis;
the European dimension of unionism, specifically mentioning the social dialogue.
II) Information (received and then disseminated by the participants) on:
European trade unionism as a part of European citizenship and a European identity;
the role of young people in the trade union movement: What is the current situation? What action needs to be taken? What form of communication should be adopted when approaching unionised and non-unionised young people?
Juliane then briefly ran through the agenda and working methods.
The seminar had to be as interactive as possible and constitute a tool for the participants, an instrument that they would be able to assess at the end of the session.
Juliane concluded her introduction by thanking Andreas Matsas from the SEK for his invaluable and efficient assistance throughout the entire preparatory phase.
She then gave the floor to Nikos Moynos, future SEK General Secretary.
Nikos warmly welcomed all the participants.
He too stressed how important the place and role of young people was in the trade union movement, especially in terms of taking over from ’old hands’.
He also emphasised how vital their commitment was, especially at a time when membership numbers were in constant decline.
His messages of support and encouragement were greatly appreciated by the young unionists.
The members of the coordination team then introduced themselves:
Cinzia Sechi, project manager
Hélène Cipriano, technical assistant.
The participants were first asked to take part in a fun activity designed to help them get to know each other.
Working in pairs, they were asked to interview each other, and make sure they asked the following questions:
Surname
First name
Position, type of work
What do you hope to get out of the course?
What does the EU mean to you (a word or a symbol)?
After the answers were given, Juliane summed up the participants’ expectations and their positive view of the EU.
The table below sums up the main expectations and key words used to define the EU.
| Expectations | The EU in words |
|---|---|
| Training | Solidarity |
| Meeting other unionists | A growing tree |
| Information about the institutions | Opportunity |
| Taking part in social activities | Equality |
| Learning how ETUC works | Connections |
| Debate on unionisation (good practices) | Cultural diversity |
| Parliament | |
| Enlargement | |
| Money | |
| Future |
Institutions
Cinzia took the floor to present the institutions of the European Union. Below is an overview of her presentation.
The presentation was divided into four sections:
Defining the EU
Providing an overview of the main Community institutions
Discussing the budget: how is the EU financed?
Assessing what Europe has to offer young European unionists
Cinzia began by reiterating that first and foremost the notion of Europe was a generous one. The concept of European integration was born out of the rubble of the Second World War, one aim being to prevent any recurrence of such a war in the future. But the ’generous aspect’ didn’t stop there; it also meant creating tools for solidarity that would enable the continent’s various regions and countries to grow and develop.
Europe must not be a fortress that ended up forgetting the principles on which it was based. European integration was undoubtedly one of the biggest historical projects of the 20th century, and had been based on positive values that were dear to the trade union movement, such as economic and social progress, peace, respect for individuals and the primacy of law over force. That is why we trade unionists must take action to perpetuate the process of European integration.
I. What is the European Union?
Cinzia first reviewed the stages that led to the creation of the Europe we know today, covering all the main historical milestones.
European integration was the fruit of a series of developments. Originally an economic concept, it then sought to evolve into a political entity.
The following questions were covered during her presentation:
1. Is Europe a superpower above the nation states?
2. What is the scope of Community law?
3. Does Europe have a constitution?
II. The European institutions
All the EU’s policymaking is done at meetings of the European Council, generally held twice a year (one per presidency). These bring together all the EU heads of state and are the most important events for decision-making at European level. Patricia then described the three main European institutions forming the ’institutional triangle’, namely the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament.
The European Council
The Council is the EU’s main decision-making body, sharing joint legislative powers with the European Parliament. It represents the EU Member States and one minister from each national government attends its meetings. Each minister can commit his government to a course of action. In other words, the minister’s signature is equivalent to the signature of the entire government.
The European Parliament
The European Parliament, which has joint legislative powers along with the Council of Ministers, expresses the democratic will of the 450 million inhabitants of the Union and represents citizens’ interests in discussions with other European institutions. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are not grouped by nationality, but by European-level political groups covering all the major political parties active in the EU Member States.
The European Commission
The Commission is a politically independent institution that represents and defends the interests of the EU as a whole. It is the driving force behind the European institutional system: it puts forward legislation, policies and action programmes and is responsible for implementing decisions taken by Parliament and the Council.
The European Trade Union Confederation
ETUC is the only trade union organisation recognised by the European institutions.
It represents 60 million workers in Europe.
III. The budget of the European Union
The Community’s general budget is financed by receipts which accrue to it ipso jure. These receipts are called ’own resources’: customs duty and levies (agricultural taxes) on products imported into the Community; an amount calculated in accordance with the VAT base, determined according to Community rules and drawn directly from the fiscal resources of the Member States; a resource based on the gross national product of the Member States (each contributing according to how wealthy it is). An increase in ’own resources’ is limited by a ceiling set by the Member States at 1.27% of the Community’s gross national product. The Union’s expenditure can be divided into six major categories in the following order of importance: agriculture; structural, regional and social actions (including the fight against long-term unemployment and also vocational training for young people); EU-internal policies (transport, energy, education); external actions (development cooperation, etc.); administrative expenses; and pre-accession strategy. Expenditure in 2005 totalled €116.55 billion.
IV. How Europe benefits young people
The EU implements a whole series of initiatives for young people, concerning both training and employment. Since the Maastricht Treaty, education has been officially recognised as a legitimate area of EU responsibility. A few of the best known programmes include:
SOCRATES (formerly ERASMUS), which enables exchanges of students and academic staff;
TEMPUS: develops cooperation with a view to modernising higher education in North Africa, etc.
EURYDICE is the information network on education in Europe.
A lively debate was organised with the participants after each of the sections presented by Cinzia.
Young people and unions: what’s the assessment?
The young participants were then divided up into three working groups to answer the following questions:
How are unions perceived by young people?
Why is this the case?
What do they expect of unions?
The main findings of these working groups are summed up below:
| View/perception | Why? |
|---|---|
| Bureaucratic organisation | Responsibility of the media |
| Chauvinist organisation | Shortage or total lack of information at school |
| Division | Precarious situation of young people in work |
| Multiplication | Responsibility of the unions that are bad at communicating with this target group |
| Link with political parties: confusion | Young people feel they could defend themselves better on their own |
| Just capable of protesting (strikes, demonstrations) | Heavy industries are disappearing |
| Block the system | Trade union language is unsuitable |
| Not represented in the private sector |
Juliane then drew a parallel between these responses and the answers given by other young people summed up in a study and in the reports from two ETUC Youth conferences.
The commonalities were striking.
Then, as at the previous seminar in Lithuania, she stressed above all the need for the unions to take steps to remedy these negative perceptions by being proactive re communication, information and campaigning.
To this end, she outlined a few ideas based on experience gained at both the national and European levels:
Set up youth departments in unions;
encourage solidarity between different generations;
develop trade union training for young people;
develop websites and prioritise the interactive aspect;
use young, dynamic language designed to have an impact and attract youngsters;
organise youth recruitment by young unionists;
organise summer camps combining trade union affairs with fun activities.
ETUC and ETUC Youth
Juliane then presented ETUC and ETUC Youth.
ETUC speaks with one voice, defending the common interests of workers at European level. Its prime objective is to promote the European Social Model and foster the development of a unified Europe enjoying peace and stability in which workers and their families can benefit fully from human and civic rights and enjoy a high standard of living.
The European Social Model embodies a society combining sustainable economic growth and consistently high standards of living, including full employment, social protection, equal opportunities, quality jobs, social inclusion and a political decision-making process in which citizens are fully involved.
ETUC believes that worker consultation, collective bargaining, social dialogue and decent working conditions are the key to promoting innovation, productivity, competitiveness and growth in Europe.
ETUC fights for an EU with a prominent social dimension and for a balanced macroeconomic framework that takes full account of the needs and aspirations of its citizens. To this end it is involved in defining economic and social policies at the highest level, together with all the EU bodies: the EU presidency, the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament. This entails:
taking part in the annual Spring Tripartite Social Summit to assess the headway made in the Lisbon Agenda for 2000-2010;
having the right to be consulted, along with the other European social partners, on decisions to do with employment, social affairs and macroeconomic policy;
maintaining close relations with an intergroup of MEPs;
coordinating trade union participation in several advisory bodies, including the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), and in the European agencies dealing with training, living and working conditions, health and safety.
ETUC played a key role in drawing up some of the EU’s main legislative texts, including the European Works Council Directive (1994) and the Information and Consultation Directive (2002). It also helped to draw up the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Constitutional Treaty of the European Union.
At the same time, ETUC negotiates with employers by engaging in European Social Dialogue. There is more on this in the following paragraph.
To stand up for its claims, ETUC can mobilise its affiliates. In the past it has coordinated major campaigns designed to ensure the inclusion of new provisions on employment in the EU Treaty, encourage voters to take part in European elections and support the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Constitutional Treaty. In recent years, ETUC has regularly staged European demonstrations to coincide with European summits - for instance in Lisbon in June 2000, in Nice in December 2000 (when 80,000 workers took part in the European demonstration aimed at shoring up social Europe) and in Laeken (Belgium) in December 2001. It also organised European days of action in spring 2003 and spring 2004.
All ETUC policies and activities are adopted via a democratic structure of elected representatives. Its highest authority is the ETUC Congress, which is convened every four years and elects the organisation’s General Secretary. The Executive Committee and smaller Steering Committee are responsible for implementing the confederation’s policies between sessions, whilst the Brussels-based Secretariat manages ETUC’s daily business.
The ’Youth’ section is an integral part of ETUC, comprising youth representatives from ETUC member organisations. Its activities are governed by its statutes, depend on its operational resources and are in line with ETUC’s platform.
Its main tasks are as follows:
To adopt positions on issues concerning young people at work that are subsequently submitted to ETUC’s Executive Committee;
to influence the work done by ETUC by ensuring that young people’s views are taken on board to a sufficient degree in the confederation’s policies;
to develop action programmes and coordinate normal activities based on them;
to organise seminars, conferences, study meetings and campaigns for the delegates of affiliated organisations as and when necessary.
Systems of worker representation in Europe
The second morning of work kicked off with a presentation by Cinzia of the various systems for worker representation in Europe.
This presentation raised the following issues:
Defining bodies to represent workers’ interests and their equivalent in various languages;
their composition;
their status and modus operandi;
trade union density and structures;
percentages of conflicts;
the topics dealt with.
European Social Dialogue
The last theoretical presentation concerned the European Social Dialogue.
ETUC maintains industrial relations with employers at EU level via the European Social Dialogue. The European social partners have cooperated for many years in various European committees and advisory bodies.
Twenty years ago, in 1985, at Val Duchesse in Brussels, European Commission President Jacques Delors officially launched the European bipartite social dialogue between ETUC and Europe’s employers. The Maastricht Treaty, which entered into force in 1993, recognised the social partners’ right to negotiate binding European framework agreements, which are either formally enshrined in European law in the form of directives or ’autonomously’ implemented by the social partners at European and national level.
Since 1985, sectoral social dialogue committees have been set up in 31 different industrial sectors. The social partners have adopted more than 40 joint multi-sector texts and 300 sectoral texts.
PowerPoint presentations of the various EU institutions, systems of worker representation, ETUC and social dialogue are available in English.
Young people and unions: what action needs to be taken?
When introducing the second working group assigned to implement national action plans, Cinzia presented fresh ETUC Youth campaigning material to the participants to help them implement union membership drives.
There were three types of posters, stickers and pamphlets. The underlying message in all cases was ’believe us, it’s much harder to go it alone’.
Grouped by country, the young unionists were thus given the means to implement action plans, which they will have to present at the final seminar held in Brussels in June, as well as the actual steps taken and details of how they went about implementing them.
(See the attached documents)
Conclusion – Evaluation
Then the participants were given a chance to evaluate the session, both in writing and orally, with everyone given a chance to speak in turn.
Generally speaking the participants were very positive about the session, highlighting the following aspects:
The possibility it provides of meeting young people from other countries and unions;
the chance to learn new things;
the means to pass on what was learnt;
the distribution of European campaigning material;
the chance to explore a new country.
At this session the three main areas for improvement identified at the first seminar, namely the need to:
Adapt translation to the participants’ real needs;
achieve a better balance of working time;
go easy on the first day’s presentations;
were partially taken on board.
In practice, the theoretical presentations were cut (with the presentation on Community acquis being replaced by the presentation on systems of representation).
Working time was duly re-allotted to ensure better alternation between plenary sessions and work done in groups.
The Hungarian participants complained about not having interpreters (the seminar languages were English and Greek).
The coordination team concluded the session by thanking the participants for the quality of their input and commitment during the proceedings; the interpreters for their assistance; and Andreas, Christos and Hélène for their practical support when making preparations for and also conducting the seminar.
Campaign Material
Action Plans
Examples of good practice
Contact