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“We must break the barrier between our work at national and at European level,” said UNI Europa Regional Secretary Oliver Roethig. “We need to focus on how we at the European level can make a difference for workers in their workplace and in their lives.”



Roethig, who has been acting as regional secretary, was elected to a four-year term by the delegates on the closing day of the UNI Europa Conference in Toulouse.



Trade union leaders from across Europe agreed to mobilise their 7 million members to continue the fight against European neoliberal policies and said their union members will fight these policies in their workplaces and communities. They will also build trade union power at multinationals in Europe to ensure a fair deal for workers.



Union members will work together across national borders to fight precarious work and performance pressure, which have transformed work in Europe but provided no benefits to workers themselves.



The unions agreed to create effective trade union alliances in multinational companies and reinforce the trade union presence in European Works Councils (EWCs) and strengthen cooperation between employees’ representatives across borders. They will also work to sign international framework agreements with multinationals to improve working conditions across borders.



UNI Europa unions said loud and clear that the cuts in essential social services to support families and women workers are destroying the work-life balance and the European quality of life. Very few people have benefitted from the so-called growth achieved through deregulation, low wages, over-flexibilisation of the labour market and attacks on collective bargaining and the autonomy of the social partners. This is not a sustainable way forward.



“We want more Europe but a different type of Europe,” said UNI Europa President Frank Bsirske. “We will advance the political union and counter all attempts to further direct Europe in a neoliberal direction.”



Bsirske, chairman of German union ver.di, was reelected president of UNI Europa.



UNI Europa’s unions said they will focus on turning the single market back into a source of progress and of economic and social development that gives hope to European workers and citizens. They will fight to protect collective bargaining rights and build the union presence to ensure a fair future for all workers, male and female, young and older.





The following motions were passed:



· Emergency motion on the financial crisis: Europe needs a sustainable growth strategy NOW!

· Union Vision Action: For a European Social Model

· Union Vision Action: For a European Dimension to Industrial Relations

· Union Vision Action: UNI Europa Fit for Purpose

· Union Vision Action: UNI Europa Priorities

· In Favour of a Foreign Trade and Investment Policy Based on Solidarity

· The EU Needs a Social Stability Pact

· Changes to the UNI Europa Statutes (ensuring at least 40 percent women participation in all leadership structures and meetings)

· Think Globally – Act European!

· Youth Work

· Declaration on the Arab Spring (in support of trade unions in the region and supporting their cooperation in the fight for democracy, freedom and social justice)



Photo: Post demonstration against liberalisation at the UNI Europa Conference.