etui.podcast

‘Invest now or deindustrialise’ was the recent, stark warning put to the EU by industrial trade unions. Continued heavy losses in manufacturing jobs over the past decades are now culminating in what has been termed a crisis for European industry and the many workers it employs. But how should this crisis be addressed? Is the European Commission taking the right approach with the recently presented Clean Industrial Deal? And what could a worker-friendly European industrial policy look like today? Discussion with Judith Kirton-Darling, General Secretary of the industrial workers’ federation ⁠industriAll Europe⁠ [https://news.industriall-europe.eu/], and Ludovic Voet, Confederal Secretary at the European Trade Union Confederation [https://www.etuc.org/en]. Further reading Industrial policy for quality jobs and a just transition | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/industrial-policy-quality-jobs-and-just-transition] Benchmarking Working Europe 2024 | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/benchmarking-working-europe-2024] Green transition and job quality: risks for worker representation | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/green-transition-and-job-quality-risks-worker-representation] Workers and the climate challenge | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/workers-and-climate-challenge] The future of the automotive sector | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/future-automotive-sector] Provisions for social conditionality, employment security and anticipation and management of change in the Clean Industrial Deal  [https://news.industriall-europe.eu/p/policy-brief] ETUC calls for adequate financing and responsible simplification in the Clean Industrial Deal | ETUC [https://www.etuc.org/en/document/etuc-calls-adequate-financing-and-responsible-simplification-clean-industrial-deal]

Amidst all the current debates in Europe about competitiveness, productivity, migration, and economic transitions – both ‘green’ and ‘digital’ - the ongoing issue of labour shortages has emerged as a major policy concern, intrinsically tied to all of the above. But what are the major factors driving these shortages? Where do we see them the most? And what kinds of solutions would be the most effective?   Discussion with ETUI Senior Researcher Wouter Zwysen, author of multiple recent papers on labour shortages, job quality, and workers' bargaining power. Further reading: ⁠Labour shortages, job quality and workers’ bargaining power | etui⁠ [https://www.etui.org/publications/labour-shortages-job-quality-and-workers-bargaining-power] ⁠Labour shortages – turning away from bad jobs | etui⁠ [https://www.etui.org/publications/labour-shortages-turning-away-bad-jobs] ⁠Monopsony and non-competitive labour markets | etui⁠ [https://www.etui.org/publications/monopsony-and-non-competitive-labour-markets] ⁠Benchmarking Working Europe 2024 | etui⁠ [https://www.etui.org/publications/benchmarking-working-europe-2024] ⁠Wage inequality in Europe | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/wage-inequality-europe] Lowering wage inequality through collectively negotiated minima | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/lowering-wage-inequality-through-collectively-negotiated-minima]⁠ [https://www.etui.org/publications/wage-inequality-europe] ⁠Green transition and job quality: risks for worker representation | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/green-transition-and-job-quality-risks-worker-representation] Industrial policy for quality jobs and a just transition | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/industrial-policy-quality-jobs-and-just-transition]⁠ [https://www.etui.org/publications/green-transition-and-job-quality-risks-worker-representation] ⁠What are governments doing about low-wage employment – and how successful is it? | etui⁠ [https://www.etui.org/publications/what-are-governments-doing-about-low-wage-employment-and-how-successful-it] ⁠Job quality in turbulent times | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/job-quality-turbulent-times]

Security is the watchword across European politics today. But what is the place for social and environmental policy in a security-conscious, or even security-driven, Europe? And where does the trade union movement fit in? Discussion with ETUI Senior Researcher Christophe Degryse about his recent Foresight Brief, ‘What if? A socio-environmental agenda in a 'security Europe'?’ Further reading    What if? A socio-environmental agenda in a 'security Europe'? | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/what-if-socio-environmental-agenda-security-europe] Rethinking social protection in the green transition | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/rethinking-social-protection-green-transition] Industrial policy for quality jobs and a just transition | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/industrial-policy-quality-jobs-and-just-transition] Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2023 | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/social-policy-european-union-state-play-2023]

The standard 40-hour work week has been around for a while now as our full-time norm. But in recent times, debates about working time reduction appear to have been making somewhat of a comeback – particularly in the form of the 4-day week idea. Is it time to rethink our working time norms? And what role is the labour movement playing in this debate? Discussion with Agnieszka Piasna, ETUI Senior Researcher and co-author of the paper ‘Negotiating working time reduction’. Further reading   Negotiating working time reduction | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/negotiating-working-time-reduction] ‘Winning back our time’, in HesaMag#29, Navigating the AI revolution | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/navigating-ai-revolution] Friday on my mind - Working time in the manufacturing sector | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/friday-my-mind-working-time-manufacturing-sector] The why and how of working time reduction | etui [https://www.etui.org/publications/guides/the-why-and-how-of-working-time-reduction]

An anniversary can be a good occasion for reflection. 20 years ago, in 2004, eight central and eastern European countries joined the European Union. Followed by the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 and Croatia in 2013, these successive enlargements nearly doubled the number of EU Member States. And they came with many hopes for economic and social cohesion, as well as for strengthened industrial relations in the region. So to what extent have these hopes been met?   Discussion with Vera Scépanović, lecturer in International Relations and European Studies at Leiden University and co-editor of Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/TRS], the ETUI’s quarterly journal published by Sage Publishing. This conversation is based on the issue of Transfer, ‘20 years after: perspectives on industrial relations in Central and Eastern Europe 20 years after the EU enlargement’ [https://www.etui.org/publications/20-years-after-perspectives-industrial-relations-central-and-eastern-europe-20-years].