Principle 1

Ensuring that quality and inclusive education, training, and lifelong learning be a right and equality accessible for all learners and workers  is crucial. 52 million adults in Europe are low-qualified and several countries one third of the workers have very low level of basic literacy and numeracy skills. Upskilling and reskilling of the adults in Europe is therefore a social responsibility and the unemployed and the workers need effective support within the labour market  for fairer technological and green transitions.

Common projects run by the EU social partners and a Joint Statement provide proof that accessibility to employee training varies massively across the Single Market depending on contractual status, gender, and socio-economic background of the workers, and training rights differ depending of the different sizes of companies, industries and services, public and private companies, and the geographic areas in Europe.  Adoption of this principle should also look at the removal of discrimination based on employment status and take into consideration the effect it has on fighting inequality and in promoting inclusion of women in the labour market.

It is essential to support the implementation of the first principle of the Pillar with sustainable public investment to education and training, enhances by the European Semester process and clear targets within the Social Scoreboard,  and by companies taking financial responsibility towards workers’ training,  The link between ESF+ and implementation of the EPSR is clear. However, financial commitment on its own is not sufficient. In the negotiations for the next MFF (2021-2027) there is a proposal that would potentially lead to a double cut in spending by the European Social Fund+ (ESF+), as a result of scrapping the existing 23.1% minimum share of Cohesion Policy funding that has to be spent by the Member States in ESF+ projects. ESF+ should be used in a way that all workers, at all skill levels, may benefit from high-quality, inclusive employee training and paid educational leave leading to qualifications.

Each EU member state should guarantee access and right to education and training provisions for all age learners and countries where such right is not provided should make actions within effective social dialogue with the social partners to implement the first principle. Member states’ actions should aim at enhancing the ability of workers to access quality and inclusive training relating to professional and basic skills and key competences, including digital skills, throughout their working lives. Best practice shows the added value of trade unions in designing a right-based approach to training and further education of workers, irrespective of employment status, and having regard to gender perspectives.

An EU-level initiative to set up “Individual Learning Accounts” for people of working age may be one of the tools which can help to guarantee these rights and may provide a good solution to portability of training rights. However, since the topic impacts working conditions and collective bargaining in many Member States, the European Commission should not proceed with drafting a proposal without having involved the social partners in the process. Any initiative should combine individual access to training with collective rights to ensure that Individual Training Accounts fall under the joint responsibility of employers and authorities, in accordance with national practices. An EU-level initiative should set minimum standards while fully respecting the national training systems and the role of social partners and must fully respect existing collective agreements and national practices in the sector. Social protection may intervene to establish funding for Principle 1, but it should go hand-in-hand with more protection at work, including greater protection against (collective) dismissal. Otherwise, employers would be incentivised to opt for dismissals instead of investing in their own workforce to get through the transition together.

Actions establishing upward convergence in living and working conditions

1. Monitor and measure employees’ access to training to achieve a minimum number of days per worker and investment of the employers to their workers’ trainings.
2. Sufficient EU funds to support skills development and lifelong learning.
3. Monitoring indicators: companies’ investments per employee compared to wage aggregates for vocational training available to employees.
4. Provide government support to trade unions to provide information to workers at company level on training opportunities
5. Provide effective support to low-skilled workers to access training on key competences, basic skills, and professional skills.

Principle 2

Employment disparities are not decreasing and large differences between Member States persist. Aggregate improvements in employment disparities are matched with increasing divergence in gender wage and pension gaps. Eurostat and SDG monitoring shows the disadvantages that women experience as they bear the burden of care within the household. While women achieve better results in education, their professional careers are less successful than those of men. Women dominate in crucial sectors of the economy, such as education, care, services and retail, nevertheless, their work is valued less than the one performed by men, both within the same sector and across sectors. Populist forces are endangering the progress that European society has achieved over the last few decades. This could endanger women’s participation in the labour market (already quite uneven across the EU) and take its toll on potential EU growth.

The aim of the EU is to achieve full gender equality, full equality in pay for equal work and work of equal value, and an equal sharing between men and women of professional and family responsibilities.

Against this backdrop, ETUC is advocating a legislative initiative to fight gender pay-gaps that would resolve deficiencies in the current EU acquis. ETUC demands legally binding pay-transparency measures leading to legislative convergence across member states in order to  better tackle the gender pay-gap.

The ETUC also demands a substantial directive guaranteeing the representation of women from all backgrounds in both executive and non-executive company boards, in a binding quota of 40%.

It is also advisable to issue a Guide for implementation of the Work-Life Balance Directive. Such a guide should encourage transposition of the EU Directive through interprofessional agreements in a way that would reduce the amount of time between adoption of the directive and its subsequent application.

Based on the 2030 Agenda – and the SDGs concerning poverty, gender equality and decent work – the European Semester should monitor and support investments in work-life balance, fill the gender gap concerning the number of days of work lost due to family care and focus on reducing the gender-gap in pension income. Euro Area Recommendations and country-specific guidance should create the optimal conditions for public investments in affordable and high-quality childcare facilities.

Actions aimed at establishing upward convergence in living and working conditions

1. Target and remedy imbalances in pension income.
2. In relation to SDGs 5 and 8, creating new benchmarks for work-life balance. Promotion of women to high executive positions in enterprises.
3. Within the Semester, using the gender equality index. Evaluating CSRs implementation from a gender-sensitive perspective.
4. To limit gender segregation in the labour market by exchanging experience from communication strategies to overcome gender stereotypes in education and training.

Principle 3

Access to opportunities more often than not depends on the specific group to which a worker belongs. The objective is to incorporate a policy aimed at removing discrimination (ex-post) along with proactive policies that provide equal opportunities (ex-ante). Reducing protection in the workplace increases discrimination at work. Measures that soften sanctions against unfair dismissals, reduce the power of trade unions (or works councils) in the workplace, or spread non-standard working contracts, weaken the current anti-discrimination acquis that provides for strict sanction systems.

Labour market exclusion or the underperformance of specific groups jeopardises economic and social stability. Discrimination therefore has to be monitored and reported, especially LGBTQI*, for which there are loopholes in terms of protection in national laws. Equal opportunities should be promoted using economic performance indicators. Remedies should come from a reinforced legal framework. They should remove discriminatory practices on labour platforms. Such practices may be deterred as a result of trade union surveillance. Trade unions have already denounced such tendencies, mainly within the context of discriminating against workers in relation to their access to “gigs” after they have undertaken any kind of collective action. Collective bargaining points the way ahead for better LGBTQI* protection in the workplace.

A horizontal directive on non-discrimination may be more appropriate, even though there has been no consensus from the Council to date. Equal opportunities should also be granted to asylum-seekers, currently excluded from the scope of anti-discrimination directives. Of particular importance is the use of material and immaterial resources to reinforce public discourse against xenophobia and racism.

Social partners can, jointly or unilaterally, develop tools to recognise, prevent and sanction discrimination while focusing on active measures for disadvantaged groups. They can establish closer cooperation with national equality bodies and build on the developments of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).

Actions aimed at establishing upward convergence in living and working conditions

1. Trade Union Toolbox to recognise, prevent and sanction discrimination; support equality bodies and build on research and outcomes of the FRA.
2. Innovative communication strategy and campaigns against xenophobia
3. Highlighting links between trade union rights, labour legislation and equality and non-discrimination, starting from collective bargaining practices.

Principle 4

Ensuring that quality and inclusive education, training, and lifelong learning be a right and equality accessible for all learners and workers  is crucial. 52 million adults in Europe are low-qualified and several countries one third of the workers have very low level of basic literacy and numeracy skills. Upskilling and reskilling of the adults in Europe is therefore a social responsibility and the unemployed and the workers need effective support within the labour market  for fairer technological and green transitions.

Common projects run by the EU social partners and a Joint Statement provide proof that accessibility to employee training varies massively across the Single Market depending on contractual status, gender, and socio-economic background of the workers, and training rights differ depending of the different sizes of companies, industries and services, public and private companies, and the geographic areas in Europe.  Adoption of this principle should also look at the removal of discrimination based on employment status and take into consideration the effect it has on fighting inequality and in promoting inclusion of women in the labour market.

It is essential to support the implementation of the first principle of the Pillar with sustainable public investment to education and training, enhances by the European Semester process and clear targets within the Social Scoreboard,  and by companies taking financial responsibility towards workers’ training,  The link between ESF+ and implementation of the EPSR is clear. However, financial commitment on its own is not sufficient. In the negotiations for the next MFF (2021-2027) there is a proposal that would potentially lead to a double cut in spending by the European Social Fund+ (ESF+), as a result of scrapping the existing 23.1% minimum share of Cohesion Policy funding that has to be spent by the Member States in ESF+ projects. ESF+ should be used in a way that all workers, at all skill levels, may benefit from high-quality, inclusive employee training and paid educational leave leading to qualifications.

Each EU member state should guarantee access and right to education and training provisions for all age learners and countries where such right is not provided should make actions within effective social dialogue with the social partners to implement the first principle. Member states’ actions should aim at enhancing the ability of workers to access quality and inclusive training relating to professional and basic skills and key competences, including digital skills, throughout their working lives. Best practice shows the added value of trade unions in designing a right-based approach to training and further education of workers, irrespective of employment status, and having regard to gender perspectives.

An EU-level initiative to set up “Individual Learning Accounts” for people of working age may be one of the tools which can help to guarantee these rights and may provide a good solution to portability of training rights. However, since the topic impacts working conditions and collective bargaining in many Member States, the European Commission should not proceed with drafting a proposal without having involved the social partners in the process. Any initiative should combine individual access to training with collective rights to ensure that Individual Training Accounts fall under the joint responsibility of employers and authorities, in accordance with national practices. An EU-level initiative should set minimum standards while fully respecting the national training systems and the role of social partners and must fully respect existing collective agreements and national practices in the sector. Social protection may intervene to establish funding for Principle 1, but it should go hand-in-hand with more protection at work, including greater protection against (collective) dismissal. Otherwise, employers would be incentivised to opt for dismissals instead of investing in their own workforce to get through the transition together.

Actions establishing upward convergence in living and working conditions

1. Monitor and measure employees’ access to training to achieve a minimum number of days per worker and investment of the employers to their workers’ trainings.
2. Sufficient EU funds to support skills development and lifelong learning.
3. Monitoring indicators: companies’ investments per employee compared to wage aggregates for vocational training available to employees.
4. Provide government support to trade unions to provide information to workers at company level on training opportunities
5. Provide effective support to low-skilled workers to access training on key competences, basic skills, and professional skills.