etui.podcast

EU Inc, otherwise known as the 28th regime, has made a big splash in Brussels recently. In March of this year, the European Commission proposed what it terms a ‘single set of corporate rules across the EU’ that companies – with a particular focus on startups – could opt into rather than having to navigate the myriad of national legal regimes on the continent. It is a flagship policy of the Commiss...

The Counter-app series explores how app-based workers can counter the power of their algorithmic bosses. Each episode is based on cutting-edge research by the  European Trade Union Confederation  (ETUC) on platform work and how workers are resisting digitised exploitation. In the final episode of this mini-series, journalist and researcher Ben Wray takes a deep-dive into the EU's recent Platfo...

link: https://www.etuc.org/sites/default/files/publication/file/2026-02/ETUC%20Manual%20OSH.pdf Time stamps: 00:00 to 00:48: Introduction 00:49 to 08:10: Part 1: Sebastian Galassi’s story 08:11 to 14:01: Part 2: Psycho-social hazards 14:02 to 18:37: Part 3: How can we ensure health & safety in platform work? 18:38 to 19:08: Outro

STRUCTURE Introduction: 00:00 to 00:54 00:55 to 2:32: Part 1: What is Uberisation? 02:33 to 07:25: Part 2: What makes an industry vulnerable to Uberisation? 07:26 to 09:58: Part 3: 5 industries vulnerable to Uberisation - 1) Education 09:59 to 11:58: 2) Mental health care 11:59 to 14:31: 3) Music 14:32 to 17:10: 4) Agency work 17:11 to 21:52: 5) Data annotation 21:53 to 23:25: Part 4: De-Uberisati...

The Counter-app series explores how app-based workers can counter the power of their algorithmic bosses. Each episode is based on cutting-edge research by the European Trade Union Confederation on platform work and how workers are resisting digitised exploitation. In this first episode, Ben Wray looks at what algorithmic management is, how it affects workers and what data tools and tactics workers...

To close this season, etui.podcast went a little further afield than usual to take a look at the United States labour relations landscape with Kayla Blado, who recently served as Director of Congressional and Public Affairs at the US National Labor Relations Board.   In our chat she offered some insights from her experience at the federal agency, into the recent, particularly volatile chapter in U...

The European Commission recently launched an evaluation of the 2014 directives which shape the rules around public procurement, the process by which public contracts are put out to tender.  Trade unions have called for a revision that ensures the inclusion of criteria based on quality, rather than only price. In particular, they have argued that these rules can be used as a tool to improve labour...

‘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...

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 effec...

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 readin...

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 Re...

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 ind...

This year, after a long and embattled process, the EU adopted new rules to improve working conditions on digital labour platforms, particularly regarding employment status and the use of algorithmic management.   The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has called the 2024 Platform Work Directive ‘a policy milestone’ and ‘a testament to the resilience of collective efforts’.   Discussion with...

The term ‘burnout’ has become a common one in recent times. But are we clear on what it really means and, even more importantly, exactly what causes it? The World Health Organization recently recognised it as an ‘occupational phenomenon’. So what should organisations be doing to prevent burnout or, at the very least, to address it when it does occur amongst their employees?  Discussion with Evange...

Recent years have arguably seen a ‘social turn’ in EU policymaking, with initiatives on minimum wages, pay transparency, platform work, corporate due diligence, and health and safety coming to fruition, amongst many others. But in this moment of political change and uncertainty, can this 'social paradigm shift' be sustained? Guests Bart Vanhercke, ETUI Research Director, and Sotiria Theodoropoulou...

The resurgence of the social dimension of the EU raises a number of questions: in what way and to what extent has the EU social dimension indeed been strengthened since the adoption of the EPSR? To what extent are newly adopted social policies actually likely to contribute to improving people’s lives, and in particular the lives of those who face precarious working or living conditions? What expla...

AI is now widely used to automate business processes and replace labour-intensive tasks while changing the skill demands for those that remain. How are AI-based tools deployed to monitor worker conduct and to automate HR management processes? Through the dual lens of comparative labour law and employment relations research, our guest investigate the role of collective bargaining and government pol...

There are almost 2.6 million domestic workers in Europe working in private homes or others. Though representing a huge and vital workforce, their economic and social contribution has often been denied and they are longing for recognition. Although domestic workers are finally enjoying more social rights, trade unions have a key role to play to achieve improved working conditions for domestic worke...

How can the European Union steer a course towards long-term social and ecological well-being in the context of incessant emergencies? Two decades of perpetual crisis management have greatly eroded Europe’s capacity to pursue a sustainable future, as considerations of short-term expediency continue to hamper the four necessary transitions – green, digital, geopolitical and socio-economic. Find out...

Until recently, the discussion of social welfare systems in Europe was disconnected from ecological concerns and policies. The relevant objectives, instruments and actors were largely different. Environmental and climate science, on the one hand, and the analysis and theoretical foundations of welfare systems, on the other, emerged and developed in disparate silos. While the welfare state was desi...

Advanced capitalist societies seem to limp from one existential crisis to the next, becoming ever more fragile and unstable. Yet the dominant theoretical frameworks in political economy view capitalism as fundamentally stable or, at most, subject to incremental change. Baccaro, Blyth and Pontusson emphasise the diversity of capitalist trajectories or, rather, growth models .  How should we th...

One should be careful using the word ‘historic’. But in the case of the directive on adequate minimum wages in the European Union it might actually be appropriate. Minimum wage directive boost to struggling workers Energy now costs month’s wages for low paid EU confirms prices not wages driving inflation The European minimum wage on the doorstep - Torsten Müller & Thorsten Schulten Minimum-wag...

Even in Continental Europe, trade unions are the most powerful voice defending outsiders in welfare state politics, and reducing their institutional power in unemployment insurance and elsewhere will likely make things worse for outsiders and not – as certain political leaders in these countries often imply – make things better. Unemployment benefit governance, trade unions and outsider protection...

In this episode, you will be hearing a conversation between Hamid Ekbia and Nicola Countouris on AI, the concept of Heteromation and how artificial intelligence is impacting and will impact our (working) lives.  This episode is part of the Reconstruction Beyond the Pandemic Project.

What are psychosocial risks? PSRs are increasingly impacting all industries in every Member State. The effects of psychosocial risks can be long-lasting and have both physical and psychological impacts on workers’ lives (such as depression, musculoskeletal disorders or burnout). Find out more: https://www.etui.org/publications/psychosocial-risks-europe https://www.etui.org/sites/default/files/2021...