With youth unemployment over 22% across the EU*, and a shocking 53% in Spain*, European trade unions are demanding that funding for the EU’s Youth Guarantee is extended.
Youth representatives of the European Trade Union Confederation and European sectoral trade union Federations will meet European Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Marianne Thyssen on Thursday 21 January at 17:00h to press the Commission to continue funding the Youth Guarantee beyond 2016.
The Youth Guarantee is supposed to offer all young people under 25 a good quality job, apprenticeship, traineeship, or continued education within 4 months of them leaving formal education or becoming unemployed.
The delegation will argue that
- The Youth Guarantee is still needed because all economic forecasts suggest that youth unemployment will remain high across Europe
- In future it needs to be better funded, and better implemented by all EU countries.
- Youth unemployment is a social timebomb, already causing misery for younger and older generations
The young trade unionists will also tell Commissioner Thyssen that the European Investment Plan should be increased, with more public money, to create more jobs, and include specific programmes for getting young people into work.
While trade unions support the Youth Guarantee it remains a problem that many EU countries have not implemented it, and are not using the funds available for it.
The trade union youth representatives meeting Commissioner Thyssen are Thiébaut Weber and Tom Vrijens (ETUC), Cathrine Ertsas (UNI-EU), Inge Gielis (EFFAT), Michael Schuh (EPSU), Chiara Lorenzini (EFBWW), Sascha Ernszt (IndustriAll), Koen Reynaerts (ETF).
* The latest Eurostat youth unemployment figures are for 2014.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) exists to speak with a single voice, on behalf of the common interests of workers, at European level. Founded in 1973, it now represents 90 trade union organisations in 39 European countries, plus 10 industry-based federations. More: www.etuc.org
The European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) is the European Industry Federation for the construction industry, the building materials industry, the wood and furniture industry and the forestry industry. The EFBWW has 72 affiliated unions in 31 countries and represents a total of 2,350,000 members. More: www.efbww.org
EFFAT is the European Federation of Trade Unions in the Food, Agriculture and Tourism sectors representing 2.6 million members from 120 national trade unions from 35 European countries. More: www.effat.org
EPSU is the European Federation of Public Service Unions and comprises 8 million public service workers from over 265 trade unions. More: www.epsu.org
The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) represents more than 3.5 million transport workers from more than 230 transport unions and 41 European countries, in the following sectors: railways, road transport and logistics, maritime transport, inland waterways, civil aviation, ports & docks, tourism and fisheries. More: www.etf-europe.org
industriAll European Trade Union represents 7.1 million workers across supply chains in manufacturing, mining and energy sectors on the European level. More: www.industriall-europe.eu
UNI Europa unites national trade unions organising in service and skills sectors in 50 different countries. With 320 affiliated trade union organisations, UNI Europa represents 7 million workers. More: www.uni-europa.org
