9 and 10 September – Trade Unions for a Sustainable Europe 2030: decent work, climate neutrality and democracy

Trade Unions for a Sustainable Europe 2030: decent work, climate neutrality and democracy

Montepulciano (Italy) and Zoom platform, 9 and 10 September 2021

ETUC Sustainable Development Goals Project

9/09/2021  –  10:00 – 12:30

10/09/2021  –  14:00 – 16:30

In person and Virtual meeting

Venue: FORTEZZA MEDICEA, Via di S. Donato, 53045 Montepulciano SI, Italy

Working languages: EN, FR, ES, IT, BG

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The COVID-19 pandemic made the full implementation of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development urgent to strengthen resilience and prepare the world for future shocks as we embark on the green and digital transitions. To ensure the sustainable progression of our economic and social model toward climate-neutrality, well-being, social inclusion and quality jobs, the EU Semester needs to ensure the implementation of National Resilience and Recovery Plans that are in line with social objectives of SDGs.

The interconnection between the European Pillar of Social Rights, with its 20 principles, and the SDGs, especially with Goal 8, is evident in terms of employment, education and skills, working conditions, fighting poverty and inequality, and promoting equal opportunities and social inclusion. ETUC considers that the implementation of Goal 8 (Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all) can have positive spill-over effects on the achievement of all the other SDGs. By choosing a Goal8-based strategy, the ETUC acknowledges that the goal 8 is one of the key goals for the trade union movement and it supports the ITUC campaign Time for 8.

In cooperation with ASVIS (Alleanza Italiana per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile – Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development), the ETUC developed the Sustainable Growth & Decent Work Index (#EU_SDG8i). This is an instrument that assesses the implementation of Goal 8 in Europe, and will therefore contribute to policy proposals at both European and national levels. The #EU_SDG8i monitors and ranks, in an EU-wide perspective, the member states’ performance according to three composite indicators: economic well-being, quality employment and labour vulnerability. These indicators are also correlated to other SDGs as well as to key policy areas such as trade union rights, digitalisation and the European  Green Deal.

In the context of these developments, ETUC Project “Raising awareness on SDGs amid workers and trade union leaders: decent work, climate neutrality and rule of law” aimed to raise awareness and to build lasting ownership around the SDGs and UN 2030 Agenda among trade union officials and members at the shop floor so to mainstream the SDGs in social dialogue and collective bargaining agendas. Furthermore, its objective was to inform trade unions on how SDGs impact the main European and international policy programmes as well as to improve the capacity of European trade unions to harness the complex implications of SDGs with the European Pillar of Social Rights and the European Semester.

The partners included the Belgian trade unions CGLSB, CSC and FGTB, Bulgaria’s CITUB, Spain’s CCOO, the Dutch confederation FNV and the ETUC Youth Committee. They were leading the organisation of national trainings and awareness-raising events for trade union officials and members.

A final conference “Trade Unions for a Sustainable Europe 2030: decent work, climate neutrality and democracy” will be organised in two activities:

• A trade union workshop, which will give project partners the opportunity to exchange findings from their national activities and to share good practices of trade union involvement in the monitoring and implementation of SDGs.
• A political high-level debate on SDGs and just transitions to environmentally sustainable economy.

DRAFT AGENDA

Thursday 9 September – Trade Union Workshop: taking stock of progresses and the way ahead
10 – 10:15 am	Welcoming and Chairing Giovanni Casale, ETUC Policy Advisor   Introduction Marco Cilento, ETUC Head of Institutional Policies
10:15 – 11:30 am	Taking stock of progresses – partners’ set of activities Sharing practices (part 1): Belgian set of activities – Maresa Le Roux, Cédric Heylen, ACLVB Dutch set of activities – Bas van Weegberg, Caroline Rietbergen, FNV Bulgarian set of activities – Yuliya Simeonova, Bistra Karadimova, Daniela Aleksieva, CITUB   Debate
11:30 – 11.45 am	Coffee break
11.45 am – 12.30 pm	Taking stock of progresses – partners’ set of activities Sharing practices (part 2): Spanish set of activities – Ofelia De Felipe Vila, Felix Antonio Ovejero Torres, CCOO ETUC Youth Committee – Tea Jarc, Mladi Plus   Debate

Friday 10 September – Sustainable Developent Goals: decent work, climate neutrality and democracy (Final conference of the ETUC Project on SDGs)
2 – 2:10 pm	Welcoming and Introduction Liina Carr – ETUC Confederal Secretary
2:10 – 2:40  pm	UN Agenda 2030 and SDGs: what they are and which progresses have been achieved Rolph van der Hoeven – emeritus Professor at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague   The ETUC Sustainable Growth and Decent Work Index (#EU_SDG8i) – Presentation of the index and results Giovanni Casale – ETUC Policy Advisor   Debate
2:40 – 3:30 pm	Decent Work agenda and Green transformation: opportunity and trade-offs Ludovic Voet – ETUC Confederal Secretary Grazia Strano, Director General – Italian Labour Ministry Vincenzo Caridi, Deputy General Director INPS (italian national social security institution) Angelo Colombini – CISL Confederal Secretary Gianna Fracassi – CGIL Deputy General Secretary Caterina Berardi – Strategy and Policy Officer at Re-Imagine Europa Barbara Gatto – CNA – Head of Department for Environmental Policies   Debate
3:30 – 4:20 pm	Labour market inclusiveness and workers’ protection in the UN 2030 Agenda Federica Saliola – Economist, World Bank Cristina Faciaben – CCOO Confederal Secretary (Spain) Ivana Veronese – UIL Confederal Secretary Plamen Dimitrov – CITUB President (Bulgaria) Cristina Cofacci – Head of Industrial Relations and Labour Law at Leonardo Debate
4:20 – 4:30	Wrap-up and conclusions   Liina Carr – ETUC Confederal Secretary