The Congress of the ETUC took place on May 2019 and it was nothing more than an attempt to beautify the European Union and the European Social democracy and of course was not a Congress for the needs of workers.
Besides, we witnessed the participation of non-other than Jean Claude Juncker who even shouted “Long Live the Unions!”
At the same time that the European Commission continues its attack on workers’ rights, on our right to Collective contracts and going on strike, they embrace and support financially the ETUC. This is not some coincidence…
Taking a closer look at the 5 members of the ETUC’s Secretariat, we understand that not only it is not a coincidence, but that the leadership of the ETUC is a group of Brussels’ bureaucrats, executives that specialize on enforcing anti-workers’ measures, who are on the service of the capitalists, and who, all of them together, find it very hard to present even 5 years of real work experience.
On the contrary, they all have great experience in Brussels, in several committees of the EU and social-democracy, in Institutes and positions in government, while one of them proudly declares that he participated in a demonstration,… once.
From their CVs that ETUC itself published, we note the following:
Esther Lynch, from Ireland, deputy Secretary General of the ETUC, started her career as Political Advisor to Minister for Social Affairs, 1991–1993 and then took on several positions in the ITUC of Ireland and as legal advisor, until she was placed in the ETUC.
Per Hilmersson from Sweden, was appointed deputy Secretary General of the ETUC. According to his CV “(…he) has worked in EU affairs, mainly on trade union related issues, for almost 19 years. Most of that time he lived in Brussels and worked for the Swedish Trade Union Confederations, the Party of European Socialists, the European Commission and the European Parliament.”
Taking a closer look to his resume, we can conclude that he basically started his career in different positions in the EU institutions, in the social-democratic parties of Sweden from which he was transferred to the trade unions. In reality, we are talking about someone who has been a professional executive of the European social-democracy, that has not worked a single day in his life outside the offices of the EU and is now placed at the head of the ETUC in order “to defend the workers” . Is he the only case?
Ludovic Voet from Belgium was elected Confederal Secretary and as his CV states:
“In 2011, completing his studies, Ludovic participated in the major trade union demonstration in opposition to Belgian government austerity policies, and resolved to make a career in defending workers’ rights”
It is truly impressive that he participated in 1(one) workers’ demonstration. Of course, on his whole resume, we cannot find a single job, other than his studies, and political or union positions. Another professional unionist, who participated in a one and only demonstration
Last but not least Liina Carr from Estonia, who was elected Confederal Secretary and who actually has some working experience.
However her working experience is a bit odd. In particular, it is mentioned that she has worked in several companies and different positions while studying in England. From there, with a small work experience in finance, in 2002, she finds herself in various committees of the Estonian Unions who were working for Estonia’s integration in the EU. From there, she is placed in 2015 as Confederal Secretary of the ETUC and she is re-elected in 2019 as she participated in a number of trade agreements of the EU but also on the brutal agreements of the EU concerning immigrants. At the same time she is vice-president European Economic and Social Committee from 2004 and she is member in a number of committees of the EU that have a severe and dirty anti–workers’ histrory.
Isabelle Schömann, the third Confederal Secretary, from France, has as her main work experience her participation as a counselor of the European Commission in 2016. Before that she was a researcher in ETUI institute while being an academic. She states that she has worked in different companies between1988-1991
To sum it all up, while the ETUC talks about democracy and the working class, they have elected a leadership of golden boys of social-democracy , whom their ony work experience is in the European Commission or in various committees of the EU. It is a leadership that has no interest in protecting the working class because it is a leadership appointed by the EU. They are an aristocracy, that we cannot even call a “workers’ aristocracy”, since they were never actually workers, a leadership that has never been outside a factory. The ETUC is a mechanism for producing well paid bureaucrats in the service of the capitalists and of the European Commission.
GSEE, whose president is paid more than 100,000€ per year, is a member of the ETUC!
