Austerity, rights and democracy: a guide for trade unions

In societies subjected to austerity and exceptional rules, changes in the labour law and the rights of workers, without social dialogue, are endangering democracy and threatening the European project. Against this background, the Education Department intends to develop an educational tool with this training kit for trade unionists at national level vested with permanent responsibilities in their organisations – an educational structure to be implemented at European level by the member organisations.

The purpose of this training initiative is to analyse the current situation of the countries, the consequences of austerity policies on the rights of workers and the European trade union discourse in relation to European values. This tool will enable the trade union movement to defend democracy and to promote the social compact during a particularly critical and even dangerous period for the European Union.