European Trade Union Confederation

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is a trade union organization which was established in 1973 to represent workers and their national affiliates at the European level.

Its role has increased as European integration has expanded EU influence on economic, employment and social policy throughout the 28 Member States.

History

The ETUC was established in 1973.

Constitution

At present, the ETUC membership comprises 90 National Trade Union Confederations from a total of 39 European countries, and 10 European industry federations, covering some 60 million individual trade unionists. Other trade Union structures operate under the auspices of the ETUC : EUROCADRES (the Council of European Professional and Managerial Staff) and EFREP/FERPA (European Federation of Retired and Elderly Persons).

The ETUC defines its policies independently through its Congress and Executive Committee. Congress determines the organisation's general policy. It takes place every four years and is attended by delegates from national confederations and European trade union federations. It elects the members of the Executive Committee, the President, the General Secretary, the two Deputy General Secretaries and the four Confederal Secretaries. The last Congress took place in Paris in October 2015, and adopted a Programme of Action for the four years until 2019.