COVID-19, the Corona Virus Disease pandemic - information updates and trade union responses
COVID-19 has become our reality. Daily, we are face to face with this extraordinary health crisis and we see its economic and social consequences unfold.
With the coronavirus pandemic far from under control, with much of Europe’s industry shut down but preparing for an untested re-start, with millions of workers on subsidised short-term unemployment or laid off, with millions of workers fallen ill or having lost their lives from exposure to coronavirus at work - industriAll Europe and its affiliates are fighting to protect workers’ health, their income and their return to decent and sustainable jobs in Europe.
IndustriAll Europe’s COVID-19 monitor continues to monitor measures taken by national governments, EU institutions, trade unions and social partners to deal with the crisis. We are presenting developments in our sectors and at company-level as well as collective agreements.
At this time, industriAll Europe’s concerns focus on:
- protecting workers’ health in our industries especially those who cannot work remotely,
- ensuring that no worker is forced to work unless safety is guaranteed,
- ensuring that re-starting of industrial activities is based on a new, negotiated (!) work organisation that puts workers’ health and safety at its centre,
- ensuring that workers remaining quarantine or those obliged to stay home to care for other people benefit from sick pay without any financial loss,
- ensuring that workers are financially compensated in companies that remain temporarily shut down.
We are collecting and presenting information received from our affiliates and selected press articles (Planet Labor).
IndustriAll Europe
- statement calling for a collective EU response and protection of workers EN, FR, DE
- statement - no worker should be forced to work unless required to meet essential needs EN, FR, DE - 24.3
- practical recommendations for EWCs - joint ETUF document EN, FR, DE, IT, CZ, ES, NL, SV
- recommendations regarding EWC/SE negotiations - joint ETUF document EN, FR, DE, ES, IT, NL, SV, CZ
- letter to Commissioner Schmit on recognising COVID-19 as occupational disease - joint ETUF initiative - EN
- joint statement of Social Partners, industriAll Europe and Ceemet, for the metal, tech and engineering (MET) sector: EUR must join forces to combat COVID-19 and reboot industry EN, DE, FR - 12.6
- Building Trade Union Power in times of Corona - industriAll Europe recommendations EN, FR, DE - 16.6
- ETUC/ETUF joint statement: worker involvement to manage impact of Covid19 - 26.6
- Joint ETUC/ETUF letter to Commissioner Schmit on worker involvement to manage impact of Covid19 - 26.6
Sector developments
- automotive sector overview - 6.4.
- aerospace sector overview - 6.5
- defence sector overview - 8.5
- ICT sector overview - 15.6
- mechanical engineering sector overview - 8.5
- shipbuilding sector overview - 2.4
- steel & basic metals sector overview - 1.4
- pharmaceutical, chemical and basic material industries overview - 24.04
- textile, clothing, leather and footwear sector overview - 21.4
- Italy: social partner declaration tanning sector IT (original), EN
- Italy: social partner statement chemical and pharmaceutical sector IT (original), EN
- Italy: fashion industry social partner protocol on safe re-opening IT (original), summary, press information - 22.4
- Germany: joint statement IGBCE and VCI chemical industry association DE (original), EN - 27.3
- Belgium: press release and letter on non-essential activities in chemical sector, info from FGTB & CSC - 2.4
- Belgium: metal sector agreement on COVID related H&S measures - 12.5
- Spain: metal sector social partner recommendations on preventive measures (original), EN, summary - 17.4
- Spain: agreement perfumery and cosmetics, protective measures and re-starting activities (original), summary - 20.4
- Spain: agreement paper sector, protective measures and re-starting activities (original), summary - 20.4
- France: metal sector social partner recommendations (FR) to government on resumption of activities, summary - 25.5
Company developments/agreements
Collective bargaining agreements
ETUC/ETUI
European Social Partners
National responses to address the COVID-19 emergency
- overview of national responses: PDF, DOCX - 26.3
- Austria
- Belgium
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia - 27.3
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Great Britain
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Lithuania
- Macedonia:
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Turkey
While special measures are in force, the secretariat staff will do telework. Please, contact staff members via email, or if necessary, via mobile phone. Details [ here ]
If there is a need for small & urgent meetings, these can be done via a web based application. Please, contact us so we can make the arrangements .