Claes-Mikael Stahl
@cmstahl.bsky.social
📤 381
📥 369
📝 109
Deputy General Secretary of the ETUC. Brussels. Trade Unionist.
pinned post!
Joined the Tesla picket line in Örebro today. The strike is ongoing. Impressive trade union strength. Optimism about reaching a collective agreement soon. 21 months since the start of negotiations. Trade union power🚩💪 Solidarity
@etuc-ces.bsky.social
@ifmetall.bsky.social
9 months ago
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Excellent news. The key point - both for the business decision and the political message it sends - is simple: green steel is the future.
add a skeleton here at some point
11 days ago
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
Jan-Werner Mueller
13 days ago
Four years ago, Orbán gloated that his election victory was so big that it could be seen even from Brussels. Today's defeat is such that it can be seen even from Washington and Moscow.
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Viktor Orbán concedes defeat as opposition wins Hungarian election
Win for Tisza party ends rightwing populist’s 16-year grip on power and will likely reshape country’s relationship with EU
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/12/viktor-orban-concedes-defeat-as-opposition-wins-hungarian-election
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
FEPS Europe
15 days ago
🙏 Many thanks to the many contributors! Nicolas Schmit László Andor Estelle Ceulemans MEP
@emsent.bsky.social
@cmstahl.bsky.social
Felix Hett Mario Del Pero
@hjalloul.bsky.social
@ebenvenisti.bsky.social
Tim Haesebrouck
@renatazilli.bsky.social
Stefan Sipka
@maritmaij.bsky.social
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
Bernd Lange MdEP
about 2 months ago
Clarity First:majority of EU-US negotiating team of @EP_Trade agreed to reassess situation again next week. Businesses&consumers need stable tariff regime&we still don’t have that. Cannot take decisions in a vacuum. Would be irresponsible to adopt legisl. without legal certainty
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Claes-Mikael Stahl
Proud contributor to
@feps-europe.eu
progressive post. The title summarises it well, it is clear that our animal spirits are not released by heightened insecurity. They are released when people can see something being built
@etuc-ces.bsky.social
feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...
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Europe needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies
Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]
https://feps-europe.eu/europe-needs-animal-spirits-again-and-deregulation-will-not-stimulate-them/
2 months ago
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
European Trade Unions
about 2 months ago
Europe’s response must protect jobs, strengthen strategic sectors and ensure that the green and digital transitions deliver for working people. 📰⤵️
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https://www.etuc.org/en/pressrelease/eu-must-ensure-trump-tariffs-dont-cost-jobs
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
European Trade Unions
about 2 months ago
“The EU has already replaced one energy dependency with another; it must now double down on a just transition and wean itself off energy imports," said ETUC Deputy General Secretary
@cmstahl.bsky.social
.
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
European Trade Unions
about 2 months ago
“Europe must respond in a firm, proportionate and united manner. Fragmentation would only weaken our position and expose workers and industries to greater instability," said ETUC General Secretary
@estherlynch.bsky.social
.
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
European Trade Unions
about 2 months ago
The EU must ensure Trump tariffs don’t cost jobs. That means taking action to protect jobs and strategic industries. Crisis management tools should be urgently introduced.
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Claes-Mikael Stahl
Politics is not only about interests. It is about identity, meaning and the future. Populists understand this. Too often, we progressives have not. Why democracy must once again become a future people can shape together. My latest essay 👇
www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...
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What progressives must relearn
Freedom is not the absence of constraints, but the collective capacity to shape what comes next
https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy-and-society/what-progressives-must-relearn-8876/
2 months ago
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
Bernd Lange MdEP
2 months ago
Clarity and legal certainty are needed before any further steps are taken. At our extra meeting tomorrow, I will therefore propose to the EP-negotiating team putting legislative work on hold until we have a proper legal assessment and clear commitments from the US side. (3/3)
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
Bernd Lange MdEP
2 months ago
Terms of Turnberry Agreement and legal basis on which it was built have changed. Do new tariffs based on Section 122 not constitute a breach of the deal? Regardless, no one knows whether the US will adhere to it – or even be able to (2/3)
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
Bernd Lange MdEP
2 months ago
Pure tariff chaos from the US administration. No one can make sense of it anymore — only open questions and growing uncertainty for the EU and other US trading partners (1/3)
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Good news! US Supreme Court blocks Trump’s tariffs: trade policy must respect democracy and the rule of law.
add a skeleton here at some point
2 months ago
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Politics is not only about interests. It is about identity, meaning and the future. Populists understand this. Too often, we progressives have not. Why democracy must once again become a future people can shape together. My latest essay 👇
www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...
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What progressives must relearn
Freedom is not the absence of constraints, but the collective capacity to shape what comes next
https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy-and-society/what-progressives-must-relearn-8876/
2 months ago
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Excellent piece by
@g-kwiatkowski.bsky.social
Yes, the struggle for the soul of the world is now playing out in many places.
www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...
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The allure of darkness
Mann argued that the success of demagogues depends less on strategic brilliance than on favourable circumstances and, above all, a lack of resistance
https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy-and-society/the-allure-of-darkness-8845/
2 months ago
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
Mats Engström
2 months ago
When trying to improve competitiveness, EU leaders should avoid policies being captured by existing companies protecting their current business models. High environmental standards and investering in skills is better for the economy than deregulation. /
#AldenBiesen
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EU leaders’ retreat needs to hear less about ‘deregulation’ from Draghi
Big and small European companies are most concerned about the lack of skilled staff. So why is this not a key topic at the EU leaders' retreat on 12 February in the Alden Biesen castle, when 'simplif...
https://euobserver.com/201594/eu-leaders-retreat-needs-to-hear-less-about-deregulation-from-draghi/
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
European Trade Unions
2 months ago
What Europe needs is a shared project that people can believe in – not a misguided business-led adjustment strategy and another abstract debate on competitiveness Read
@cmstahl.bsky.social
article on The Progressive Post
@feps-europe.eu
👇
feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...
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Europe needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies
Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]
https://feps-europe.eu/europe-needs-animal-spirits-again-and-deregulation-will-not-stimulate-them/
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Proud contributor to
@feps-europe.eu
progressive post. The title summarises it well, it is clear that our animal spirits are not released by heightened insecurity. They are released when people can see something being built
@etuc-ces.bsky.social
feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...
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Europe needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies
Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]
https://feps-europe.eu/europe-needs-animal-spirits-again-and-deregulation-will-not-stimulate-them/
2 months ago
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
Andrew Watt
2 months ago
My take on the meeting of EU leaders: a missed opportunity to launch an investment-led recovery
open.substack.com/pub/andrewwa...
If you want analysis of European economic and employment issues in your inbox - roughly weekly, I hope! - you can sign up for a free substack subscription.
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Belgian castles in the air
A missed opportunity for competitiveness through investment
https://open.substack.com/pub/andrewwatt963563/p/belgian-castles-in-the-air?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
FEPS Europe
2 months ago
This week, we also explore the EU’s
#competitiveness
🇪🇺 Instead of deregulation, the EU needs a competing vision of competitiveness grounded in building capacity Read the Progressive Page by
@cmstahl.bsky.social
🗞️
feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...
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Europe needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies
Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]
https://feps-europe.eu/europe-needs-animal-spirits-again-and-deregulation-will-not-stimulate-them/
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
FinUnions
2 months ago
📣 Deregulation breeds uncertainty. It signals retreat rather than ambition. It risks reducing
#competitiveness
to short-term cost-cutting instead of long-term capacity-building. 👉 Read blog by
@cmstahl.bsky.social
in
@feps-europe.eu
⬇️
#investments
#strategy
feps-europe.eu/europe-needs...
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Europe needs animal spirits again – and deregulation will not stimulate them - Foundation for European Progressive Studies
Europe’s competitiveness debate is accelerating under a growing sense of urgency. Slowing growth, geopolitical rivalry […]
https://feps-europe.eu/europe-needs-animal-spirits-again-and-deregulation-will-not-stimulate-them/
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
Göran von Sydow
3 months ago
Mark Carney’s speech is well worth watching or reading
www.weforum.org/stories/2026...
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Davos 2026: Special address by Mark Carney, PM of Canada
Canadian PM Mark Carney stressed the end of the rules-based international order and urged middle powers to act together to counter the great power rivalry.
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/01/davos-2026-special-address-by-mark-carney-prime-minister-of-canada/
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Claes-Mikael Stahl
3 months ago
🧐Did you know? 👉Later this year, the
#EC
is expected to review
#EURegulation1025/2012
on
#Standardisation
. 📢What are the
@etuc-ces.bsky.social
priorities? Watch the video below to find out 👇
@cmstahl.bsky.social
@guido-dejongh.bsky.social
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Claes-Mikael Stahl
3 months ago
💡New to
#standardisation
? Here's the
@etuc-ces.bsky.social
handbook "Standards at the Workplace" 👉Now available in English, French and Swedish, you'll learn where
#standards
come from, and why they matter for
#workers
www.etuc.org/en/etuc-hand...
@cmstahl.bsky.social
@guido-dejongh.bsky.social
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ETUC handbooks on standardisation
In 2025, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the ETUC’s active participation in standard-setting, we published two handbooks: Standards at the workplace This handbook explains where standards come from and how they are developed. The handbook also provides insight into the impact of standards on workers.
https://www.etuc.org/en/etuc-handbooks-standardisation
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
European Trade Union e-action of ACV-CSC-Belgium
4 months ago
‼️
@etuc-ces.bsky.social
: "EU-Mercosur: Safeguard mechanisms & flanking measures for
#workers
must be added to the agreement"‼️
@belgaenglish.bsky.social
@brusselstimes.com
@euobserver.com
@rtbf-info.be
@jpmarthoz.bsky.social
@terzake.bsky.social
@anneliesbeck.bsky.social
@mondiaalnieuws.bsky.social
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
Tom Jenkins
4 months ago
@etuc-ces.bsky.social
calls for safeguard mechanisms and flanking measures for workers to be added to Mercosur agreement.
@cmstahl.bsky.social
: absent "the agreement risks fuelling social dumping, deepening inequalities and undermining public confidence in trade policy"
www.etuc.org/en/pressrele...
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EU-Mercosur: Safeguard mechanisms and flanking measures for workers must be added to the agreement
Ahead of the discussions and potential Council decision to authorise the signing of the EU-Mercosur agreement the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) urges EU institutions and Member States to ensure that any move forward is accompanied by strong social safeguards, including clear and credible safeguard mechanisms and flanking measure for workers and effective implementation of labour commitments.
https://www.etuc.org/en/pressrelease/eu-mercosur-safeguard-mechanisms-and-flanking-measures-workers-must-be-added-agreement
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
European Trade Unions
4 months ago
@cmstahl.bsky.social
📢 "If labour commitments aren’t made stronger or if safeguard mechanisms & flanking measures are absent, the agreement risks fuelling social dumping, deepening inequalities & undermining public confidence in trade policy." Needed for the EU-Mercosur deal to deliver for workers⤵️
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EU-Mercosur: Safeguard mechanisms and flanking measures for workers must be added to the agreement
Ahead of the discussions and potential Council decision to authorise the signing of the EU-Mercosur agreement the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) urges EU institutions and Member States to ensure that any move forward is accompanied by strong social safeguards, including clear and credible safeguard mechanisms and flanking measure for workers and effective implementation of labour commitments.
https://www.etuc.org/en/pressrelease/eu-mercosur-safeguard-mechanisms-and-flanking-measures-workers-must-be-added-agreement
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
European Trade Unions
4 months ago
That means: 🔹 robust Trade & Sustainable Development chapter, enforcing ILO core conventions 🔹 real flanking measures for workers – access to funds, sectoral support, early social impact reviews 🔹 role for trade unions in monitoring & implementation 🔹 guarantee for social conditionality tools
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
European Trade Unions
4 months ago
Ahead of next week’s discussions on the EU-Mercosur agreement, we're calling on the EU & Member States to include strong safeguard mechanisms and flanking measures for workers. Trade can only support European policy objectives if it delivers decent work and fair competition.
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Claes-Mikael Stahl
4 months ago
🧤🏗️⛑️“Standards make a huge difference in workplaces across Europe" 💡Our Deputy Secretary General
@cmstahl.bsky.social
shares why standards matter to workers and what trade unions expect from the revision of EU Regulation 1025/2012 on
#standardisation
👉 Full interview here
shorturl.at/2yND0
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
Tom Jenkins
4 months ago
@tuc.org.uk
General Secretary
@paulnowaktuc.bsky.social
calls for “vastly improved” trading arrangement with EU given “fickle nature” of relations with US
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
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Trade unions leader calls on Labour to forge closer relationship with Europe
In an exclusive interview, the head of the TUC Paul Nowak says a customs union with the EU could boost the UK’s economy
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/dec/27/paul-nowak-tuc-labour-forge-closer-relationship-europe
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
euobserver — EU news that matters
4 months ago
The argument is that Europe underperforms in tech and biotech because it is “too expensive” to fire people.That may sound intuitively appealing but it is profoundly misleading.
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Europe won’t innovate more by firing people faster
The argument is that Europe underperforms in tech and biotech because it is “too expensive” to fire people.That may sound intuitively appealing but it is profoundly misleading.
https://euobserver.com/eu-political/ar6b0454da
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
Pekka Ristelä
4 months ago
Good piece by
@cmstahl.bsky.social
. Finland under the current Orpo government is a cautionary tale of trying (onstensibly) to build innovation and competitiveness by making firing easier and labour cheaper. Results: insecurity, distrust, conflict; stagnation, low investment, weak productivity.
add a skeleton here at some point
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Claes-Mikael Stahl
Some ideas aren’t just wrong, they’re deeply misleading. “Hire-and-fire” cultures and chaos don’t produce innovation. The Orson Welles cuckoo clock argument was wrong then—and it’s wrong now.
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
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Claes-Mikael Stahl
Andrew Watt
4 months ago
It is important that Europe creates an environment in which start-ups and existing companies can scale up new activities, there can be experimentation and hings that don't work are allowed to fail. But flexible firing rules are not an important part of that environment. 👇
add a skeleton here at some point
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Some ideas aren’t just wrong, they’re deeply misleading. “Hire-and-fire” cultures and chaos don’t produce innovation. The Orson Welles cuckoo clock argument was wrong then—and it’s wrong now.
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
1
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
Jan-Werner Mueller
5 months ago
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Nur eine Frage: Ist Demokratie die beste Staatsform, Jan-Werner Müller?
Können Demokratien noch Antworten finden auf die Krisen der Welt? Der Politikwissenschaftler Jan-Werner Müller sagt: Ja, auch wenn sie bei Weitem nicht perfekt sind.
https://www.zeit.de/2025-11/jan-werner-mueller-demokratie-politikwissenschaft-staatsformen
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Claes-Mikael Stahl
FEPS Europe
5 months ago
🎓At
#FEPSAAA
, 1st panel discusses
#Progressive
pro-Europeanism as narrative for necessary reforms 👉
@knutdethlefsen.bsky.social
👉Estelle Goeger 👉Ana Catarina Mendes 👉
@cmstahl.bsky.social
👉Jordi Harrison 👉
@afscharian.bsky.social
Find out more on FEPS' work on
#Training
🔗
feps-europe.eu/training/
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
5 months ago
📢 "Speeding up processes cannot undermine the consensus at the core of inclusive standardisation". 🙋 Our Deputy Secretary General
@cmstahl.bsky.social
at "A Strategic Dialogue for an Inclusive Standardisation System", on the importance of inclusiveness in revising the EU Reg. on Standardisation.
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Claes-Mikael Stahl
6 months ago
📢 This week in Dublin at the
@etuc-ces.bsky.social
,
#ICTU
and
#NSAI
awareness event on
#standardisation
. 💡 Keynote speakers
@gerrymccormack.bsky.social
and Geraldine Larkin opened the meeting, followed by a welcoming message of
@cmstahl.bsky.social
and great discussions with participants!
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Claes-Mikael Stahl
European Trade Unions
6 months ago
Today, a delegation of trade union leaders are brining the interests of working people to the highest level of the EU. At the
#TripartiteSocialSummit
, we are presenting our plan to put Europe’s Social Model at the core of its success today and into the future.
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
6 months ago
🙋 Today is
#WorldStandardsDay2025
! 👇 Ahead of the
#EC
revision of
#EURegulation1025/2012
on
#Standardisation
, we share important priorities (further info:
shorturl.at/Xto4u
) 📢 For more on the ongoing EC public consultation, stay tuned!
@cmstahl.bsky.social
@etuc-ces.bsky.social
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
European Trade Unions
6 months ago
Huge numbers have shown up today for the national demonstration in
#Brussels
, Belgium. Workers and their unions 🟢🔴🔵 are taking a stand for
#QualityJobs
& fair pensions.
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
6 months ago
📢 The
@etuc-ces.bsky.social
brings the voice of millions of workers to
#standardisation
- to ensure it supports good working conditions. 👋 On
#WorldStandardsDay2025
,
@etuc-ces.bsky.social
Deputy General Secretary
@cmstahl.bsky.social
reflects on the role of inclusiveness in standardisation.
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
European Trade Unions
7 months ago
Democracy must not be a politics of closure but of continual renewal. Fear closes the future. Politics must be more than fear. Democracy is worth defending not only because it protects rights but because it keeps the future open.
www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...
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Hope is not naïve optimism
It is a political choice
https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy-and-society/hope-is-not-naive-optimism-it-is-a-political-choice-8603/
0
6
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
Having a piece on hope as a political choice published today. By coincidence today, as hope did return. How can progressives fight back the far right?
@etuc-ces.bsky.social
www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...
loading . . .
Hope is not naïve optimism
It is a political choice
https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy-and-society/hope-is-not-naive-optimism-it-is-a-political-choice-8603/
7 months ago
0
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
European Trade Unions
7 months ago
In fighting back against today’s right-wing populists, we must remember: hope is not naïve optimism. It is a political choice. Do not miss ETUC Deputy General Secretary
@cmstahl.bsky.social
piece on IPS journal ⤵️
www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...
loading . . .
Hope is not naïve optimism
It is a political choice
https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy-and-society/hope-is-not-naive-optimism-it-is-a-political-choice-8603/
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3
Having a piece on hope as a political choice published today. By coincidence today, as hope did return. How can progressives fight back the far right?
@etuc-ces.bsky.social
www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...
loading . . .
Hope is not naïve optimism
It is a political choice
https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy-and-society/hope-is-not-naive-optimism-it-is-a-political-choice-8603/
7 months ago
0
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reposted by
Claes-Mikael Stahl
Dani Rodrik
7 months ago
Yes, shared prosperity is really possible. In these dark times I hope this book will provide readers a glimpse of a brighter future and ideas on how to get there. (And a big thank you to some of my favorite scholars who offered the words of praise on the back cover.)
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