Tech firms are spending more than ever on lobbying the European Union amid mounting opposition to the bloc’s digital rules, according to new analysis.

Read my interview with @uaw.org organiser and former autoworker Jeremy — out now in English.

It's easy to mock the French for seeming to want unlimited government spending. I've done it myself. But I sympathise with their anger: France is an underfunded social democracy crossed with an oligarchy. Me @financialtimes.com on France's undertaxed billionaires - close to Macron on.ft.com/4qwaFDh

This week, a historic 140,000 workers from across all of Belgium protested the government's cuts to pensions, salaries and the welfare state.

BREAKING🇪🇺: After the European Parliament adopted a report on public procurement today, we call on the Commission to ensure that public money is only given to companies whose workers are covered by collective agreements.

In her #SOTEU speech, @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu again stressed the need for a so-called “28th regime” for innovative companies. But a new @etui.bsky.social analysis confirms what we have been saying all along: the proposal is unnecessary and harmful.

BREAKING: European unions representing 45 million workers across Europe just sent a letter to EU High Representative Kaja Kallas demanding decisive and principled EU action on Gaza.

The EU-US trade deal averts a tariff war but comes at a high cost for jobs, industry & fair trade. Unions urge a strong political response, democratic scrutiny & investment in Europe’s industrial and tech sovereignty. news.industriall-europe.eu/Article/1334 @judekd.bsky.social @ibarthes.bsky.social

🚨It’s been a year since Amazon workers in India said: 🥵“It’s too hot in the warehouse.” 📦So… did Amazon fix it? 😡Not really. ✊🏿That's why workers are organizing with Amazon India Workers Union #MakeAmazonPay

BREAKING: The European Parliament’s Employment Committee decided to maintain the Amazon lobby ban and reject a closed-door hearing with Amazon representatives. It also committed to holding another hearing and organise a visit to Amazon warehouses.

UNI Europa and EFCI, the European social partners representing workers and employers in the cleaning sector, call on the @ec.europa.eu to promote daytime cleaning and revise the EU public procurement directives in its Quality Jobs Roadmap.

Vandaag een tip van de sluier voor @knack.be: "De Democratie redden begint op het werk" www.knack.be/nieuws/belgi... @denktankminerva.be

Vor rund fünfzig Jahren gründeten belgische Reinigungskräfte ihre eigene Genossenschaft: Sie fegten ihren Chef weg und verdreifachten ihre Löhne. Die Regisseurin Coline Grando hat diese inspirierende Erfolgsgeschichte auf die Leinwand geholt.

"They say we're the ones protecting the internet, keeping kids safe online," the Filipino worker said, "But we are not protected enough." Content moderators — organised in our global alliance — spoke to Reuters about the mental trauma from their work.

While Jeff Bezos held a lavish wedding in Venice, Amazon refused to send a high-level representative to testify in the European Parliament. This is an insult to its workers and our democratic institutions. We demand an end to Amazon's contracts with the European institutions.

In one of the largest demonstrations in recent years, over 25,000 workers took to the streets of Luxembourg yesterday. Solidarity with all workers fighting for decent pensions and collective agreements.

“If an Amazon worker would have behaved this way towards Amazon management, they would have already been fired three times over,” said UNI Europa Regional Secretary Oliver Roethig, in a letter addressed to MEPs on Wednesday.

BREAKING: Amazon has failed to show up in front of the European Parliament for the third time. UNI Europa demands tougher EU sanctions. #MakeAmazonPay

And pay your workers decent wages.

Cleaners like Hayat have seen their working conditions erode over past decades. Employers haven't bid for public contracts because of lowest-price competition. MEPs in the Parliament's IMCO Committee, we all want stronger collective bargaining in public procurement rules – and we want it now.

“We deserve fair pay & good jobs.” Today, European unions representing 45 million workers launched a campaign in the Brussels metro, with essential workers calling on MEPs in the IMCO Committee to strengthen collective bargaining in the ongoing efforts to reform public procurement.

BREAKING: A strong reform of public procurement that links public contracts to collective bargaining could help cancel out Trump’s tariffs and boost growth. This comes as the EU Parliament's IMCO Committee drafts an own-initiative report on procurement reform.

Happy Rerum Novarum!

The ‘Startup and Scaleup Strategy’, published today by @ec.europa.eu, signals plans to attack collective bargaining and curtail labour law. It proposes to introduce a ‘28th regime’, that would allow startups to opt out of national labour law and instead operate under lower EU-wide standards. 🧵

Europe can’t outspend China in the Global South, so it markets ‘values’ and ‘equal partnerships’ instead. But the €300b Global Gateway is rooted in colonialism and centuries of exploitation. A thread:

Belgium’s government plans major cuts to social security. But this will only worsen the shortage of caregivers, caretakers, educators and counsellors. UNI Europa stands with these workers striking in Brussels today for a well-resourced social system.

Extreme-right crime in Germany surged by nearly 50 percent as “politically motivated” offences reached a record high last year.

‼️ Sin limpiadoras no hay universidad. En los 70 lo demostraron con autogestión, dignidad y lucha colectiva. 🔴 Hoy, la precariedad manda. ¿Y si volvemos a barrer desde abajo? Una entrevista de Daniel Kopp con Coline Grando, directora del documental ‘La escoba liberada’ ctxt.es/es/20250501/...

On this day in 1941, workers in Belgium launched one of the first strikes in Nazi-ruled Europe—the so-called “Strike of the 100,000”. They fought against poverty wages—and showed the working class can resist occupation. @standespiegelaere.bsky.social & my 2024 piece for @jacobinmag.bsky.social.

"The hospital cleaners received work clothes that still had blood stains on them." The EU's broken procurement rules lead to a race for the lowest price. For essential workers like cleaners, this means dirty work clothes, bad wages and overwork. The rules must change — now.

Working for an NGO? Join us! NGO workers joined Belgian unions' general strike on 31 March with an amazing NGO Picket. Now Belgian unions announced their new agenda - we'll discuss how NGO workers can join the struggle against Arizona government. 🗓️ 23 April, Weds - 18.00 📍 EPSU office

With the US trade war escalating, we call on the European Commission to introduce a digital services tax, or ‘Amazon Tax’. Amazon benefits from a double unfair economic advantages in the EU: low tax rates and lucrative public contracts. This has to end now.

As the US-EU trade war escalates, UNI Europa urges European institutions to undertake a comprehensive reassessment of public procurement contracts awarded to American companies — including contracts awarded to Amazon Web Services (AWS). Our full statement:

BELGIUM: Why Belgian Workers Are Striking Today – The Real Cost of the Arizona Coalition’s Austerity Agenda www.socialeurope.eu/why-belgian-...

An indignant but joyous general strike in Belgium today. Workers put up over 700 picket lines all across the country to protest the Arizona government’s plans to make us all work longer for less money. Next national day of action: 29 April.

«En Flandre, même Vooruit ne peut pas vraiment soutenir le mouvement de grève par le biais du cadrage médiatique – ils restent silencieux ou doivent rester silencieux et espèrent que cela passera.» via @lesoir.be www.lesoir.be/665334/artic...

“Simply put: I don’t know where this endless march of shortening the act of living leads us to. AI promises to free up time. But if what it spares us from is learning from our friends, writing, painting and exploring the world, then what, actually, are we meant to do with that time?”

Elon Musk is wrecking the government. If he read Marxist state theory, he’d at least understand how it works.

What have workers in trade unions won? Weekends Overtime Minimum wage Pensions Sick Leave Pay rises Maternity leave Equality protections Safety at work Breaks Redundancy Contracts Paid holidays #JoinAUnion

💪Solidarity with our affiliate @KOOPISSENDIKASI as they prepare to strike at #Nike stores in #Turkey tomorrow 👇 Nike is running into trouble in Turkey, where it has the most stores in Europe, adding to the sportswear company’s headaches, reports @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

For Jacobin, I interviewed French filmmaker Coline Grando on her documentary “Le balai libéré”, which traces the story of the eponymous cooperative founded by Belgian cleaners at the University of Louvain-la-Neuve in the 1970s.

European school teachers are out on a strike this morning. They are fighting for their right to a union, job security and a decent pension.

📢Next week, over 600 union leaders from 50 countries will meet in Belfast to build a stronger labour movement and celebrate 25 years of UNI Europa. United, we will move forward through collective bargaining. United, we will win real say and more pay for Europe’s service workers.

BREAKING: A survey commissioned by UNI Europa finds that a large majority of EU citizens (72%) are in favour of public procurement that strengthens workers’ livelihoods through collective bargaining. This is a clear signal to the European Commission as it set outs to reform EU procurement rules.

Europe’s citizens have spoken. 72 per cent of them believe that public procurement – the vast sums of taxpayer money used to award contracts to private companies – should be used to strengthen workers’ pay and conditions. Our Regional Secretary Oliver Roethig in a new op-ed for IPS.

In Belgium, tens of thousands of workers will go on strike today over the new government's planned cuts to public services, pensions and purchasing power. UNI Europa Executive Committee member Lieveke Norga spoke to @brusselstimes.com about the budget question.

🔴The EU Commission is holding a consultation today over plans to weaken laws protecting workers needed to prevent tragedies like the Rana Plaza disaster This is a rigged process - corporate lobbyists outnumber representatives of trade unions and NGOs by five to one 📰 www.etuc.org/en/pressrele...

Longer-term perspective on the rise of US oligarchy

UNI Europa stands with @industrialleurope.bsky.social, which has called on unions across Europe to rally on 5 February in Brussels, at Place Jean Rey, to protect workers, safeguard jobs and drive investment. Join the mobilisation tomorrow.