Dear Congress, dear comrades,

The trade union makes the difference.

You know this. You see it at your work place. You see it in your country.

I am here to tell you that we also see that in the European Parliament:

The trade union makes the difference.

When I came to Brussels more than four years ago, there was no talk about asbestos, the silent killer. There was no planned legislation, no nothing.

There was a lot of talk about a just green transition and the upcoming renovation wave of 30 million buildings in Europe. But no talk about how to avoid that even more construction workers will lose their lives to asbestos if they are not better protected when doing the renovation.

There was talk of The Europe Beats Cancer agenda, but no focus on the biggest occupational killer being asbestos.

There was talk of a Vision Zero of work related deaths, but no connection to the reality of millions of workers.

Lots of talk – no concrete action.

But then the trade union came into the picture. I was contacted by your excellent colleagues from EFBWW in Brussels.

They rightly pointed out that this had to be changed. And together, after years of fighting, we changed it!

You as EFBWW managed to put the deadly asbestos on the agenda in the European Union. You pushed for action. You made a difference. A difference that will be felt – not least by your members.

I am proud to have been taking part in this fight with you. And I am proud of the ambitious asbestos reform that we have managed to push through.

We have ensured a 50 times lowering of the limit value in law. From the current 100.000 fibers per cubic meter it will be lowered, first to 10.000 and from there down to 2.000. This is significant.

And we did not stop there. We have introduced certification and permit requirement for companies that handle asbestos so they need to know what they are doing. And they need to prove that they do.

We have introduced new and detailed training requirement for the workers so they are better equipped to protect themselves and their colleagues.

We have closed the loopholes in the former legislation that made it possible for employers to avoid health surveillance and registration and thereby made it easier for workers to gain access to compensation and recognition if they get sick.

This is the European construction workers union making a difference for millions of workers in Europe. This will save lives.

I will be the first to tell you. This was not an easy win. It took us four years where we first had to gather a majority in the European Parliament for ambitious action that forced The European Commission to put forward legislation. Against its will.

Then we needed to put a lot of pressure and hard work into the negotiations to increase the ambition of the Commission’s proposal significantly. And then we had a big fight with the Council and push backs from the employers.

But, we got there! And that is all that matters!

Actually, the asbestos reform is the only issue in this legislature where the European Commission has been pushed to put forward legislation in the area of employment and social affairs that it had not already planned.

This shows that a strong union makes the difference. That it makes a difference when trade unions and progressive members of the European Parliament works together.

Let us not forget that, in the struggles ahead of us.

Even though it is a cold time of the year, it is a hot time for labour struggles – not least here in the Nordic countries.

We see the Finnish workers and trade unions push back against the government attack on their right to collective bargaining – and we stand in solidarity with them!

We see the Swedish Tesla workers taking up the fight against the notorious union buster Elon Musk to secure their workers’ rights – and we stand in solidarity with them.

And we see Danish, Norwegian and Finnish workers joining the fight in solidarity with their Swedish colleagues – and we stand in solidarity with them.

This is the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, and his greed crashing directly into organized labor. This is workers solidarity. This is trade unions making a difference and taking the fight.

This fighting spirit will be decisive for the future of Europe.

It is the kind of spirit that we need.

Because the reality is brutal out there.

A recent study by Aalborg University in Denmark showed the extreme exploitation of migrant workers in the construction sector:

Not only are the migrant workers very often forced to work in dangerous conditions. When they get hurt, they are fired and forced out of Denmark.

I am sure you will see examples of the same brutality in your country.

What we see around in the work places in Europe is not only underpayment and social dumping.

What we see is criminal behavior with treats, beating and violence.

What we see is that subcontracting has changed into an abusive business model where many employers provide no real service apart from exploitation. They are plain and simply mafia-like in their behavior.

If this goes on unchallenged, it will not only destroy our colleagues out there in the work places – it will destroy the European labour market, as we know it.

In a dangerous time where respect for international and humanitarian law cannot be taken for granted as we see it here in Europe and in the Middle East we need solidarity more than ever.

We need solidarity in Europe against Putin’s war of aggression in Ukraine. I see you are building that strong union solidarity with your Ukrainian colleagues. And I want to thank you for that huge effort.

I hope Ukraine will be part of the European Union in the near future. This requires changes within Ukraine to meet the Copenhagen Criteria’s and this requires changes within the European Union if we are to make sure that our Ukrainian colleagues will be well treated when they enter the EU.

We need a fair labour market for workers in Europe.

We need to stop social dumping and exploitation.

We need stronger regulation to protect workers and tough enforcement against greedy employers and crooks.

Dear EFBWW,

You have made a difference in this legislature. You have set the agenda on asbestos and you changed the law.

You must use this power again!

We are now approaching a new European election.

Let us use this election to set the agenda for a social and green Europe. A fair Europe for workers.

We need to end abusive subcontracting by limiting the subcontracting chain and enforce liability through the chain.

We need to stop public money going to companies without collective agreement by revising the public procurement directive and enforce social conditionality to all EU founding.

We need to make sure that the planned European Social Security Pass becomes an enforcement tool for authorities, labour inspectors and trade unions to combat fraud and abusive practices.

Dear Congress, the comrades,

I believe we can change Europe for the better.

I know we can make a change when we stand together.

I know the trade union makes the difference.

Let us set an agenda for the creation of green union jobs where climate action and social protection goes hand and hand.

Let us change the rules with a Social Progress Protocol so that social protection and workers’ rights stand above the economic freedoms of the Single market. If we cannot have a treaty chance before – than at least when Ukraine and Moldova joins the European Union.

Let us create a level playing field where employers that violate our rights are black-listed from public contracts so that decent employers get a fair chance.

Dear comrades,

The trade union makes the difference – also in the upcoming European elections.

Thank you for your time!

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