PERC elected team meeting

The PERC elected team meeting took place in Brussels on 27 July. It was chaired by the PERC President Irakli Petriashvili. The team discussed the implementation of the PERC workplan and its different engagements, and in particular, within the Eastern Partnership context. It was agreed that the PERC should continue demanding proper engagement of labour ministers in the EaP multilateral framework and, in a view of the EaP policies review process, should bring this message to the EU responsible officials prior to the EaP Summit meeting.

Ideas about joint ITUC-ETUC action on wage increase were discussed with Esther Lynch, ETUC confederal secretary in a view of the “End Corporate Greed – Europe Needs a Pay Rise” forum, with particular focus on East-West wage gap, role of collective bargaining in achieving decent wages, pressure by bogus self-employment spread.

Furthermore, the programme for the PERC Summer School was discussed, as well as initial planning for the 2018, with a proposal to focus on “Freedoms and Democracy in Europe”, in a view of deterioration of trade union rights situation. More specifically, grave violations in Turkey and Kazakhstan were discussed. In Turkey, massive dismissals and arrests, including union activists have been implemented since the failed coup-d’etat. In Kazakhstan, the authorities dissolved ITUC affiliated Confederation of Independent Trade Unions and convicted its leaders to different terms of prison, freedom limitation and penalties.