Institutional racism is still present in Europe. Toxic anti-LGBTI narratives are promoted by certain European governments, threatening the lives of LGBTI people. Extreme right-wing groups foster misinformation and populistic, divisive narratives. Migrant workers in Europe are subject to abuses and attacks.
In addition to visible and public consequences of these trends, discrimination and inequality persist in workplaces around Europe today. People of colour and from ethnic minorities have fewer chances of getting through recruitment processes, are underrepresented in the trade union movement, are less likely to have the same access to educational opportunities as their white counterparts, and often will receive daily harassment in the workplace solely based on the colour of their skin, foreign-sounding names, religious affiliation.
Recognising all these issues and urging the ETF to action, ETF Youth Committee proposed an equality resolution which was adopted by the ETF Executive Committee on 25 November. The resolution calls on the ETF and its affiliates to actively address the topics of diversity, equality and representation in their structures and their work.
ETF Executive Committee recognised that misinformation and fake news targeting certain groups of society pose a threat to the democratic values that are the fundament of the trade union movement and that standing in solidarity will the marginalised and disenfranchised groups is the only way to improve the living conditions for all working people.
To ensure further concrete action on these topics, the resolution instructs the ETF Secretariat to prepare an action plan in order to implement the commitments.