Sharan Burrow

Sharan Burrow is general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.

Sharan Burrow

Jobs and a just transition can deliver climate ambition

Sharan Burrow 9th November 2021

As COP26 continues, global social ambition will have to match that for the climate to secure a liveable world for all.

For workers, another year of living dangerously

Sharan Burrow 5th July 2021

Workers have stood on the frontline of the pandemic, but the ITUC Global Rights Index documents an anti-worker agenda.

Vaccine nationalism won’t defeat the pandemic

Sharan Burrow 23rd February 2021

International co-operation is vital to make vaccination, as a public good, available to all.

A new social contract

Sharan Burrow 24th June 2020

The 2020 ITUC Global Rights Index exposes the failings of the world’s economic model—a new social contract can help us build a new one.

UN treaty on business and human rights vital for economic and social justice

Sharan Burrow 28th October 2019

How can transnational corporations be held to account in a world of nation states? A binding UN treaty would be an important step.

Towards a new Minimum Wage Policy in Germany and Europe: WSI minimum wage report 2022

The past year has seen a much higher political profile for the issue of minimum wages, not only in Germany, which has seen fresh initiatives to tackle low pay, but also in those many other countries in Europe that have embarked on substantial and sustained increases in statutory minimum wages. One key benchmark in determining what should count as an adequate minimum wage is the threshold of 60 per cent of the median wage, a ratio that has also played a role in the European Commission's proposals for an EU-level policy on minimum wages. This year's WSI Minimum Wage Report highlights the feasibility of achieving minimum wages that meet this criterion, given the political will. And with an increase to 12 euro per hour planned for autumn 2022, Germany might now find itself promoted from laggard to minimum-wage trailblazer.

FREE DOWNLOAD

Bilan social / Social policy in the EU: state of play 2021 and perspectives

The new edition of the Bilan social 2021, co-produced by the European Social Observatory (OSE) and the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), reveals that while EU social policy-making took a blow in 2020, 2021 was guided by the re-emerging social aspirations of the European Commission and the launch of several important initiatives. Against the background of Covid-19, climate change and the debate on the future of Europe, the French presidency of the Council of the EU and the von der Leyen commission must now be closely scrutinised by EU citizens and social stakeholders.

AVAILABLE HERE

Living and working in Europe 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic continued to be a defining force in 2021, and Eurofound continued its work of examining and recording the many and diverse impacts across the EU. Living and working in Europe 2021 provides a snapshot of the changes to employment, work and living conditions in Europe. It also summarises the agency’s findings on issues such as gender equality in employment, wealth inequality and labour shortages. These will have a significant bearing on recovery from the pandemic, resilience in the face of the war in Ukraine and a successful transition to a green and digital future.

AVAILABLE HERE

EU Care Atlas: a new interactive data map showing how care deficits affect the gender earnings gap in the EU

Browse through the EU Care Atlas, a new interactive data map to help uncover what the statistics are often hiding: how care deficits directly feed into the gender earnings gap.

While attention is often focused on the gender pay gap (13%), the EU Care Atlas brings to light the more worrisome and complex picture of women’s economic inequalities. The pay gap is just one of three main elements that explain the overall earnings gap, which is estimated at 36.7%. The EU Care Atlas illustrates the urgent need to look beyond the pay gap and understand the interplay between the overall earnings gap and care imbalances.

BROWSE THROUGH THE MAP