We are living in a very complicated time, very difficult, but in a time of very interesting
changes for Europe and for the world after the pandemic and the war in Ukraine and
the green revolution, all of which have their impact on the world of work and the
organisation of our lives.
This reflection was made by Giulio Romani, Federal Secretary of the European
Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). Romani was one of the foreign guests who
spoke yesterday at the international conference of the GWU on the occasion of its
80th birthday.
He thanked the GWU for the invitation and wished the GWU a wonderful time on its
80th birthday.
In his speech, Romani mentioned several topics related to the world of work and
employees. He said that for the first time, the focus is not on economic sustainability,
but on the idea of a sustainable economy for our workers, for our citizens.
He explained that the fundamental issue today is social sustainability and that this is
at the centre of the sustainable economy. “We have challenges before us today that
affect the world of work, including the environment and climate change, so trade
unions must be at the centre of this scenario, at the centre of a sustainable economy.
He also spoke about one of the main problems in the Mediterranean, namely
immigration, and said that this problem is a complex and common problem for Italy
and Malta, and in this context, he called for us as Europeans to be more committed
to integration and inclusion.
He called for us to do this with intelligence. We want to build a diverse Europe, so
integration should be a European issue and a process of cultural and civil
development in the history of our society. Because if we do not do that, we will
continue to have a problem.
Towards the end of his speech, he talked about democracy and mentioned that in
some countries democracy is in crisis. In this context, he said that therefore the
sustainability of labour and sustainable development should be the important
contribution of trade unions in this whole scenario.
