On February 5, 2025 a demonstration entitled "Investing in good jobs in industry" will take place in Brussels, organised by IndustriAll Europe with the participation of all its member organisations. Its aim is to mobilise staff in the process of preparing and approving the Clean Industry Agreement, which the European Commission will present on February 26. This agreement is aimed at restoring and maintaining the competitiveness of European industry.
IndustriAll Europe, together with the member trade unions, has formulated a number of requirements that they want to jointly enforce in the content of this agreement, so that in addition to the need to maintain competitiveness, social aspects and employees' demands for quality working conditions are also taken into account when making investment decisions.
The planned activity of the European trade unions is intended to be a manifestation of the demands of the trade unions and a signal to European and national politicians that employees across Europe support these demands for investment in good working conditions.
Industrial companies from all over Europe will participate. From Slovakia, it will be trade unionists associated in OZ KOVO. OZ KOVO is a member of industriAll and the chairman of RO OZ KOVO U. S. Steel Košice, Juraj Varga, represents Slovak "blacksmiths" in the Basic Metals section. Trade unionists from U. S. Steel Košice are also going to support their demands, forty of them will go to Brussels. What are the main points they want to communicate? What do they want to achieve? "That the EU and national governments adopt an industrial policy to prevent factory closures, maintain competitiveness and secure the right to energy by investing in modern grids and infrastructure for abundant, affordable, reliable, low-carbon energy. February will also mark the anniversary of the Antwerp Declaration, which was supported not only by trade unionists, but also by the Slovak government. This declaration says that the timelines of the so-called Green Deal need to be reconsidered. We are not just a drop in the ocean, we are strong together, we have to draw attention to each other, when there is no other way, also in the streets." said Juraj Varga.
We will inform you about the participation of our trade unionists on the X App.
European trade unionists associated in industriAll have already marched through the streets of Brussels in the past. In November 2016, more than fifteen thousand steelworkers from almost all countries of the old continent showed their loud "No" to a Europe without steel. At the demonstration, they appealed to the European Commission to finally stop the decline in the sector, which employs hundreds of thousands of people.
The cover photo also comes from this march, which was also attended by our trade unionists.
Last March, IndustriAll organized the European Day of Action. It also took place on the premises of our company. The trade unionists wanted to send a signal to the members of the European Parliament in this way as well. They formulated key demands, including a requirement to ensure a level playing field for European steel producers and to limit steel imports from so-called third countries. They also demanded truthful information about the actual environmental impacts and shares of greenhouse gas emissions.
