Trade Unions, the far right, and housing

At the Berlin meeting (june 2019) of the European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and the City () this conference of European Trade Unions was mentioned, where European trade Unions discussed the growing influence of extreme right forces, and how to deal with them

The conference was organised by the ETUC and their research and training institute ETUI in Brussels on January 23 2019. See more information here.

Dutch Trade Union FNV made a report of the event, so in Dutch.

Amongst the many findings, conclusions and recommendations, one recommendation was that trade unions should commit tot the fight for decent housing for everybody, as that is one of the sources of malcontent of citizens, that makes some of them drift to the extreme right for ‘solutions’.

As was written in the FNV-report: “Trade unions should see themselves as communities of values – not just as service organisations for individual interests – and strive to make this clear in their internal and external communication. This includes not only a clear stance against racism and fascism, but also a demand for decent housing, schools, hospitals and public services and economic equality between people, countries and regions.”

See for details of the conference and speakers and their papers on the website of ETUI.