British and German, Andrew Watt is the new Director of the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), associated with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). He intends to step up research into wages and collective agreements, to develop work on the recommendations of the ‘Draghi’ report, and he is also concerned about the repercussions of the American election on the European Union. (Interviewed on Tuesday 29 October by Solenn Paulic)
Agence Europe – What is your background to date and what direction will you give to the ETUI’s work?
Andrew Watt – I come from the Hans Böckler Foundation and have already worked at ETUI for 12 years as Chief Economist. My intellectual background is therefore a little more from the economic side of things. One of my objectives will be to make the Institute a little more present in the discussions.
I look at some of today’s social and political issues, such as the threat of the extreme right in Europe and the resurgence and possible re-election of Donald Trump, through an economic lens. And I’d like to work a bit more on what motivates these changes of attitude on the part of workers, but also trade union members who may also turn to the extreme right.
All of this is linked to job insecurity, structural changes and the inflationary episode we have experienced. And in this context, immigration gave people the feeling that the situation was no longer under control. Right-wing politicians have succeeded in convincing ordinary working people that their problems are in fact caused by immigrants.
We are in a state of ‘polycrisis’, between climate change, migration, the impact on economic policies, structural change and geopolitical tensions. These elements are interwoven in a complex way, and we need an analysis that will enable us to avoid disastrous political developments, such as the breakthrough of Donald Trump in America.
How will these global concerns be reflected in the work of the ETUI?
There are three main units at ETUI and an ‘education’ department to train trade unionists, for example. These units cover social dialogue and collective agreements, job quality and pay, and everything to do with health and safety at work.
I would particularly like to strengthen our work on collective agreements and wages. We see that, in some countries, the coverage of workers by collective bargaining is stagnating or even declining, as in Germany.
For trade unions, the European Directive on adequate minimum wages was a major step forward (see EUROPE 13035/27). It also contains the objective of covering 80% of European workers through collective bargaining. ETUI will also focus on this.
We also want to develop the recommendations made in the ‘Draghi’ report, particularly on labour (see EUROPE 13478/1). And we will be working on the need to keep workers in good health. This is imperative for the economy and for our social systems.
Is the geopolitical context – the possible re-election of Donald Trump in the United States, Russian aggression in Ukraine, trade tensions with China – conducive to an improvement in working conditions in the EU?
Philippe Pochet, my predecessor, gave top priority to the just transition and to examining the needs of the ‘green’ transition from a social perspective. We will continue this work, but we can see that these ‘green’ priorities are now under threat.
In a more difficult political environment, we will therefore have to try to convince the decision-makers that, if we want this transition, we have to bring the workers with us, involve them, listen to them and understand their concerns.
In contrast with the mass unemployment of the last decade, we now have labour shortages, but also a problem of job quality and pay in certain sectors, for example in the care for older persons. People are simply leaving this sector because they can find easier, better-paid jobs elsewhere. Until now, decision-makers thought that pushing wages down, by becoming more competitive, was the way to increase employment.
That’s why the ‘Draghi’ report is so important.
How can this report change things?
It is particularly welcome because it puts an end to the idea of competitiveness through wage cuts. This is not the way forward. What we need to talk about is productivity.
And it tells us that we need massive investment. Unfortunately, it does not say where this money might come from, nor does it criticise the EU’s new fiscal rules. These rules do not get to the heart of the problem, i.e. how to obtain the necessary financing for investment.
The report also talks about deregulation and Capital Markets Union. I’m a bit more sceptical about these policy areas, but we’ll engage in this debate.
Employers are pushing this deregulation programme very hard. Let’s look at what academic research tells us about regulatory burden. We can have this debate, but that’s only a small part of the problem.