EU: Construction social partners call for temporary unemployment schemes

EU-level trade union and employers’ organisations in the construction industry have called on governments to take a range of measures to tackle the effects of the economic crisis on the sector, including the introduction of special state-funded temporary unemployment schemes for building workers.

The European-level social partners in construction are: the European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC), which groups 33 employers’ federations from 28 countries; and the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW), which represents 74 trade unions from 30 countries, with a total of 2.3 million members.