00:00Angry and discontent, metalworkers from across Europe met in Brussels.
00:10They fear for their jobs and their livelihoods because of the European green transition.
00:16They are demanding that the bloc's new industrial policy includes more safeguards for workers
00:20and families in the sector.
00:23One of the workers' demand is for the EU to create more effective training and retraining
00:28of workers, even at the expense of working time.
00:54Almost 1 million industrial jobs have been lost in the EU since 2019.
00:58According to the trade unions, employers are cosmeticising the full extent of the crisis
01:03with short-term contracts and reduced working hours, which could mean up to 4.3 million
01:08job losses.
01:10Trade unions say more than 100,000 jobs have been put at risk in recent months.
01:14Large companies across Europe have announced factory closures and redundancies.
01:18Two German companies, ThyssenKrupp and Volkswagen, are on the top of that list.
01:23To help with the transition, the EU has set up the Just Transition Fund as part of the
01:27Green Deal, with 17.5 billion euros.
01:30The amount seems big, but so is the task.
01:33I think it's good that we have a Just Transition Fund, but I think right now it's not big enough
01:38and it can't be used for everything that it needs to be used.
01:42For my intents, we need to broaden the scope, we need to have enough resources, especially
01:48in those regions where the transition really hasn't taken place yet.
01:52So it's important to have a strong Just Transition Fund to support those sectors that need to
01:57transition and make sure that the workers get the benefit of it.
02:03Trade union representatives also had talks with the European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy.
02:08They want the executive to draw up a directive on fair transitions, forcing companies to
02:13anticipate and manage change in full cooperation with trade unions.
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