No to Putin’s war! No war logic! Solidarity with the people of Ukraine!

Putin's invasion of Ukraine makes us uncertain, shocked, almost helpless – but not speechless! We see pictures of fleeing people, of small children, workers, students, families, elderly people, who try to leave the cities as quickly as possible. We see bombed houses and we see endless war material. We, the European Young Christian Workers, express our solidarity to the people in Ukraine, to the refugees and to all the victims of the war. This war of aggression was unleashed by Vladimir Putin on the basis of lies and historical falsifications only responding to an imperialist logic. We express our consideration and our respect to the people in Russia who denounce and mobilize against the war.

We demand an immediate end to the war actions of the Russian military and the withdrawal from Ukraine. We demand diplomatic negotiations and initiatives that promote peace and the right to self-determination of the Ukrainian people.

It is difficult to defend peace in times of war. It seems important to us to affirm that peace is a policy which is built by solidarity between peoples, by the refusal of bloc logics and by the refusal of militarist investment.

We see the logic of war spreading in other states. Some EU countries are planning on investing huge amounts of money in military armament, using the conflict in Ukraine as an excuse to do so. This money creates powder kegs instead of peace. We want the means to be allocated to carry out peace policies. Where are the large sums for labour protection, climate protection, Covid consequences or education? What investments go into the promotion of democracy, the international exchange of young people or into solidarity-based economic projects?

We also hear about selection at the borders between "good" and "bad" refugees and see people reproduce this thought pattern in media. People are discriminated because of the colour of their skin or their language and are turned away. What cynicism! We demand freedom of movement for all people who set out to escape war, injustice and repression. We Ask the european governements to welcome all the refugee with dignity and solidarity

Let us stand together in solidarity and act for dignity and peace: In the face of fear, choose courage. In the face of division, choose unity and in the face of aggression, choose peace.

JOC Belgium: Do new generations really want flexibility?

Also available: ES FR

For FEB, the Belgian employers' federation, there is a new generation that spontaneously wants to become independent and wants flexibility, preferring it to stability. The "Temps presse!" campaign conducted a counter-investigation.

It appeared that the segmented labour market, flexible contracts and the difficulties of being recognised as a jobseeker are seen by a majority of young people interviewed as a brake on their expectations.

In October 2017, the Federation of Belgian Enterprises (FEB) organised its "Young Talent in Action" event to present its solutions to the problem of youth unemployment on the basis of a survey conducted by IVOX, a market research firm specialising in online questionnaires in the form of a competition. FEB concluded that "Tomorrow's young workers are very flexible and expect the same attitude from their future employer". It calls for the control of wage costs, the reintroduction of the trial period or the relaxation of the rules on temporary agency work. What is generally identified as the causes of young people's difficulties (not chosen flexibility, temporary work, self-employment scheme) becomes, after investigation by the FEB, precisely what would free young people from precariousness.

CAJ Germany celebrates Equal Pay Day on March 2019

Equal Pay Day stands for the gender pay gap between women and men, which according to the Federal Statistical Office is 21 percent in Germany. This large pay gap means that women work for free until 18 March, i.e. 77 days, while men have been paid for their work since 1 January. Thus, the gross hourly wage for men is 4.41 euros more than for women.

Germany lies thereby in the European comparison far behind. Positive examples in Europe are Romania, Italy and Belgium, which have gender pay gaps of less than 7 percent.

15 March 2019 — Charleroi, Belgium: Demonstration Against Repression

Also available: ES FR

Manif charleroi 15 mars

Discrimination and racism on the part of the police, repression of people’s movements, migrants hunting, tracking down of homeless people, widespread filing of personal records… It is most urgent to get organized and denounce the security logic. The Stop Repression campaign has been mobilizing against police violence and state repression for eight years now. We hope many of you will join us in the streets of Charleroi on March 15 for the International Day Against Police Violence!

Stop repression of migrations!

Subject to a repression organized at the highest levels of the state, the only crime of refugees and undocumented people is to look for a better future. They are arrested with brutality and placed in closed centers pending deportation. Closed centers are real prisons, and detention conditions are so bad that some migrants attempt to take their own life. Nowadays, even families with children can end up in a closed center. Nobody is spared by those racist security measures taken by the authorities.