The aim of this hybrid conference, organised by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), is to explore the effects and the root causes of inequality, and to identify in greater detail the policies and institutions that have the power to render our societies more fair, sustainable, and equal.
A great paradox of our times is that while there is a general consensus that growing inequalities are threatening social, economic and human development, there appears to be little collective reflection on what actions should be taken in order to redress this state of affairs. Inequality is not an accident of history but the product of a series of ideologically embedded, yet ultimately political, choices about the way our economies and societies generate and allocate resources and opportunities.
The 2022 ETUI-ETUC joint conference will seek to trigger such a process of reflection and debate. The discourse surrounding inequality must now move beyond the important task of mapping out, measuring, and ascertaining the many facets and precise nature of this multidimensional and complex problem, and embark onto the more normative quest of imagining and defining a more equal society.
Ultimately, the profound distributional questions that underpin this quest must be subject to public deliberation and democratic decision-making. But to ensure that this process is genuinely participative and transformative, a space needs to be created for the exploration of egalitarian ideas and principles, and of the role of policies and institutions, to assist and bolster the debate.
This conference will seek to further develop this enquiry, by exploring in greater depth both the effects and the root causes of inequality, and by identifying in greater detail the policies and institutions that have the power to render our societies more fair, resilient, sustainable, and equal.
The keynote speaker at this conference, the renowned economist of inequality Thomas Piketty, will take us on a trip through history, demonstrating that human society has in fact been moving fairly consistently toward greater equality.
Wednesday, 22 June — Friday, 24 June
Thon Hôtel EU
Rue da la Loi/Wetstraat 75, 1040 Brussels
and online
Interpretation: English, French, Spanish (only for some of the sessions)
Organisation: European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
supported by Alternatives Economiques, euobserver, Green European Journal, Social Europe and Voxeurop
For more information, please visit the conference website.
Programme
Wednesday, 22 June
13:30 – 14:00 (CET): Opening of the conference
Speaker:
- Nicola Countouris, Director of Research Department, ETUI
14:15 – 15:45 (CET): Simultaneous panels
PANEL 1: Towards gender equality in unpaid care work
Speakers:
- Barbara Helfferich, Independent researcher & consultant
- Carolina Vidal López, Confederal Secretary for Women, Equality and Working Conditions CCOOPaula Franklin, Senior Researcher, ETUI
- Paola Panzeri, EPSU
- Kalina Arabadjieva, Researcher, ETUI
PANEL 2: Addressing a new constellation of inequalities in context of climate emergency
Speakers:
- Béla Galgóczi, Senior researcher, ETUIAna Marta Guillén, Professor of sociology, University of Oviedo
- Maria Petmesidou, Professor emerita of social policy, Democritus University, Greece
- Milena Buchs, Associate Professor in Sustainability, Economics and Low Carbon Transitions,University of Leeds
- Penny Clarke, Deputy General Secretary, EPSU
- Mehtap Akgüç, Senior Researcher, ETUI
PANEL 3: Digitalisation and the flexible workforce: new labour market challenges
Speakers:
- Wouter Zwysen, Senior Researcher, ETUI
- Agnieszka Piasna, Senior Researcher, ETUI
- Birte Dedden, Director of the ICTS (information, communication and technology services) sector UNI Europa, the European services worker union
- Uma Rani, Senior Economist at the Research DepartmentInternational Labour Office (ILO)
- Pamela Meil, Director, International Studies, Senior Research Fellow Institute for Social Science Research, Munich
PANEL 4: Equality through trade union education and training
Speakers:
- Evelin Toth, Senior Programme Officer, Workers’ Activities, ITC-ILO
- Amaia Otaegui, ETUI network of trainers for women
- Jone Robledo, Secretariat for Trade Union Training Processes and Social Policies, CCOO – Basque Country
- Paula Mejía González, Education Officer, ETUI
- Franklin Kimbimbi, Education Officer, ETUI
PANEL 5: The politics of (in)equality: the populist-right, the lefts and the unions
Speakers:
- Tim Vlandas, Associate Professor of Comparative Social Policy, University of Oxford
- Bianca Luna Fabris, Researcher and Communication Officer, ETUI
- Philippe Pochet, General Director, ETUI
- Silja Häusermann, Professor and Head of Department at the Department of Political Science, University of Zurich
- Guglielmo Meardi, Professor of Sociology of Work and Economy, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence
15:45 – 16:15 (CET): Networking tea break
16:15 – 17:45 (CET): Simultaneous panels
PANEL 6: Unequal protection against occupational risks
Speakers:
- Tony Musu, Senior Researcher, ETUI
- Enrico Somaglia, Deputy Secretary General, European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Unions
- Sara Matthieu, MEP Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, European Parliament
- Aude Cefaliello, Researcher, ETUI
- Isaline Ossieur, Junior Adviser in the Social Affairs department, Business Europe
PANEL 7: Does the stock market drive inequality?
Speakers:
- Aleksandra Palinska, Senior Research and Advocacy officer, Finance Watch
- Sigurt Vitols, Associate Researcher, ETUI
- Stan De Spiegelaere, Director of Policy and Research, UNI Europa
PANEL 8: Increasing wage gaps between firms: impact on inequality
Speakers:
- Wouter Zwysen, Senior Researcher, ETUI
- Silvia Avram, Senior Research Fellow University of Essex
- Alexander Hijzen, Senior Economist, OECD
- Are Skeie Hermansen, Associate Professor, University of Oslo
PANEL 9: EU socio-economic governance for equal society in times of crisis
Speakers:
- Susanne Conze, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (EAC), European Commission
- Silvia Rainone, Researcher, ETUI
- Zane Rasnača, Senior Researcher, ETUI
- Vivien Ann Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration, Boston University
- Zsolt Darvas, Senior Research Fellow, Corvinus University of Budapest
PANEL 10: From just transition to global climate justice
Speakers:
- Isadora Cardoso Vasconcelos, Fellow, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS)
- Birsha Ohdedar, Lecturer in Climate Change and Environmental Law, SOAS
- Srestha Banerjee, Director, Just Transition, International Forum for Environment, Sustainability & Technology (iFOREST), India
- Samantha Smith, Director of the Just Transition Centre, ITUC
- Francis Dara, General Secretary, Koyla Shramik Sabha (HMS)
- Willy De Backer, Editor Green New Deal newsletter, ETUI
17:45 – 18:00 (CET): Networking break
18:00 – 19:00 (CET): Wrap-up first day
Speaker:
- Bianca Luna Fabris, Researcher and Communication Officer, ETUI
Moderation:
- Jacki Davis, Professional moderator
19:00 – 20:00 (CET): Reception
Thursday, 23 June
09:00 – 10:30 (CET): Simultaneous panels
PANEL 11: The ECB’s policies and inequality: impacts, trade-offs and the question of democratic accountability
Speakers:
- Clément Fontan, Professor of European Economic Policy, UcLouvain and University of Saint-Louis, Brussels
- Stanislas Jourdan, Executive Director, Positive Money Europe
- Sotiria Theodoropoulou, Head of unit European economic, employment and social policies / Senior Researcher, ETUI
PANEL 12: Minimum Income Schemes and the rise in inequality
Speakers:
- Daniel Clegg, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, University of Edinburgh
- Bianca Luna Fabris, Researcher and Communication Officer, ETUI
- Sarah Marchal, Researcher, University of Antwerp,
- Ilaria Madama, Associate Professor, Universita’ Degli Studi di Milano
- Kahina Rabahi, Policy and Advocacy coordinator, European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN)
PANEL 13: Democratizing firms to redress power inequality
Speakers:
- Sara Lafuente Hernandez, Researcher, ETUI
- Agnes Akkerman, Professor of Regulation of Labour, University of Amsterdam
- Andrew Cumbers, Professor in Regional Political Economy, University of Glasgow
- Isabelle Ferreras, Professor at the Department of Political and Social Sciences and at the School of Economics, UCLouvain
- Andrea Bassi, Associate Professor of Sociology, Bologna University
- Stan De Spiegelaere, Director of Policy and Research, UNI Europa
PANEL 14: Work-related psychosocial risks and health inequality: how to prevent suffering that comes with a price tag?
Speakers:
- Hélène Sultan-Taïeb, Professor, Université du Québec à Montréal
- Nico Dragano, Professor, Institute of Medical Sociology, University of Düsseldorf
- Meri Koivusalo, Professor, Global Health and Development, Tampere University
- Aaron Reeves, Associate Professor of Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation, Oxford University
- Paula Franklin, Senior Researcher, ETUI
PANEL 15: Reception and integration of refugees: lessons learnt for the Ukraine crisis
Speakers:
- Yuliya Kosyakova, post-doctoral senior researcher, Migration and International Labour Studies Department in the Institute for Employment Research (IAB)
- Semih Tumen, Professor of Economics, TED University
- Mehtap Akgüç, Senior Researcher, ETUI
- Silvia Carta, Policy Analyst, European Policy Centre
10:30 – 11:00 (CET): Networking tea break
11:00 – 12:30 (CET): Wrap-up second day and preliminary conclusions
Speakers:
- Nicola Countouris, Director of Research Department, ETUI
- Marcus Meyer, Senior Researcher, ETUI
- Bianca Luna Fabris, Researcher and Communication Officer, ETUI
- Paula Franklin, Senior Researcher, ETUI
Moderation:
- Jacki Davis, professional moderator
12:30 – 14:00 (CET): Networking lunch break
14:00 – 15:00 (CET): Opening the public part of the conference
PLENARY A: Rising inequalities in a changing world
Speakers:
- Luca Visentini, General Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation
- Philippe Pochet, General Director, ETUI, Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation
- Evelyn Regner, Vice-President, European Parliament
- Sebastian Königs, Senior Economist – Inequalities, OECD
- Heinz Koller, Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, ILO
15:00 – 15:30 (CET): Networking tea break
15:30 – 17:00 (CET): PLENARY B: ‘The future is up to us. The past shows us how.’ What policies do reduce inequalities?
Speakers:
- Liina Carr, Confederal Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation
- Luca Visentini, General Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation
- Marie-Hélène Ska, General Secretary, Belgian Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (CSC/ACV)
- Thomas Piketty, Professor at EHESS and at the Paris School of Economics Co-director, World Inequality Lab & World Inequality Database
- Jan Willem Goudriaan, General Secretary, EPSU
Friday, 24 June
09:00 – 10:30 (CET): Simultaneous plenaries
PLENARY C: The problem with inequality
Speakers:
- Isabelle Schömann, Confederal Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation
- Ivailo Kalfin, Executive Director, Eurofound
- Nabil Ahmed, Head of Executive Strategy and Communications, Oxfam International
- Chidi King, Chief of the Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Branch, ILO
- Carlien Scheele, Director, European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)
- Sotiria Theodoropoulou, Head of unit European economic, employment and social policies / Senior Researcher, ETUI
PLENARY D: Climate change is not an equaliser
Speakers:
- Ludovic Voet, Confederal Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation
- Kate Raworth, creator of the ‘doughnut of social and planetary boundaries’, and co-founder of Doughnut Economics Action Lab
- Philippe Lamberts, MEP, Co-president, The Greens/European Free Alliance
- Eloi Laurent, Professor, Sciences Po, Paris and Stanford University
- Lebogang Mulaisi, Head of Policy Unit, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
- Béla Galgóczi, Senior researcher, ETUI
10:30 – 11:00 (CET): Networking break
11:00 – 12:30 (CET): PLENARY E: A Blueprint for an equal society
Speakers:
- Claes-Mikael Ståhl, Deputy General Secretary, ETUC
- Sandra Fredman, Professor of the Laws of the British Commonwealth and the USA, Oxford University
- Isabelle Ferreras, Professor at the Department of Political and Social Sciences and at the School of Economics, UCLouvain
- Nicolas Schmit, Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, European Commission
- Philippe Pochet, General Director, ETUI
12:30 – 13:30 (CET): Networking lunch break
13:30 – 15:00 (CET): PLENARY F: What can the trade unions do?
Speakers:
- Nicola Countouris, Director of Research Department, ETUI
- Esther Lynch, Deputy General Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation
- Oliver Roethig, Regional Secretary, UNI Europa
- Susan Hayter, Senior Labour Relations Specialist, ILO
- Yolanda Gil Alonso, President of the Youth Committee of the ETUC
Moderation:
- Jacki Davis, Professional moderator
15:00 – 15:30 (CET): Conclusions from the conference
Speakers:
- Esther Lynch, Deputy General Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation
- Philippe Pochet, General Director, ETUI