From June 20 to 30, the Pan-European Regional Council (PERC) organized a summer school called “Promoting a new social contract in the PERC region” in Warsaw, Poland.
The meeting was attended by Ester Lanch, PERC General Secretary, Irakli Petriashvili, its president, and 65 representatives from the organization’s member organizations.
On the first day of the event, Luke Triangle, the acting Secretary General of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), spoke about the importance of implementing the “New Social Contract” adopted at the 5th World Congress of ITUC. He said that democratic values are currently under great pressure in the world, huge amounts of money are spent on armaments, and peace is threatened. Also, as a result of wars, jobs are destroyed, and the level of poverty increases. Touching on the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Secretary General said that they always support their Ukrainian colleagues. He also said that members of trade unions were subjected to pressure, even killed and arrested.
The General Secretary of the Confederation of European Trade Unions and the Pan-European Regional Council, Esther Lanch, spoke about the difficulties faced by workers in many fields in European countries and stressed that the situation will worsen if a solution is not found soon. He specifically noted that trade unions have more responsibilities in this process. E. Lanch also informed the participants about the upcoming works of PERC.
At the summer school, there were other presentations, opinions and suggestions were heard, and a wide range of ideas were exchanged.
It should be noted that the Confederation of Trade Unions of Azerbaijan was represented at the event by Roya Garayeva, head of the international relations department of the institution.