Trade unions and seasonal workers' associations met to showcase their cooperation and joint efforts to improve working and living conditions of seasonal workers europa-nu.nl - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from europa-nu.nl Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Malin Ackholt
Tourism is one of the world’s most important industries. It employs one in every ten on earth and provides livelihoods for hundreds of millions more. As the world’s leading tourism destination, Europe is no exception: the sector gives work to over 13 million people.
The Covid-19 pandemic has however plunged tourism into paralysis, inflicting tremendous hardships on the European tourism workforce. Virtually no one is working as usual. Workers on temporary or zero-hours contracts and the bogus self-employed in the ‘gig’ economy have been among the worst hit, as many government income-support measures have not provided them with adequate cover. Thousands of companies are struggling to survive and more than six million workers in Europe are estimated to have lost their jobs or gone into job-retention schemes.
EU aviation and tourism urge coordinated COVID-19 measures to save jobs
February 24, 2021
The current patchwork of restrictions across Europe is causing confusion for Europe’s travel and tourism industries, and amongst its workers
The group asserts that coordination is required on travel restrictions, vaccination certificates, and testing requirements
A clear and concise set of coordinated measures across Europe will help restore public confidence and is the only chance to save the upcoming summer season
Ahead of the 1 March Extraordinary meeting of Ministers of Tourism, 14 European stakeholders in aviation and tourism have urged the Portuguese presidency of the EU to put their efforts into the coordination of all restrictive measures related to COVID-19.
As the approval of a COVID-19 vaccine edges closer in the EU, stakeholders are urging member states to treat the food and drink workforce as a top priority in vaccination plans.
In a joint statement released on Tuesday (15 December), the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT) and food manufacturers association FoodDrinkEurope have joined forces to call on member states to include all agriculture and food sector workers as a priority group while developing their national vaccination strategies.
As the EU considers the best way to roll out the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine, the European Commission has provided guidelines to member states for developing their vaccination strategies.