A Blueprint for Equality

22 June 2022
-
24 June 2022
22 June 2022 - 24 June 2022
Brussels/online
Thon Hôtel EU
Rue da la Loi/Wetstraat 75,
1040 Brussels
and online

2022 ETUI-ETUC Conference
A Blueprint for Equality
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