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Syndicate weakens trade union cohesion, claims FGFC

The General Federation of Municipal Workers (FGFC) released a statement titled ‘Power-grab instead of solidarity’ on Thursday, expressing surprise and concern at the current behaviour of the Independent Trade Union Confederation of Luxembourg (OGBL) and the Luxembourg Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (LCGB).

According to the FGFC, the trade unions, acting in unison, are said to be deliberately weakening social cohesion through populist statements, causing division in private and public sectors alike.

For years, the OGBL and LCGB have inisisted that only unions representing the nation should have the right to negotiate at national level, but the FGFC said it appears they would not apply this if it prevents them from attaining their ambitions in the public sector.

Also today

• The minister of Justice Elisabeth Margue, in conversation with RTL this morning, said the government could act nationally within 6 to 12 months to ban children and teenagers below a yet-to-be-defined age from major social media platforms if there is no progress on age-restriction rules at the EU level.
• Protests in Iran have subsided after a crackdown that has killed thousands under an internet blackout, monitors have reported, a week after the start of the largest demonstrations in years challenging the country’s theocratic system.
• Police have launched an appeal for witnesses after A 77-year-old woman died following a collision at a junction on the N15 near Büderscheid, prompting a police investigation and witness appeal.
• The murder trial against a Dommeldange man accused of strangling his wife in 2023 and concealing her body in the woods near Scheidgen, entered its second day yesterday,
• A bipartisan US Congress delegation has begun a two-day visit to Copenhagen to voice support for Denmark and Greenland following Donald Trump’s threat to take over the Arctic island

• Ukrainian negotiators are headed to the United States for further talks on a US-drafted plan to end the war with Russia

  On air

Luxembourg has launched a €10,000 architecture award and the LSC is only a week away!

Figure of the day

24 hours. The time it tookfor the Government defence bonds to sell out

• The Defence Bonds launched by the government on Thursday afternoon reached their €150 million target within hours. By Thursday evening, Spuerkeess, BGL BNP Paribas and Raiffeisen banks had all sold out of their bonds. The BIL and Banque de Luxembourg confirmed they had sold out on Friday morning.
• The three-year bond is designed to help fund national defence and security initiatives, with the interest earned being tax-exempt for residents. The rate is fixed at 2.25%. Minister of Finance Gilles Roth and Minister of Defence Yuriko Backes said the bonds were an interesting and secure investment as they are tax-free. The government will receive around two million euros less in tax, but the money borrowed from investors will be used for targeted national projects in the areas of defence and security.

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