The recommendations are an outcome of an internal seminar for young CESI affiliates which took place in Brussels on March 3-4 and was co-funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ programme. The ‘Recommendations for a boosted participation of young people in civic processes, with a special focus on trade union work’ relate to topics such as:

• establishing more and deeper links between youth work organisations/civil society organisations and young people in order to stimulate their involvement in voluntary work;
• reforming education systems with a view to teaching more civic education;
• having public authorities more visibly award voluntary civic engagement of young people, for instance through certificates and awards;
• putting in place measures that will allow young people to better reconcile job duties and voluntary civic engagements;
• taking measures to reach out more to refugees and migrants for voluntary civic activities; and
• ensuring better framework conditions for youth organisations to pursue youth inclusion activities.

They also specifically focus on ways to engage young people more in trade unionism. They suggest, for instance:

• a better coordination of awareness raising campaigns by trade unions in schools, universities and job-seeker forums;
• a further empowerment young people in internal decision-making processes in trade unions; and
• a more effective legal employment protection for young people engaging in trade union work, especially those in precarious work relationships.

The recommendations can be accessed online through the policy positions section of CESI’s website. They are also discussed in CESI’s internal organs and sent as recommendations for action to all member organisations and affiliates as well as to officials, politicians and decision-makers working on youth policies in the EU institutions.

Klaus Heeger said: “Attracting young affiliates is a challenge that many trade unions face. I am confident that the recommendations worked out by our young members will help us, the trade unionists, be forward-looking organisations with a strong base of young members. I hope that through parliamentarians like Ms Vana, the recommendations will also be considered in future reports of the European Parliament and the Commission and serve as guiding principles for action by politicians and policy makers.”