Unmasking the far right anti-worker agenda - Research Report

Far-right parties are gaining significant traction in Europe, potentially becoming the third or fourth-largest group in the European Parliament after the upcoming European elections. This shift presents a critical threat to the rights and freedoms of millions of workers across the continent. Despite their claims of representing the 'common worker', the voting patterns of these parties reveal a starkly different reality.

Our new study highlights the consistent pattern of opposing or abstaining from key legislative initiatives designed to protect and improve workers' lives. On average, Identity and Democracy (ID) voted against or abstained on pro-worker laws 64% of the time, while European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) did so 73% of the time. This makes them the groups most frequently voting against workers' interests compared to other parliamentary groups.

To assess the impact of far-right parties on workers' rights, the EESC Workers’ Group has selected eight key votes in the European Parliament based on their potential to significantly affect workers' lives, addressing issues such as corporate accountability, in-work poverty, minimum wages, gender pay gap, financial aid for vulnerable households, working conditions for platform workers, and taxation of multinational corporations.