Unions call for fair taxation to support workers at EU tax symposium
ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch speaking at the EU Tax Symposium 2025. Credit: EU Taxation and Customs UnionAt this year’s EU Tax Symposium, ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch called for tax policy that delivers for workers—not just shareholders. She highlighted the need for fair taxation of multinationals and the ultra-wealthy, tied to investment in wages, skills and decent jobs. Her intervention reflects a growing trade union message: tax justice must support working people.
Network of Unions for Tax Justice
Labour unions brought a clear and timely perspective to the EU Tax Symposium this year—an event historically dominated by corporate tax specialists and business representatives. Speaking on the opening plenary panel, ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch highlighted the need to align tax systems with the rights and interests of workers.
Held on 18 March at the European Parliament in Brussels, the symposium gathered EU and national policymakers, finance ministers, civil society, and academics under the theme “Strengthening competitiveness and fairness to build prosperity”. The agenda included sessions on international corporate tax reform and the taxation of ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
“All too often the profits have gone for share buybacks and for dividends” said Lynch—rather than being reinvested in workers. She warned against granting tax breaks without negotiated transformation plans and stressed the importance of attaching conditions to public financial support: “Those supports have to come with a guarantee that there's investment: investment in the workers, and investment in a high road competitiveness on quality jobs and on doing things better, not on doing things cheaper, and not taxing companies and high wealth individuals.”
Corporate taxation featured prominently on the Symposium’s agenda, with a dedicated panel including representatives from the IMF, the UN Tax Committee, ICRICT, Deloitte, and Oxfam. Discussions focused on the challenges of implementing the OECD’s Pillar One and Pillar Two reforms, as well as the risks of profit shifting and the need for stronger global standards. Speakers also underlined the importance of fairness and transparency in tax systems as a foundation for public trust and effective policy.
Lynch also emphasised the connection between tax justice and labour rights, highlighting the role of fair distribution—through both wages and taxation—in building a more equitable economy. “It’s very important to make sure workers can join a trade union and can bargain for their fair share of the profits in that first distribution, both in wages but also in the taxes on wages,” she said.