The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) has joined a coalition of European trade unions and civil society organisations in signing a joint appeal under the Build Better Lives campaign, calling on the European Commission to ensure that the forthcoming European Affordable Housing Plan (EAHP) and European Strategy for Housing Construction (ESHC) place workers at the centre of Europe’s housing and climate transition. The joint statement urges the EU to link public funding to strong labour rights, safer job sites, fair recruitment, limits on subcontracting, and large-scale investment in skills, conditions seen as essential to meeting Europe’s renovation and climate goals.

The demands outlined in the letter reflect concerns raised only weeks earlier at the BWI European Conference on Just Transition in the Built Environment, held in Berlin. There, BWI affiliates stressed that Europe cannot deliver millions of affordable, energy-efficient homes without addressing long-standing challenges in the construction sector: heat stress and OSH risks intensified by climate change, labour shortages fuelled by poor conditions, fragmented subcontracting chains, and the exclusion of migrant and posted workers from fair treatment and safe employment.

Across sessions on climate adaptation, skills, clean construction and housing, affiliates emphasised that climate justice is inseparable from labour justice. They called for housing justice, direct jobs, robust enforcement, worker-driven skills strategies, and union involvement in every stage of the transition, from planning to worksite implementation. The Berlin conference also underscored the need for stronger EU-level mechanisms, echoing the letter’s call for better cross-border enforcement.

By endorsing the Build Better Lives statement, BWI reinforces a growing Europe-wide alliance committed to ensuring that the housing transition delivers better homes and better jobs. “As Europe faces a combined housing, climate, and cost-of-living crisis, BWI and its affiliates insist that the transition must improve the rights, wages, and safety of the workers who will make it possible”, said Genevieve Kalina, BWI European Regional Representative.

 The message from both Berlin and Brussels is clear: public money must serve the public good, and a fair, green transition can only succeed if it protects and uplifts the people who build Europe’s future.