Don Bosco International is an international NGO based in Brussels that  provides a platform for a fruitful dialogue between the religious congregation of the Salesians of Don Bosco and the international organizations in Europe, particularly those interacting with the main European institutions. Like all the organisations in the Salesian network the world over, DBI was set up to serve, defend and advocate with and for young people, in particular those who are poor, abandoned and in danger, young migrants, those who are at risk or disadvantaged, securing their right to education and actively addressing issues of poverty, social exclusion and discrimination while promoting children’s rights and the integral development of the human person. Its methods of operation are based on Don Bosco’s preventive system. Don Bosco International is part of a network of Salesian partners present in 14 EU Member States and Croatia, that when taken together run 406 educational centres serving 182,500 students in formal education and countless other young people within the various structures set up for the young people’s benefit. www.sdb.org

The European Sunday Alliance can count on strong support from Spain. 12 new organizations have joined the Alliance:

Justicia y Paz de España, Federación de Movimientos de Acción Católica Española, Acción Católica General (ACG), Juventud Obrera Cristiana (JOC), Juventud Estudiante Católica (JEC), Mujeres Trabajadoras Cristianas (MTC), Profesionales Cristianos (PX), Movimiento de Jóvenes Rurales Cristianos (MJRC), Movimiento Rural Cristiano (MRC), Hermandad Obrera de Acción Católica (HOAC), Fraternidad  Cristiana de personas con discapacidad de España (Frater), Hermandades del Trabajo and the ACO (Acción Católica Obrera).

The European Sunday Alliance welcomes its new members and is looking forward to future cooperation with them!

COMMERCIOATTIVO is an association of small- and medium-sized enterprises. Its principal objective is to raise awareness of the added value of the local economy, with particular regard to traditional neighbourhood business activities and public shops, in the context of the historical-cultural, environmental and social identities, by means of initiatives that promote the natural commercial centres of the city of Campobasso and its Province. It represents and protects commercial and artisanal businesses, entrepreneurs in general, artists, and relevant associated bodies, in their relations with public and private institutions, with the public administration and with economic and social organisations, at the local, national, European and international level. It organises study seminars, researches, conferences on economic and social themes of general interest. It promotes initiatives aimed at affirming policies in favour of enterprises. For more information: http://commercioattivo.blogspot.be/. The European Sunday Alliance welcomes its new member and is looking forward to our future cooperation!

STOP SUNDAY WORK NOW!

The European Sunday Alliance calls on all politicians in Europe to act

Brussels: One out of three Europeans has to work regularly on a Sunday, contends the European Sunday Alliance. According to the Deutsche Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DWI) the Sunday work participation rate is 30 % in EU Member States. The failure of the negotiations on the EU Working Time Directive in 2009 and again last December strengthened the risk of increasing flexible working hours and for related health risks. The European Sunday Alliance expects that a citizen-friendly EU policy should enhance the health and social security of all citizens. Social cohesion is thereby strengthened. Europe is not only an economic but also a social and cultural community.

Social division in Europe

On the occasion of the European Day for a work-free Sunday on 3 March 2013 the European Sunday Alliance calls on all governments and politicians to argue against unsustainable working-time patterns, such as unpredictable on-call duties, broken hours, shift work, unsocial working hours during night and week-end work in the Member States and at EU level. The ‘economisation’ of Sundays and public holidays deepens social divisions at the expense of workers and their families. The common weekly day of rest is a clear and visible sign for the reconciliation of personal, family and professional life. Social protection laws come under pressure, especially in those countries that are significantly affected by the current economic crisis. “We need a Europe-wide Sunday protection” stresses the Alliance which is made up of churches, union, employers and civil society movements and was founded in 2011 in Brussels. With regard to the current European Year of Citizens the European Sunday Alliance draws attention to Sunday as the common weekly day of rest which enables EU citizens to live their citizenship together.

>>> Europe-wide actions on 3 March 2013

The European Sunday Alliance has called on its members and on all citizens to take action on 3 March 2013 as the European and International Day for a work-free Sunday with special activities, church services and information points in order to protest against the danger of the selling-out of Sunday as our common weekly day rest which is part of our European history.

Download this Press release in GERMAN, FRENCH, ENGLISH, ITALIAN

To our action web page

The European Sunday Alliance welcomes Andante - the European Alliance of Catholic Women’s Organisations as a new member! Andante was founded in May 2006 as an alliance of 17 Catholic women’s organisations in eleven European countries. Andante seeks to be a Catholic women’s voice and to be an actor in building a living Europe that works for the common good and shows a more human face to Europe and the world. Its role is to inform, to consult, to coordinate and to represent. The European Sunday Alliance is looking forward to cooperating with Andante. For further information about the new member: http://www.andante-europa.net/