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1. Employers clear
the way for negotiations
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New
EWC Directive: setback
for British hardliners
 The
looks focussed until last with tension on this building in
Brussels nearby the EU institutions: the headquarters of the
European employers' federation BusinessEurope. Its
decision was announced on April 2nd 2008. Unlike at the
adoption of the EWC Directive in 1994 continental employers'
federations could enforce this time a pragmatic solution against
the resistance of the British industry. Until January 2009
direct negotiations with the trade unions on the wording of the
new EWC directive can now take place.
The
decision was not easy for the employers, but the pressure from
the trade unions, the European parliament and the European
Commission had increased within the last months (see report
in the EWC News 2/2007). Without their willingness to
compromise the further legislation procedure would hardly have
been influenceable by the employers. Review:
The second stage of the consultations started with delay Already
at the beginning of January 2008 an
initiative of the European Commission was
expected (see report
in the EWC News 4/2007), which was however a long
time-coming. After intensive lobby work with the employers (see report
in the EWC News 3/2007), which especially aimed at a
mitigation of the regulations on information and consultation,
intensive talks between top-rank officials from the surrounding
of social commissioner Vladimír Špidla and representatives of
the trade unions and employers' federations took place behind
the scenes. The European Commission was finally ready to make
its outline easier acceptable to the employers’ side
and thus smoothing the way for direct negotiations between the
social partners.
On
February 20th, 2008 the European Commission finally went to
public with its consultation paper. The European Trade Union
Confederation (ETUC) reacted on the same day with an agreeing
press release.
Scientific
accompanying study
The
European Commission engaged the London consultancy firm GHK
Consulting to calculate the impacts of the legal proposals for the
companies as well as to examine the costs and benefits of the EWC
work. At present GHK Consulting is conducting telephone interviews
in 80 companies (this is every tenth company with an EWC) with the
employers’ and employees' side.
 The
French presidency wants to lace restructuring package up
The
revision of the EWC Directive could get an additional dynamic in
the second half of the year 2008 when France takes over the
presidency of the EU. Under the motto "Anticipation of
Change" the French government calls for a forum, which shall
discuss the early participation of employees at restructurings. And
the European Commission wants to link all related legislative
initiatives into one consistent strategy. Already on February
28th, 2008 social commissioner Vladimír Špidla had announced
several initiatives for the time of the French Presidency at the
European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels. This includes
besides the revision of the EWC Directive particularly:
-
a
partnership for change between the European social partners
like the example of the partnership
in the automotive industry
-
the
beginning of the legislation procedure on transnational
collective agreements (see report in the EWC News 2/2006).
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2. Court decisions
in EWC issues
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No
merger without hearing the EWC
A
decision with an Europe-wide meaning for the EWC jurisdiction
was passed in the palace of justice in Paris (see photo) on January 16th,
2008. The Social Chamber of the highest French
appeal court ("Cour de Cassation") confirmed an
interim injunction of the European Works council of Gaz de
France. This had stopped the merger with the French utility
group Suez in the last minute in November 2006 (see report
in the EWC News 4/2006).
The
verdict means that members of the supervisory and administrative
boards of multinational companies are not entitled to decide on
mergers with other companies unless the EWC has been consulted
correctly in all details and the consultation has been
completed. Part of the procedure is also an impact analysis
through consultancy companies, which the EWC selects itself. The
judges grant an independent participation right to the EWC --
independently from the rights of the works councils of
individual countries. The decision provides the highlight
of a number of verdicts in France, which strengthen the meaning
of transnational employee representations.
Also
the French central works council of Gaz de France was not
correctly involved. Only a few days later on January 22nd,
2008 the district court in Paris was fortifying those rights
also.
A
new hearing ends with social guarantees
 Still
before the completion of the lawsuit the merger was once more
driven forward in September 2007 against the resistance of the
employees' side (see report
in the EWC News 3/2007). In an EWC meeting on December 20th
and 21st, 2007 the workers' representatives of Gaz de France
demanded additional documents to have them checked through an
advisor and tabled a catalogue with 35 questions. Without
reacting to it, the central management invited for January the
8th and 9th, 2008 for another EWC meeting. Its aim to
terminate the hearing before the announcement of the above
bashful verdict was however baffled by the workers'
representatives. During the course of the two turbulent meeting
days they decided on five resolutions to various aspects of
information and consultation and demanded particularly
1.
more information about the social and legal consequences of
the merger and
2.
more time for evaluating this information by advisers.
Another
EWC special meeting on January 22nd, 2008 also remained without
result. As a reaction towards the criticism and the judgement
which was passed in the meantime the central management of a
group provided all demanded documents and faced the discussion
on February 21st, 2008 once more in the EWC. On March 11th, 2008
the EWC finally decided on his statement against the merger on
the base of the presentation of the adviser studies. At the same
time the central management issued a statement on social
guarantees after the merger, which was seen as a success for the
employees' side. The following documents are only available in
French:
After
concessions from the management the EWC of Suez had already
given its statement on January 7th, 2008, it also declines the
merger. With the legally correct conclusion of the
consultation procedure in both groups the way is free for the
merger.
The
future of the two European works councils
With
the merger the EWC of Suez is dissolved automatically and the
EWC of Gaz de France is performing the representation for the
entire group. Simultaneous a special negotiation body (SNB) is
formed, which is to negotiate within three months a new EWC
agreement. With that more could be reached than with
Alcatel-Lucent, where the central management strictly declined
the renegotiation of the EWC agreement after the merger (see
report in the EWC News 3/2006).
 Ruling
on the appeal against the election at Schneider Electric
The
German Federal Labour Court (BAG) in Erfurt decided on April
18th, 2007 about the question which court is responsible for the
rescission of the election of German members in the European
works council of a French group. The BAG corrected the
decision of the industrial tribunal in Düsseldorf of June 2005
(see report in the EWC News 4/2005) and the procedure was
referred back to the country industrial tribunal in Düsseldorf,
where in December 2007 a judgement was given. Responsible are
therefore German and not French industrial tribunals.
The following documents are only available in
German:
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3.
Reactions to factory
relocations
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 Nokia
disregards EWC rights at work closures
Completely
surprisingly the Finnish electronics company Nokia declared on January
15th, 2008 the closures of its factory for mobile phones in Bochum with 2,300 employees to June 30th, 2008. Afore
the company has received almost 100 m. € subsidies and
guaranteed a certain amount of jobs until December 31st, 2007.
Two weeks after the expiry of this period the shutdown was
announced although the profit in the 4th quarter 2007 had
increased by 60%. The federal state government in Düsseldorf demands back
41 m. € of Nokia.
On
January 30th, 2008 workers' representatives from European Nokia
locations met on invitation of the European Metalworkers' Federation
(EMF) in Brussels. They condemned the procedure of the
management, demanded an extraordinary meeting of the Euro Forum
(so the official name of the EWC) and engaged a legal report on
the possible violations of the EWC Directive. Nokia had
founded its Euro Forum already in 1993 when the adoption of the
EWC Directive was yet not sure at all and belonged at the time
then to the pioneers of a social Europe.
On
February 12th, 2008 a delegation of the Bochum works council held
conversations with the Nokia central management in
Finland, however without achieving the withdrawal of the shutdown
decision. One day later Finnish unions together with
IG Metall and EMF published the "Helsinki
declaration" on the company policy of Nokia in which they
demand a fair frame for the participation at such restructuring
decisions. Since February 20th, 2008 the German group works
council negotiates about a compensation agreement with the
employer.
The
situation in Romania
 On
February 11th, 2008 the production started in Jucu near Cluj-Napoca
with 350 employees, later to be up to 3,500 employees. The
industrial park was set up with 60 m. € from the PHARE
programme of the EU, when no investor yet was in view. Aid money
for business relocations within the EU is no longer paid since
2007 (see report in the EWC News 2/2006). The Nokia buildings in
Jucu are being built by a German construction company.
Till
now the Romanian trade unions don't have succeeded yet to
organize staff and to negotiate a wage agreement. According to
media reports uniformed spies are engaged to prevent contacts
between the newly recruited employees and journalists or trade
unions. The metalworkers' union in the Romanian confederation
Cartel ALFA accuses Nokia of exploitation, because the staff has
to work 60 to 70 hours per week although only 48 hours are
legally permitted. On February 5th, 2008 the company presented
itself to the Romanian Minister of Labour Paul Păcuraru to apply
a change of the labour law. Since March 18th, 2008 the Romanian
anti-corruption directorate examines the contracts between Nokia
and local authorities, after the mayor of Jucu was arrested
in summer 2007.
 Research
location of Novartis in danger
On
December 18th, 2007 the 240 employees from the Novartis research
center in Vienna (see photo) learned by video message of the
closure of its location. The works council wants to use all
possibilities to undo this decision. On February 7th, 2008 the
state economy commission dealt also with the topic after the
engagement of the trade unions. It can check the decision of the
company, can prepare reports and give recommendations.
The
pharmaceutical company Novartis disposes since 1995 of an
European works council ("Euro Forum") according to
Austrian law. The seat of the company lies in Switzerland. In
2006 the EWC had carried out an EU sponsored project on an
Europe-wide comparison of working conditions.
 Partial
shutdown of a steelworks in Lorraine?
On
January 16th, 2008 the works council of the ArcelorMittal plant
Gandrange at the Moselle was informed that 600 of the 1,100 jobs
are dismantled. The European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF)
in Brussels demands the retention of an economically viable
location and stands together with the European works council of
ArcelorMittal for an alternative concept. The Consultancy
firm Syndex, which was engaged from the works council, presented
its report on March 14th, 2008. This is to be discussed at the
beginning of April 2008 also in the select committee of the EWC (see
report in
the EWC News 2/2007 to the EWC agreement of ArcelorMittal).
To
bring in its divergent ideas in the discussion the trade union
CGT compiled a counter-report done by the consultancy firm EVS.
Such an "expert battle" between trade unions is hardly
conceivable
outside France. The CGT is in many
plants in Lorraine in a minority position, the first place
occupies there since some years the CFDT.
 Redundancy
scheme negotiations
à la française
The
tyre plant of Kléber in Toul (Lorraine), subsidiary of the
French group Michelin, with 800 employees will be closed 2009.
In the course of the protests the staff took two manager on the
factory premises into detention and released them only after an
agreement on redundancies schemes had been signed three days
later. Simultaneous blockades were set up and tyres were set to
fire. An agreement was reached on February 17th, 2008, after the
French Minister of Labour Christine Lagarde got involved in
the conflict. The action found Europe-wide press echo, the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) warned: "Who
negotiates with French trade unions must dress up warmly."
 Protests
in Italy
The
household appliances plant of Electrolux in Florence (Italy) with 900
employees is to be closed. For April 4th, 2008 the Italian trade
unions therefore call for a all day strike. In a solidarity
message the Spanish trade union UGT demands equal minimum
standards at restructuring in all European countries.
Electrolux had already closed down the AEG plant in Nuremberg in
the year 2006 (see report in the EWC News 1/2006).
In
June 2007 a conference on the future of the household appliances
industry in Europe took place in Arezzo (Italy) on which also
Electrolux was discussed (see report
in the EWC News 2/2007). For the Italian locations of the
Swedish household appliances group a framework agreement was last
signed in January 2007.
No
increase of factory relocations ascertainable
On
January 22nd, 2008 the Hans Böckler foundation published first
results of a WSI survey with interviews of 2,000 German works
councils. According to this about 8% of all companies were affected by a relocation. Mostly they take place within
Germany only every fifth went abroad.
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4.
EWC agreements are adapted
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 RWE
now with holding EWC
The
step towards a two-tier EWC structure in the energy group RWE was
carried out on November 16th, 2007 when a framework agreement on
the erection of a European RWE forum at a topmost holding level
was signed. The special negotiation body (SNB) was founded in
April 2007 and negotiated efficiently and constructively.
The
new agreement replaces a principle agreement from the year 1995
which expressively abstained from a "holding EWC" and
only provided for the formation of European division works
councils. After the take-over of the British water provider Thames
Water an "European Water Forum" was founded in June 2002
(see report in the EWC News 4/2005). In March 2005 the
"European Energy Forum" for the sale and net
division RWE Energy followed (see report in the EWC News 2/2005) and in
January 2006 started the "European Power Forum" for the
electricity generation company RWE Power.
The
workers' representatives of the respective subsidiaries were
informed on European developments by the RWE central management and
could coordinate their positions transnationally during the
half-yearly meetings. However with the sale of Thames Water
in December 2006 the "European Water Forum" had lost its
basis again. With the now practised two-tier EWC structure
RWE is standing in a row with the Swedish paper group SCA
(see report in the EWC News 4/2005) or the aircraft manufacturer
and arms group EADS (see report in the EWC News 1/2006).
Ambitious
EWC project in a Danish bank
 On
December 10th, 2007 an EWC agreement for Danske Bank was signed
in Copenhagen according to Danish law. The chairmanship lies
with the management, the 23 workers' representatives elect a vice-chairman. Once a year a plenum meeting takes place,
the EWC can call special sessions with a majority of votes. The
ten members of the select committee ("exclusive
board") meet three times a year. Thus a meeting takes place
in each quarter of the year.
In
one point this agreement goes further than the status quo of the
EWC Directive: The rights on information shall serve the purpose
to conclude agreements across the group comparable those of
Suez or Schneider Electric (see report
in the EWC News 2/2007). The new EWC agreement replaces the
previous agreement from the year 2005.
To
strengthen the cooperation in the new EWC an EU financed project
for Danske Bank was started. From December 2nd to 4th, 2007 the
first workshop took place in Dublin.
 After
protests: Generali replaces EWC agreement
A
new EWC agreement for Generali was signed on December 18th, 2007
at the group seat in Triest after conflict loaded negotiations
of some months. Particularly controversial was the role of the
trade unions, which had organized together with the EWC an
Europe-wide protest day in October 2006 against the plans of the
Italian insurance group to cut down thousands of jobs (see
report in the EWC News 4/2006). The pressure created
through this was not without effect: already in November 2006
the central management committed itself to include the employee
representations of all European countries in consultations in
time before restructurings (see report in
the EWC News 1/2007).
The
EWC agreement signed now gives the 1997 founded European works
council a new, improved basis. It is based on both, on the
new social charter of the group as well as on the implementation
of the EU Directive for information and consultation in
Italy. Provided are two annual plenum meetings, these with
all 37 EWC members, a steering committee consisting of seven
members is running the daily business. The quality of the
participation rights, however, doesn't reach the standard of the
Italian bank UniCredit, which had formed an EWC in January 2007
after the take-over of the German HypoVereinsbank (see report
in the EWC News 1/2007).
Before
the trade unions had argued against the merger of the German
subsidiaries Volksfürsorge and AachenMünchner insurance.
Through this the headquarters of Volksfürsorge in Hamburg and
500 jobs would cease to exist.
Digression: The EU Directive on information and
consultation in Italy
...
and in other countries
 Revised
EWC agreement for Panasonic
On
February 8th, 2008 a new EWC agreement for the Japanese
electronics company Panasonic was signed in Paris -- it is subject
to British law. The "Panasonic European Congress"
(PEC), which is the official name of the EWC founded in 1995, meets
under the chairmanship of the employer once a year, 27 workers'
representatives out of twelve countries belong to it. The new
agreement prolongs the conference by an additional meeting day. In
future all documents are translated in all required languages, a
three-headed "Employee Representative Committee" (ERC) meets
four times a year. On the other hand, a claim to training and for
the erection of internal working groups (on topics like working
conditions and similar) could not be succeeded. The
negotiations were accompanied by Prof Dr Ulrich Zachert from the
University of Hamburg, who also works as a legal adviser as part
of the training and consultancy network
"euro-workscouncil.net".
One
of the Europe-wide first legal proceedings in an EWC issue took
place in 1998 at Panasonic in the face of a work shutdown in
Longwy (France) and the relocation to Peine (Germany). For formal
reasons the employees' side lost the court case at that time in
the second instance. To avoid such situations, every EWC should have
a regulation about the decision making and authorization in its
standing orders.
 Thomas
Cook with a new EWC agreement
On
March 6th, 2008 a new agreement for the Tourism group
Thomas Cook was signed in Oberursel (Germany). The negotiations
became necessary through the merger with the British company My
Travel (see report
in the EWC News 2/2007). A new election of the EWC delegates
will take place only 2010, until then the two European works
councils will meet together. The
new agreement provides for two annual meetings with a duration
of three days. The EWC chooses a three-headed executive committee
which has an access right to all European branch offices. At the
EWC meetings one full-time trade union officer each from
Germany and the UK will attend with a consulting voice, in
addition experts can be consulted according to German habits.
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5.
Employers hinder erection of EWC
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 Kühne
+ Nagel: Company founder conducts legal filibuster
Since
1996 workers' representatives try in vain to launch an European
works council in the forwarding agency Kühne + Nagel. They
fail because of the aversion of the major shareholder and
company founder to any form of employee participation, which was
already shown at the adoption of the co-determination act in
1976: In order to avoid the formation of a supervisory board
with workers' directors at the time then the seat of the company
was transferred without further ado from Germany to Switzerland. This
was also very favorable in order to avoid the formation of an
European works council because the question of responsibility
within the EU employed the courts for years, until the European
court of justice in Luxembourg (ECJ) finally declared in 2004
the German company of Kühne + Nagel responsible.
 However,
the erection of the EWC couldn't be performed because the
central management in Switzerland forbade all European locations
to provide the required information to Germany. A recent wave of
complaints led in January 2007 to the first verdict, which has
ever been ruled on EWC issues in Austria (see report
in the EWC News 3/2007). The employers’ side sharply
criticized the behavior of Kühne + Nagel because in the
end such legal precedents would only strengthen the employees'
side. Dr Werner Altmeyer, editor of the EWC News, asked the
chairman of the German group works council, Michael Kalis
(photo) to the backgrounds of the current procedure. Kalis
demands from the legislator to make sanctions possible against
unwilling employers.
Meanwhile
the case Kühne + Nagel.is being dealt with the highest
priority at the European transport workers' federation (ETF). A
coordination meeting on the further procedure took place in
Brussels on December 7th, 2007 with the assistance of the
consultancy network "euro-workscouncil.net".
Stilke
works council also in future without EWC
On
December 6th, 2007 the regional industrial tribunal in
Baden-Württemberg declined the claim of the works council
from Stilke station bookshops to erect an European works
council -- for formal reasons. In opposition to this is a
voluntary agreement from 1996, which merely foresees a
written procedure on information and consultation (see
Report in the EWC News 1/2006). The erection of an EWC is
thus impossible. The company Stilke is part of the Valora
group with seat in Switzerland, which is in permanent
conflict with its workers' representatives.
The following documents are only
available in German:
The
decision of the German industrial tribunal judges is in an
European comparison rather unusual. In a comparable case a
voluntary EWC agreement from the year 1995 was suspended by a
French court in October 2006, because only one single trade
union (the CGT) had sued it (see report
in the EWC News 1/2007). The highest French appeal court
confirmed this decision on March 8th, 2008.
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6.
Workers' representatives set priorities
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 Department
store chain in the criticism
On
November 28th, 2007 the employees' side in the European works
council of the French retail group of Galleries Lafayette
asked the central management to call an extraordinary EWC
meeting. Before relocations had been disclosed from
Portugal to Poland without information and consultation of the
EWC. The group is represented with department stores in
France and Germany as well as with financial services in eight
countries. The EWC was constituted according to French law in
February 2005. The following documents are only available
in French:
 Comparison
of working conditions in the cement group
26
workers' representatives from twelve countries met from November
28th to 30th, 2007 in Warwick (UK) for the annual meeting
of the Holcim Euro Forum. Since the take-over of Aggregate
Industries the UK with 6,000 employees is now the tallest
country in the Holcim group. For the first time delegates
from Romania and Bulgaria no longer took part only as observers
but as full members at the EWC meeting. The workers'
representatives started with support of the Institute for
Industrial Relations in Amsterdam a project to compare pay and
working conditions with each other in the Holcim plants. The
Euro Forum, so the official name of the EWC, was formed 1996
according to Belgian law. The group has its seat in Switzerland.
Digression:
participation rights of the employees in Switzerland
The
trade union Unia has recently compared the participation rights
of the employees in Switzerland with the EU standards. The
documents are only available in German and can be download here:
IT
service provider violates Belgian law
In
a public letter the EWC of the IT service provider Atos Origin
appealed to the central management in Paris on January 17th,
2008 to protest against the violation of agreement standards and
labour law and the dismissal of workers' representatives in
Belgium. In June 2007 an EWC was founded at Atos Origin after
long and arduous negotiations shortly before the expiry of the
legally scheduled three-year period (see report
in the EWC News 2/2007).
Guarantee
fund for restructurings demanded  The
EWC of the raw material group Rio Tinto Alcan has in his meeting
on February 21st, 2008 still not received the necessary
information of the sale of the packing and further processing
division (see report
in the EWC News 4/2007). It demands an early and regular
information about the progress of the planning, sufficient time
for an economical analysis by EWC experts and the
imposition of a guarantee fund for redundancy schemes. On
April 23rd, 2008 Europe-wide actions against threatening staff
cuts are planned.
After
the take-over of the Canadian aluminium manufacturer Alcan
through the British Australian raw material group Rio Tinto the
central management agreed to integrate the European branches of
Rio Tinto into the EWC of Alcan. Rio Tinto had established no
transnational employee representation till now. The Alcan
agreement was concluded in March 2006 according to French law
(see report in the EWC News 2/2006).
General
Motors shortly before the conclusion of a general agreement?
Since
more than a year the negotiations are going on between the
European Employee Forum of General Motors and the central
management about the next Astra generation. On March 13th, 2008
the workers' representatives at a meeting in Frankfurt am Main denied
at first generally new plans of the group (productivity
improvements, outsourcing). Before this an Europe-wide
general agreement shall be signed, which provides for minimum
standards on outsourcing and a renunciation of work shutdowns.
Such a negotiation mandate isn't foreseen in the EWC Directive,
at General Motors it is based on an "European solidarity
pledge" from December 2005 (see report in the EWC News
1/2006).
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7. New erection of European
works councils
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 Manufacturer
of rolling bearings founds EWC
On
October 9th, 2007 the negotiations about an EWC agreement was
completed at the headquarter of the Schaeffler group in
Herzogenaurach (Bavaria). During the negotiations lasting 15
months the workers' representatives from ten countries not only
dealt with the text of the agreement, but started already with
its work in anticipation of the new EWC. So they swapped in
the special negotiation body (SNB) experiences about the
flexibilization of the working time and job guarantees. The EWC
will constitute according to German law until June 2008. The
following texts are only available in German:
 A
French bank founds EWC
On
January 30th, 2008 an EWC agreement for the group Crédit
Agricole was signed in Paris. It is one of the last French
big banks, which till now still has no employee representation
on an European level.
The
agreement has a clear French handwriting: it it is a mixed
committee. The employers' side consists of at least eight
delegates, amongst this the president of the bank as the
chairman of the EWC. The workers' representatives come from
22 countries and are supported by a full-time trade union
officer from the European service trade unions (UNI). They meet
once annual with the employer and can ask for a second plenary
meeting. The nine members of the steering committee, among
this is the secretary of the EWC, meet once a year with the
employer and twice internally as well as at current causes. All
meetings take place in Paris.
Although
all costs for the meetings are taken on directly by the
employer, the EWC gets an own budget of € 60,000 every
year. Besides the meetings and the time-off in their
country of origin all EWC members receive 30, members of the
steering committee 60 and the secretary 100 hours per annum for
personal arrangements. Typical for France is also a very
far-reaching financing of experts.
 U.S.
group founds EWC according to Dutch law
An
EWC agreement was signed for Nalco on February 13th, 2008. The
U.S. group is active in the treatment of water and in chemical
processes for the Industry. The distinctive feature of the
agreement is: at the end of every quarter an EWC meeting takes
place with all delegates from 19 countries at the seat of the
European management in Leiden (the Netherlands), where the
management is giving a report on the financial situation.
Additionally special sessions are possible for special cases.
Every EWC member gets a personal budget of 40 hours, the
secretary of 120 hours and another five members of the steering
committee of 60 hours per annum time-off. The participation in
meetings isn't credited against this.
The
texts of numerous EWC agreements are available on a
download
page.
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International
framework agreements in the service sector
Alongside
the metal industry (see report in the EWC News 3/2006) framework agreements
on worldwide social standards are particularly spread in enterprises of
the service sector. For the service trade union federation UNI this is a
main work emphasis.
 Reingard
Zimmer from the editorial staff of the EWC News spoke with Alke Bössiger
(photo) of UNI in Geneva about the trade union strategies to this
topic. UNI had last signed such an agreement in the Spanish telecommunications group Telefónica in December 2007 (see
report
in the EWC News 4/2007). It required a hard campaign in the Canadian
print group of Quebecor, until in May 2007 a worldwide framework agreement
was perfect (see report
in the EWC News 2/2007).
Yoghurt
factory in the USA obtains staff representation
The
French food group Danone belonged already in the 1980s years to the
pioneers signing international framework agreements with the trade unions. Nevertheless
fundamental employee rights are not everywhere understood, so for example
in the USA. After the factory management had before refused, the 300
employees of the yoghurt factory in Minster (Ohio) could only succeed with
their claim to a trade union representation on December 6th, 2007. The
success in the USA was only possible because of the support of the International
Union of Food workers' (IUF) in Geneva, which had
last concluded an antidiscrimination agreement with Danone in June 2007
(see report
in the EWC News 4/2007).
Air
France KLM with a new social charter
On
February 20th, 2008 a social charter was signed at the Parisian airport
Roissy between the EWC and the central management of Air France KLM and
with that an agreement for Air France from the year 2001 was extended on
the new group. After the take-over of the Dutch airline company KLM
by Air France the two European works councils also had merged in February
2006 (see report in the EWC News 1/2006). The steering committee of
the EWC will supervise the implementation of the charter which formally is
only valid within the EU but is worldwide recognized as a reference in the
group.
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Study
on works councils advice shows great national differences
 In
December 2007 the Ruhr University of Bochum together with the Hans Böckler
foundation published an industry-specific study of works council
advisers. In contrast to the traditional management consultancy the
"work oriented advice" is orientated at the interests of the
employees and their representatives. Its origins lie within the
1980s years and the then changes of the labour organization and
technology. Today works council adviser are consulted
predominately at restructurings and shutdowns but also for the draft
of company agreements on different topics. The borders between
consulting, seminars and applied science are fluent. All following
documents are only available in German:
Chapter
5 is for European works councils particularly interesting as it
compares works council advice on an international scale. The EU
Directives on mass redundancies or for the information and
consultation at a national level foresee unlike the EWC Directive no
minimum regulations for the use of advisers. Everything is dependent
on the national habits. E.g. the use of external experts is in
that way in France furthest spread and in the United Kingdom practical
not existing. Germany is located in the middle field, however it has a
backlog demand.
The
study shows the legal framework for some countries:
-
In
Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands the works council can
consult experts at the expense of the employer, in Italy this
applies only to the RSU (a kind of works council not yet
established in all factories).
-
There
is no such provision in UK, Ireland, Denmark, Luxembourg and
Spain, whereupon the employers has to bear the costs for external
experts.
In
Germany the legal basis is controversial as a judgement of the
second instance labour court in Cologne of October 2006 shows. It exempts
the employer from bearing the costs.
Advice
for European works councils
The
right to call an expert is provided in the subsidiary requirements of
the EWC Directive, whereof in French companies this is used to the
highest degree. The least use of the support through experts is being
made in Anglo-Saxon companies. Only 60% of all EWC agreements
foresee the presence of experts in all EWC meetings, in some cases the
employer is not obliged to bear the costs..
For
this reason the advice mandate is usually covered by full-time trade
union officers free of charges. Here one can speak of a concealed
subsidization of the employer through membership subscriptions of the
trade unions. The present EWC Directive shows a blur in the
delimitation of trade union officers and experts, that is why the
European Trade Union Confederation is arguing for an independent
participation right of the trade unions at EWC meetings in addition to
the cost transfer for experts.
 Final
report from Austria
On
January 28th, 2008 the University of Linz submitted the final report
of a research project, which in cooperation with the Austrian trade
union confederation (ÖGB) had analysed the success factors,
hindrances and challenges for European works councils (see report
in the EWC News 4/2006). Case studies examine the EWC work at Austria
Tabak, Semperit, MAN and further companies. The study defines
corner points on the way to an active and successful European works
council and names problems, e.g. the unsatisfactory personnel capacity
of the trade unions to support EWCs. The following documents are only
available in German:
In
previous issues of the EWC News we already introduced results of the
research project. So the researchers have for example arranged the
role of the central management according to types:
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10.
Interesting web pages
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Nordic
trade unions inform on EWC topics
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