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 Welcome to issue no. 1/2008 of EWC News. |
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The training and consultancy network "euro-workscouncil.net" informs you about the activities of European Works Councils and related subjects.
EWC News appears four times a year.
You can find past issues in the newsletter archives.
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1. Employers clear
the way for negotiations
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New EWC Directive: setback for British hardliners
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
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). |
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.
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2. Court decisions
in EWC issues
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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
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).
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: |
No
merger without hearing the EWC
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3.
Reactions to factory
relocations
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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
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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. |
No
increase of factory relocations ascertainable|
4.
EWC agreements are adapted
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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
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.
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
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.
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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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.
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".
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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Stilke
works council also in future without EWC|
6.
Workers' representatives set priorities
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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:
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:
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
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). |
IT
service provider violates Belgian law
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7. New erection of European
works councils
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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:
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.
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.
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).
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. |
Yoghurt
factory in the USA obtains staff representation
Air
France KLM with a new social charter
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9. EWC research
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Study on works councils advice shows great national differences
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 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.
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