VERDI

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VERDI UNISON SeminarEuropean Works Councils
24 February 2006BerlinEuropean Federation of
Puiblic Service Unions (EPSU)Jan Willem Goudriaan
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Subjects

• Some Statistics
• Companies in EPSU area of activities
• Issues on EPSU EWC Coordinators Agenda
• European Company
• Political Situation revision of the Directive
• Optional Framework for transnational agreements

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EWC Database identifies companies affected by
the EWC Directive and their compliance to it
2204
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Workforce size and compliance rates
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23,6 million workers in 2204 affected companies
Multinationals affected by the Directive
Workers in multinational companies
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New member states companies affected by the EWC
Directive
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Involvement and lacking involvement of new EU
member states in exisitng EWCs
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Companies involved in transnational mergers and
acquisitions between 2002 and 2004
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Companies in which EPSU is involved

• VEOLIA (Used to be Generale des Eaux, Vivendi
  (Universal)
• Suez (Used to be Lyonnaise des eaux, Societe
  Generale, Tractebel
• Eon (VIAG and VEBA)
• RWE Thames (Thames now being sold off again ?
• CAPIO (BURE, split of Attendo)
• Brambles-Cleanaway (WMX/WMI now SULO)
• Waste Management International split over
  different companies
• SAUR part of Bouygues now taken-over by private
  equity fund

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EPSU European Works Council Coordinators

• WHO
• Representatives who hold a mandate for EPSU in
  EWCs
• EWC Secretaries/ Presidents
• Those involved in education/ training and
  research
• Issues
• Political developments
• Updates on EWC work reports from EWC
  coordinators
• Trade union agenda
• Equality and improving gender balance
• Communication with EWC reps/ workers
• Work programmes outsourcing health and safety
• Private Equity Funds next meeting
• Etc.
• Major issue for next meeting in May Guidelines
  for trade union involvement in European Companies

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European Works Council Directive Revision

• Political Situation
• ETUC Demands Review UNICE opposed Commission
  stalls Not a group of countries in Council
  which pushes EP was supportive but now ?
• ETUC formulated a list of issues for revision
  such as
• Improve Information and Consultation Rights
• Role of Trade Unions European Federations
• Resources (training, debriefing)
• Issues equality, health and safety etc.
• Gender balance
• Codification of Information and Consultation
  Rights likely ?
• IC at national level
• Collective Redundancies/ TUPE
• European Company IC
• Court Cases
• Fundamental Rights (Charter)

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Forms of transnational negotiation become a
reality

• Development of European social dialogue
• At company level, growing number of transnational
  texts and agreements concluded, more than 60
  listed
• Examples
• GM, Ford, Danone, Diageo on restructuring
• Arcelor,ENI, Lafarge, Vivendi on HS
• Total, Deutsche Bank, Air France, Dexia on
  employment, training, mobility
• Unilever, GEA, Philip Morris on data protection
• Volkswagen, Rhodia, Suez, Club Med, Philips,
  Rheinmetall on fundamental rights-CSR

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Drivers for transnational negotiation

• Transnational MAs and restructuring
• Operation of business on an international scale
• Mobility of production factors, posting
• Development of CSR
• Development of EWCs and transnational companies
• Reinforcement of European social partners and
  social dialogue
• Expected growing need for transnational
  negotiation

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Questions raised by transnational negotiation

• Actors entitled to negotiate and procedure
• Form and content of the texts concluded
• Respect and legal effect of agreements
• Link between levels and link with national laws
  and agreements
• Right of association, collective action

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Existing Community framework on transnational
information, consultation and participation

• European Works Councils in 1994
• Directive 94/45/EC
• extended to the UK by Directive 97/74/EC
• Involvement in the European Company in 2001
  Directive 2001/86/EC
• Involvement in the European Cooperative Society
  in 2003 Directive 2003/72/EC
• 10th company law transnational mergers 2005

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Existing Community framework on transnational
social dialogue

• Treaty art.138 139 promotion of European
  social dialogue, consultation of European social
  partners and agreements between them
• Sectoral Social Dialogue Committees
• EU Charter of fundamental rights art.28
   Workers and employers, or their respective
  organisations, have, in accordance with Community
  law and national laws and practices, the right to
  negotiate and conclude collective agreements at
  the appropriate levels and, in cases of conflicts
  of interest, to take collective action to defend
  their interests, including strike action 

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ETUC

• Optional Framework for Transnational Agreements
• Part of Social Agenda 2005-2010
• Extend social dialogue framework to company level
  (now inter-sectoral and sectoral)
• ETUC so far without legal framework agreements
  no legal status-hence no sanctions/ legal
  recourse if violated or not implemented
  agreements deal with issues such as trade union
  rights, equality, health and safety,
  restructuring
• EMF and EPSU have been supportive in general
• Initiative of relevance working method
  criticised (should not be a group of experts but
  the social partners)
• UNICE opposed bargaining national level issue
  but not consistent with practice of its members.

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ETUC Position

• Many Questions
• Binding character, extension of the agreement,
  sanctions and legal recourse specialisation of
  the European Court of Justice in labour law
  European Labour Court ? transnational actions
  during bargaining and implementation hierarchy
  of standards
• Negotiating Mandate and Right to Sign Agreements
• Trade unions (representativeness) collective
  actors, organisations with a mandate to represent
  their members EWCs not the appropriate bodies
  for negotiations (lack sufficient rights for
  this) risk of fragmentation of bargaining
• New level should fit within existing structures
  regarding bargaining and not undermine and
  replace national bargaining
• Non-regression Clause
• JWG Right to transnational action
• Next Step Publication of Expert Report
  consultation of the social partners