This working paper investigates the practical implementation of the European Works Council (EWC) Directive at company level. It explores the challenges faced by existing EWCs and provides examples of solutions identified and remaining issues from the point of view of both workers and management. In
This study provides information to allow for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the industrial cleaning sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective
Luxembourg has been hit hard by the weakened economic climate. The loss of 21,400 industrial jobs since 2008 was announced by Robert Dennewald, President of the Luxembourg Business Federation (Fedil [1]) in an article in L’Essentiel (in French) [2] on 9 October 2012. [1] http://www.fedil.lu/fr/home/
A European Commission consultation document (84Kb PDF) [1] has highlighted the fact that transnational company agreements (TCAs) began to be concluded in significant numbers from 2000. By the start of 2012, about 144 companies had concluded at least one European Framework Agreement [2] (EFA) or
Since 2011, the European Works Council [1] (EWC) at French banking group BNP Paribas [2] has set up working groups on employment, equal opportunities and psychosocial risks. The company, which has 200,000 employees including more than 150,000 in the European Union, wants the groups to pave the way
During the French election campaign, the attitude of socialist candidate François Hollande towards relations with trade unions and business leaders, indicating that he would respect their autonomy, set him apart from Nicolas Sarkozy, his competitor for the Presidency.
Didier Lombard, who was Chief Executive Officer of France Télécom [1] for five years between 2005 and 2010, resigned from the company’s operational management in March 2010. His position had become untenable after the suicides of as many as 35 employees between January 2008 and the end of 2009. The
Social partners in Europe’s hairdressing sector signed a framework agreement on health and safety in hairdressing (4.6Mb PDF) [1] on 26 April 2012. [1] http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=7697&langId=en
A number of disputes affected the civil aviation industry in 2011, including a dispute involving airport security officers in December. The government replaced striking workers with police officers, drawing heavy criticism from trade unions. Following this, National Assembly member Éric Diard
The establishment of this new European social dialogue committee followed the adoption in 2009 of a recommendation by the High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the Agro-Food Industry (57.5Kb PDF) [1], a multi-stakeholder forum that brings together EU institutions and business and civil society
The European social partners have been working on the issue of restructuring [1] for a number of years and even tried to agree a common text. After a first consultation, launched by the Commission in 2002, on how to anticipate and manage the social effects of corporate restructuring, the social
The new agreement reached in January 2012 on short-time work is seen as the first step towards negotiating a structural reform of the French labour market to simplify the short-time work scheme, to make it more accessible to companies in difficulty. The social partners have already arranged three