Novel EU-style partnership forum set up in finance sector

A works council type forum, incorporating some of the key aspirations for management/union partnerships enshrined in Ireland's three-year Partnership 2000 agreement, was agreed in July 1997 in the French/Irish owned finance holding company, Assurance General France - Irish Life.

The French/Irish owned Assurance General France - Irish Life (AGFIL) holding company and the largely white-collar,Manufacturing, Science, Finance (MSF) trade union, have established a novel partnership arrangement - the "AGFIL group enterprise forum" - involving the organisation's Irish-based employees, which goes beyond the normal participative elements of a works council.

Some 800 employees in AGFIL's two Irish-based companies are involved in the forum, Church and General and the Insurance Corporation of Ireland, agreement on which was reached in July 1997. AGF, based in France, controls two-thirds of the holding company with Irish Life controlling the remaining one-third.

The new forum is to underpin and complement the existing AGF European Works Council first set up in 1991 and formalised by an agreement in 1994. The forum however, goes beyond the representational aspirations of a works council. It commits both sides to maintaining company competitiveness and to creating a catalyst for market and business awareness, which should develop as a dynamic force for necessary strategic change within the organisation.

The forum is seen as being in line with the so-called partnership chapter (chapter 9) in Ireland's current three-year national agreement, Partnership 2000 (EU9702103F) which specifically deals with extending partnership arrangements at enterprise level. The goal of the AGFIL forum is to improve the performance and competitiveness of the organisation, while enhancing the prospects of job security, fair remuneration, career development and the quality of working life of employees.

Collective bargaining issues are not part of the forum's agenda, but it does formally recognise the role and function of industrial relations procedures within the organisation. The forum is expected to debate, consult and participate in decisions on: business issues; company strategies; policies and products; the company's position in the market vis à vis competitors; its financial performance; and the overall health and well-being of the group. The forum is expected to meet six times a year.

The forum is comprised of seven staff representatives and five senior management personnel. The posts of chair and vice-chair are to be rotated between the staff and management representatives on an annual basis.