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EUROPEAN WORK COUNCILS (EWC)

Dip. Ing. Panos KatsampanisOBES trainer

Round table Sofia 8/12/06

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AIMS

EWC in the new European countries

Transfer of experience of existing EWC

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ACTIONS

•Round table in Athens 25/9/06•Round table in Sofia 8/12/06•Transnational conference Athens 2/2/07•Exchange of experience between trade unionists about EWC •Web site development www.obes.grThe main points and the conclusions will be present to Ministries, European Commission etc.

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SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERNCES IN THE EUROPEAN LABOUR CULTURE

•Are there differences in industrial and trade union culture in the EU member states?

•Yes, we have to learn the differences in order to cooperate effectively and to achieve our members aims

•Don’t forget that the multinational companies follow the same company policy and rules in all European countries.

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WORK PLACE EMPLOEES REPRESENTATION BODY

•TRADE UNION

•TRADE UNION AND WORK COUNSIL

•COLLECTIVE BARGAINS (SALARIES) ARE FEDERATIONS (TRADE UNION) RESPONSIBILITY ΝΟΤ WORK COUNCILS

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COMPOSITION OF THE REPRESENTATION BODY

•EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES(NORWAY, DANMARK, FINLAND, FRANCE, BELGIUM, LUXEMBURG)

•ONLY EMPLOEES (ALL OTHER COUNTRIES)WORK COUNCIL = BETRIEBSRAT = COMITE DE ENTERPRISE

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TRADE UNION STRUCTURE IN EUROPE

•STATUS (SWEDEN)

•SECTOR (GERMANY)

•PROFESSION (BRITAN)

•POLITICS, RELIGION (FRANCE, SPAIN)

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“

EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL RELATION “MODELS”

•GERMANIC (GERMANY)

•AGLO – SAXONIC (BRITAN)

•SOUTHERN EUROPEAN

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SO WHAT IS COMMON IN EUROPE?

EUROPEAN DIRECTIVES AND REGULATIONS THAT THE MEMBER STATES TRANSPOSE TO NATIONAL LAWS AS:

•94/45 EUROPEAN WORK COUNCILS

•2002/14 INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION

•2157/2001 AND 2001/86 EUROPEAN COMPANY

ATTENTION TO THE TRANSPOSITION PROCESS (e.g. election process)

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WHAT IS A EUROPEAN WORK COUNCIL (EWC)?

EMPLOEES REPRESENTATION BODY IN COMPANY LEVEL WITH RESTRICTED ROLE IN:

•INFORMATION

•CONSULTATION

•NO COLLECTIVE BARGAINS

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WHEN A EUROPEAN WORK COUNCIL IS ESTABLISHED?

•WHEN A UNDERTAKING OR GROUP OF UNDERTAKINGS HAS AT LEAST 1000 EMPLOEES AND 150 EMPLOEES IN TWO MEMBER STATES AND THE EMPLOEES WANT IT.

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CURRENT STUATION IN EUROPE (A)

How many European undertakings are covered by the 94/45 directive?2204 undertakings with 21 millions employeesHow many EWC are existing?780 undertakings with 13 million employees

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CURRENT STUATION IN EUROPE (B)

400 AGREEMENTS FOR EUROPEAN WORK COUNCILS ARE ARTCLE 13 AGREEMENTS (BEFORE SEPTEMBER 1996)

380 AGREEMENTS FOR EUROPEAN WORK COUNCILS ARE ARTCLE 6 AGREEMENTS (AFTER SEPTEMBER 1996)

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COUNTRY OF ORIGIN OF THE MULTINATIONALUNDERTAKING

GERMANY 146BRITAN 97USA 94FRANCE 82BELGIUM 46HOLLAND 45 SWEDEN 43SWISERLAND 31ITALY 30FINLAND 28JAPAN 21

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THE ESTABLISMENT OF A EWC

1. Written request of at least 100 employees from two countries to management2. A Special Negotiation Body is created in 6 months period (3-17 elected employees one from each country)3. Maximum 3 years negotiations4. In case of no written agreement as result from the negotiations, a EWC is created according to the subsidiary requirements of the 94/45 directive

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SUBSIDIARY REQUIRMENTS OF DIRECTIVE 94/45

1. EWC members 3-30 elected employees representatives (at least one from each country)2. EWC has the right to be informed and consulted by the central management once per year on transnational matters (two countries and more)3. Selecting committee of maximum 3 persons4. Additional meetings of the EWC and the central management in case of exceptional circumstances (closure of establishments, relocations, collective redundancies)5. Expert and costs

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CONTENT OF THE AGREEMENT

1. Covered undertakings2. Composition of the EWC, number and allocation of seats, terms of office3. Functions and procedure for information and consultation4. Venue, frequency and duration of meetings5. Financial and material resources.6. Duration of the agreement and procedure for renegotiation.

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ISSUES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE EWC WITH CENTRAL MANAGEMENT

1. Structure, economical and financial situation

2. Business, production and sales development

3. Situation and probable trends of employment

4. Substantial changes in organization, production methods, transfers of production, mergers, cut-off or closures of undertaking and collective redundancies.

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WHAT IS INFORMATION AND CONCULTATION

EWC DIRECTIVEEWC DIRECTIVE

ΙΝFΟΡΜΑΤΙΟΝ no definition CONSULTATIONExchange of view and establishment of dialogue between employees representatives and management.

EUROPEAN COMPANY DIRECTIVEEUROPEAN COMPANY DIRECTIVE

ΙΝFΟΡΜΑΤΙΟΝ Time, manner and content must permit employees representatives an in depth assessmentCONSULTATIONTime, manner and content must permit employees representatives to express an opinion which may be taken into account in the decision making process.

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EUROPEAN COMPANY 2157/2001 AND 2001/86 FOR THE EUROPEAN COMPANY

Employees of a European company could set up a representative body, similar to the EWC, with rights for

Information – Consultation – Participation.

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EWC AND EUROPEAN COMPANY

European Work Councils and the Representative Body in the European Company are connecting with the protection of employees rights, in-company democracy and the management privilege.

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EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT REPORT ON EWC 17.6.2001 Α 5-282/2001

“The first weakness which has recently been the focus of public interest concerns the timing of information and consultation……….. In many recent cases such meetings have not taken place in good time.”

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EWC PROBLEMS

•Not enough information

•Insufficient consultation

•Rare meetings (one per year)

•Difficulties in communication

•Different opinions and views.

•Forum for exchange of views or employees representation body?

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EWC CRUSIAL POINTS

•Meetings (president, agenda, employees pre-meeting, follow up -meeting, frequency, duration, communication, extra meetings, expert, training, costs)

•Structure (covered companies, seats, new member states, new undertakings, country allocation of seats, shared seats, observers, mergers, future?)

•Select committee (seats, allocation, frequency, working groups, costs)

•Transnationality

•Confidentiality and communication with trade unions