European Review Issue 39 page 4

THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF AGREEMENTS in recent months establishing new European Works Councils (EWCs). Several of them show new facets of the process which seem to correspond both to current fears on the part of the work force and the desire of companies to manage change. The first feature of these deals to be noted is their extension to Eastern Europe. As well as the inclusion of Western-headquartered firms’ eastern plants, new EWCs have also been set up in multi-nationals based in the new EU Member States. ČEZ is an energy production and distribution company which employs 25,000 workers in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania with plans for further expansion in the Balkans. The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) initiated negotiations between the employer and its affiliates, principally ‘Echo’, the Czech energy workers’ union. The 23 employee-side EWC members, as well as the seven-strong executive committee, will be consulted on company strategies, financial and economic prospects, employment trends, mergers and acquisitions but the company is also committed to seeking agreement before any major restructuring.
Another new development in EWC deals is their wider scope. France-based petrochemicals firm Total, which is the fourth largest oil and gas company in the world, has concluded an agreement at European-level which aims to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) operating near its plants. Over the last 15 years it has provided suppport for over 300 SMEs in France, accounting for aboout 45,000 jobs. Now this is to be extended to most EU countries and Norway where Total has a presence. Technological skills, international expertise and financial help to create or expand businesses will all be shared by the multi-national which also plans to make them available to its own employees who can apply for ‘enterprise-creation leave’ if they want to start up on their own. The scheme will be monitored by the EWC for safety, environmental and corporate social responsibility (CSR) concerns.

CSR also plays a part in the agreement made by the Italian banking group UniCredit which has broken new ground by involving the European Banking Federation (EBF) in its negotiations with union organisation Uni-Europa. This is the first time that an employers association has been involved in an EWC deal. Another innovation is the coverage of non-EU		countries such as Russia, Switzerland and Turkey which will send employee representatives to the European Works Council where they will be consulted on restructuring and employment issues and help to draw up company guidelines on training, health and safety, equal opportunities and non-discrimination, and the working environment.
	Total’s CSR report and the control room at a ČEZ nuclear plant

Albanian hunger strikers get deal

Midnight flit shocks unions

LAST MONTH, AFTER TWO DEATHS IN AN ALBANIAN chromium mine, and a subsequent strike over safety, pay, insurance and general working conditions, 21 miners began a hunger strike in heatwave conditions. Neither Italian-based owners Darfo SRL nor the Albanian government had responded to demands by union federation KSSH over the last six years. A large demonstration was held in the capital Tirana where the miners poured red paint on the steps of the Economy Ministry building. The politicians, however, seemed more preoccupied by the Presidential elections taking place on the same day. ‘If none of the politicians will listen to the legitimate requests of 600 miners, than hundreds of them are going to gather in front of the Albanian parliament and impede peacefully the president elections that are going to take place in Tirana today’ said Kol Nikollaj, chair of the KSSH. However, after the hunger strike had gone on for ten days, and with several strikers in hospital with dehydration, agreement was reached.

A CABLE FACTORY IN BELGIUM has been dismantled by its owners and its stock and tools moved to another site in Slovakia to the shock of European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF), who called it a ‘medieval and brutal act’, and the company’s European Works Council (EWC). French-based NEXANS removed the equipment from its Huizingen plant over a long weekend in May. On turning up for work on Monday morning the employees were furious to discover the removal. No previous consultation had been held and it was only due to strong pressure from unions that a works council was held in the afternoon. The partial closure of the factory was then announced with the loss of 70 jobs.
The EMF is demanding the immediate return of equipment and talks at local level to ensure the future of the Huizingen factory with the involvement of the EWC select committee.

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