18 October 2018



To all participants in the EWC conference of 10-11 October







Dear participants, colleagues and friends

We were delighted to see so many of you at our recent EWC conference,  we thank you for coming and especially those of you who took part in the rally at the European Parliament.  You will find some photographs of the event here:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/etuc-ces/sets/72157702103503824

Our colleague Ernst Kuntz from the Netherlands also took some photographs which he is happy to share with everyone:

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21ALngkxV965pnSsA&id=50D28DC17E8F10DA%2116869&cid=50D28DC17E8F10DA

The full programme with introduction and biographical notes is attached, in English and French. 

You will find attached the following presentations which were given at the conference:

Stefan Olsson - keynote speech

Daniel Folgado Risueno - Axa Insurance EWC

Gabriele Guglielmi - CGIL Filcams

Gerry McCormack - SIPTU

Stephen Schindler - ETUFs joint recommendations on Brexit

A number of you expressed interest in our reports on worker participation and fair digitalisation, which were produced for a recent project conference.  You will find links to them, and translations thereof, here:

Collective Voice in the Platform Economy - Jeremias Prassl



Digitalisation and workers' participation - what trade unions and workers think - Eckhard Voss/Hannah Riede

Dear colleagues, in the EWC Conference introduction (see link above) you find again suggestions for further action in our initiative for “More Democracy at Work”. Please, do support this initiative by addressing the very current issue of information, consultation and participation rights in the Company Law Package directive. Ask the coming candidates for the EP about their view of the Revision of the EWC directive. Raise the issue in your trade unions. Make your Works Council addressing your regional EP candidates. There are many ways to approach them. Please, make the voice of the Works Councils and the Trade Unions heard loud and clear in the coming month. We need your pressure, your support.

Together, we can make the difference!



Peter Scherrer

Deputy General Secretary

22 August 2018

To EWC coordinators at:

• industriAll
• ETF
• EFFAT
• EPSU
• UNI Europa
• EFBWW
• Eurocadres

cc Worker Participation and Company Policy permanent committee, all affiliates

Annual conference:  “European Works Councils - a Pillar for More Democracy at Work”  - 10-11 October 2018

Dear Colleagues

Please send a reminder to your members.  Some ETUFs are not very well represented, based on current registrations.   You will find attached a draft programme, which is currently a work in progress.

Hotel and travel guidelines will be sent with confirmations, on receipt of online registration.

EWC coordinators are reminded, if you have not already done so, to distribute the following invitation as widely as possible among your EWC networks.   

As in previous years, places will be divided between ETUC affiliates and industry federations on the following basis:

industriAll:         45

ETUC:               20

UNI Europa:      15

EFFAT:              15

EPSU :              15

EFBWW:            15

ETF :                  15

Eurocadres:         5

Please use the text below.



 

TEXT

The ETUC is pleased to invite EWC members to its annual conference on European Works Councils, to be held on 10 and 11 October 2018 in the International Auditorium, International Trade Union House, Brussels, in the framework of a project co-financed by the European Commission.

The title of the conference will be “European Works Councils - a Pillar for More Democracy at Work”.

The ETUC is running a campaign for “more democracy at work” until the European Elections in May 2019.  The objective of the conference is to highlight the need of more democracy at work and to be an important cornerstone of the campaign.  Since the recast no step forward was possible. The ETUC has asked for a revision, but the Commission has issued an assessment on the implementation of EWCs and intends to work on an EWC handbook.

This is not exactly the key priority of the ETUC. We want to strengthen EWCs so that an EWC stays not simply an information and consultation body but has impact on company decision making.  An overhaul of the Directive is urgently needed. To raise visibility of the demand we need to step up our efforts.

Part of this campaign is the European Appeal - please sign it at www.european-appeal.org and ask your colleagues, friends, family etc to sign as well. Thanks for your support!

At the end of the first day we suggest to have a small rally towards the European Commission, place Schuman to hand over signatures from our Appeal. A small delegation will ask for a meeting with Commission President and the President of the EP.

Interpretation will be provided into and from English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Polish.  As in past years, EWCs will be invited via the European Trade Union Federations.  We aim for at least 50% participation from EWCs.   The breakdown by ETUF is as follows:

European Commission funding will be used to refund travel expenses of participants to a maximum amount of 380 euros.  Hotel accommodation will be reimbursed up to 140 euros for the night of 10 October.  Participants should book their own accommodation and pay for it themselves.  Rooms will be blocked at a nearby hotel at a fixed price, further information to follow.  Accommodation and travel costs will be refunded after the event upon receipt of an invoice.

The draft agenda and details of travel guidelines, hotel, etc. will be sent in due course.   Meanwhile, participants can pre-register via this link. 

Please point out to your EWC members that it is important to take time to fill in the pre-registration correctly.  The information contained therein is important to us.



"Organisation" refers to your employer, trade union, company or EWC.  If a trade union, please indicate the organisation that is AFFILIATED TO THE ETUC, and not the member trade union of that affiliate.  If you are not sure, please check the list of ETUC affiliates here. 

"European Industry Federation" (or ETUF) refers to one of 7 sectoral federations affiliated to the ETUC, one of which will have sent you this invitation.  They are industriAll, EFFAT, ETF, EFBWW/EFBH, Uni Europa, EPSU, or Eurocadres.  Each ETUF has a quota, and we need to monitor the balance of registrations by sector.

EWC representatives should fill in the name of the EWC/company and the organisation (which may be the same).

Trade union representatives should fill in the name of their union under "organisation".   ETUF representatives only need to fill in the name of the federation, if they do not represent an EWC. 

E-mail address:   please fill in ONE correct e-mail address in this box where you can receive updates. 

Gender is important, as we try to increase the number of women at this conference each year and the final gender balance is included in the 8th March survey. 

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact project assistant Barbara Boyle (Tel:  +32 2 224 0428)  [email protected] or policy advisor Wolfgang Kowalsky (Tel:  +32 2 224 0429) [email protected]

Yours sincerely,

Peter Scherrer 

Deputy General Secretary