2013 05 17 ewc database mummia project etui_romuald-jagodzinski_2013_florence_eng

The ETUI database of
European Works Councils
& SEs
Romuald Jagodzinski
Researcher
rjagodzinski@etui.org
European Trade Union Institute
Final MuMMIA Project Conference
16th - 18th May, Florence (Italy)

18/05/2013 ETUI © R. Jagodzinski 20132
Agenda
1. The EWC database of ETUI
1. Structure of the database
2. Selected statistics on EWCs
3. www.ewcdb.eu
4. www.worker-participation.eu

EWC database - development
● 1995 – birth of the database
● collaboration with some twenty-one research institutes + EIFs
● initially a database of multinational companies that fall within the
scope of the EWC Directive
● In 1999 creation of database containing EN texts of EWC
agreements
● In 2004 the collection of agreements and the data on multinationals
were integrated into a single database
● supplemented with a selection of data analysing the contents of the
agreement (by Infopoint)
● The latest published update on CD Rom: 2006.
● In 2006 a selection of the data put online (www.ewcdb.org)
● 2007 the complete database made accessible online via
www.ewcdb.eu
● 2008 addition of SE fact sheets (SE database module)
● 2009 – 2010 Inclusion of content analysis (SDA + ETUI), completed
2013

EWC database: general structure
ETUI database of EWCs
EWC
database
Database of
multinational
companies
SEs
database
EWCs Social Dialogue bodies Contacts Substantive agts
EU legal provisions
Jurisprudence
(national, ECJ)
Workers’ and
employers’ organisations
ongoing
ongoing

Basic structure of the ETUI database
Multinational company
(GroupCoID)
Body level (EWC)
(BodyID)
Document level (EWC agreement)
(AgreementID)
GM Chemtura
GMEECO
Renegotiated
Agreement 2005
Renewal
Agreement 1999
Renewal
Agreement 2002
GMAC
Installation
Agreement 1996
Content analysis

Multinational
company
EWC
marketing division
EWC
production division
1996: EWC
installation
agreement,
now obsolete
2000: EWC
renegotiated
agreement
(still valid) letter regarding
the revision of
the EWC
Directive
substantive
agreement
EWC
logistics division
2001: amendment
to EWC
agreement
(still valid)
Rules of
procedure
World Works
Council
Example of a structure of a complete record in the ETUI database
Content
Analysis
Content
Analysis
Content
Analysis

Information per EWC document
● Still effective
● Installation type: installation agt / amendment / renegotiated (renewal) / renegotiated
(change of terms of agt)
● Date of signature
● Duration
● File status: ready for publication / not available / not for publication
● Language of reference
● Text available in languages (digital, signed)
● Linked organisations (EIFs, national TUs, employer organisations, etc.)
● Linked bodies (sometimes > 1)
● Linked multinationals (sometimes > 1)
● Thesaurus entries
•Recent modifications:
•Content analysis
•More statistics + ready graphs
•Link to news on individual EWCs (2010)
Features of the database – EWC documents

Other new features since 2010
● Database of court cases (pending development)
● Documents (court rulings, articles, etc)
● Link to EWCs
● Link to news
● Comparative table
● News items linked to each EWCs + on general issues
● Full text search (e.g. restructuring, crisis, recast)
● Pre-defined search queries
● PlanetLabor.com
● Agreement content analysis (over 1500 agreements analysed)
● Cooperation with SDA
● Pre-defined queries

Content analysis – initial findings, trends
● Analysis is in the initial phase
● Too early to draw conclusions about any complex
interdependancies, trends, correlations, etc.
● In the final phase: report / publication (2013/14)
● In total 90 questions per agreement with multiple answers
● Content analysis divided into sections
● Constitutional / legal issues
● Renewal/renegotiation
● Composition/geographical scope
● Seats/mandate
● Confidentiality
● Information and Consultation
● Plenary meetings
● Select committee + extraordinary committee
● Support available to the EWC

Content analysis criteria
● constitution/legal issues
● Date of agreement
● Agreement type
● Employee-side signatories
● National transposition law applicable
● Duration of mandate for agreement
● Re-negotiation
● Composition
• Geographical scope
• The number of EWC members
• The geographical distribution of EWC members
• Allocation of seats
• Size threshold for a seat
• Upper limit on the number of seats from one country
• The selection of employee representatives
• Mandate of employee representatives
• Protection for employee representatives
•Plenary meetings
•Frequency of plenary meeting
•Duration of plenary meeting
•Chairing of plenary meetings
•EWC preparatory meeting
•EWC debriefing meeting
•Provisions for agenda setting
•Minutes of plenary meetings
Extraordinary meetings
Format of extraordinary meeting
Procedure for calling extraordinary
meetings
Initiative
refusal

Content analysis criteria
•Information and consultation
•Definitions
•Role
•Competence
•Specifically excluded agenda items
•Confidentiality provisions
•Language interpretation
•Language translation
•Working documents
•Provision for feedback/dissemination
•Select committee and extraordinary committee
•Presence of a select committee
•Responsibilities of select committee
Support/facilities available to the EWC
●External participants
●European industry federation presence
●Presence of Expert(s)
●Operating expenses
●Training for EWC members
●Communication systems within the EWC
●Can EWC members visit the sites of
operations covered by the EWC?

Most common features
● Some most common features
● Vast majority of agreements: 1 meeting per year
● agreement types
● date of signature
● agreement valid or not
● Agreement linked to Multinational
● EWC body type

Statistics – overview (May 2013)
EWC bodies ever created: 1258
EWC bodies still active: 1030
Multinational companies with an EWC: 955
EWCs in negotiation: 59
EWCs merged or dissolved: 190
Multinational companies covered by the directive
without an EWC (estimation!) 1422
Number of EWC members (estimation! 15-20 on average) aprox. 16-21
thousand councilors
Estimated number of employees
represented in MNCs with EWC 17-18 million

Creation of EWC bodies - evolution
year created disappeared change bodies active
insufficient data 26 20 6 6
1985 2 2 8
1988 4 4 12
1989 2 2 14
1990 4 4 18
1991 5 5 23
1992 6 6 29
1993 9 9 38
1994 19 19 57
1995 72 72 129
1996 397 1 396 525
1997 52 1 51 576
1998 68 12 56 632
1999 84 26 58 690
2000 85 21 64 754
2001 52 26 26 780
2002 35 18 17 797
2003 41 11 30 827
2004 36 15 21 848
2005 36 15 21 869
2006 36 12 24 893
2007 39 18 21 914
2008 52 10 42 956
2009 34 3 31 987
2010 22 8 14 1001
2011 12 1 11 1012
2012 3 3 1015

Development of EWCs over the years
33 19
72
397
51
68 82 85
51
35 41 34 31 35 30
52
34 22 12 3
99
52
124
520
570
626
683
747
772
789
819
838
855
893
914
956
987 1001 1012 1015
1030
-30
20
70
120
170
220
270
320
370
420
470
520
570
620
670
720
770
820
870
920
970
1020
before
1994
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
new EWCs EWCs dissolved Total EWCs active
Column 4 Column 5 Column 6
Source: EWC database, ewcdb.eu, ETUI 2013

Development of EWCs over the years
Reasons of establishment
2
4
2
5 5 6
9
19
72
62
77 77
40
26
33
27
23
25
23
36
16
6
394
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80 1985
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
company converted into SE
creation from spin-off
installation from merger
installation from scratch
not confirmed

EWC bodies currently active, by country of headquarters
1 1 1 1 2 2 4 6 9
19 23
30 34 35
40
53
72
101
114
158
2 4 5 5
23
39
154
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160 Greece
Portugal
Slovenia
Czech
Cyprus
Hungary
LU&
Ireland
Spain
Norway
Austria
Denmark
Finland
Italy
Belgium
Netherla
Sweden
France
United
Germany
South
Australi
Canada
other
Japan
Switzerl
United

European Works Council bodies dissolved, by year and reason of
dissolution
6
9
7
4
5
7 7
5
4
6
2
1 1
6
15
12
21
11
4
3
8
3
6 6
0
5
10
15
20
25 1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
acquisition
company converted into SE
dissolved (bankruptcy)
dissolved (lack of interest)
dissolved (no longer covered)
dissolved (sold off)
merger
not confirmed

Active EWC bodies and involvement of employees or observers
from new EU member states and applicant countries
Total EWC bodies currently
active
1015
EWCs including one or more representatives from a
new EU member state (2004) 229
EWCs including one or more representatives from a
new EU member state (2007: BG, RO) 56
EWCs including one or more representatives from
EU applicant countries (HR, IS, ME, MK,RS, TR) 33

EWC bodiescurrentlyactive,bycountryofheadquarters
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Greece
Portugal
Czechrepublic
Slovenia
Hungary
Cyprus
Luxembourg&Liechtenstein
Ireland
Spain
Norway
Austria
Denmark
Finland
Italy
Belgium
Netherlands
Sweden
France
UnitedKingdom
Germany
SouthAfrica
Australia
Canada
other
Japan
Switzerland
UnitedStates

Source:EuropeanTradeUnionInstitute(ETUI),EWC database,5/2013
EW C bodiescurrentlyactive,bysectorofactivity
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Building & Woodwork
Chemicals
Food, HORECA, Agriculture
Metal
Servicescommerce
Servicesfinance
Graphical & Packaging
IT& Services
Other services
Publicservices
Textile
Transport
Other

EW C bodiescurrentlyactive,bycategoryofemploymentinEEA
10%
36%
17%
37%
employment unknown or insufficient data
small companies(< 5000 employeesinEEA)
mediumcompanies(between 5000 and 10000
employeesin EEA)
largecompanies(morethan 10000 employeesin EEA)

EW C bodiescurrentlyactive,bycategoryofinternationalisation(numberofEEA countriesinwhichthecompanies
haveoperations)
5%
15%
27%
53%
insufficient data
lessthan 5 countries
between 5 and 10 countries
morethan 10 countries

EW C bodiescurrentlyactive,byinstallationtype
37%
6%
48%
1%
1%
6%
1%
art.13 EWC
art.3 EWC(UK-IEbased pre-direct.)
art.6 EWC
information & consultation procedure
subsidiary requirements
SEWC
typeto bespecified

Number of companies affected by the EWC Directive
operating in each of the « new » EU member states
84 87
56 65
155 162
181 185
340
636
662
819
29 33
101 108
199
333 334
425
0
200
400
600
800
MT CY LV LT EE SI SK CZ HU PL
MNCs affected by the EWC Directive
MNCs that have set up an EWC
Source: EWC Facts&Figures 2006,
P.Kerckhofs & I.Pas, ETUI-REHS 2006

Age (length of existence) of currently active EWCs in years
0
100
200
300
400
500
Years in operation
NumberofactiveEWCs
Percentageofallcurrently
activeEWCs
Number of active EWCs (right-hand scale) Percentage of all EWCs currently active (left-hand scale)
Number of active EWCs (right-hand scale) 13626246017315
Percentage of all EWCs currently active
(left-hand scale)
15,229,351,51,90,31,7
less than 5
between 5 and
10
between 10
and 15
between 15 and
20
between 20
and 25
unknown

Age (existence) of currently active EWCs by sector of
activity
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
metal chemicals public
services
services building &
woodwork
food, hotel,
tourism
transport textiles
NumberorEWCscurrentlyactive
less than 5 between 5 and 10 between 10 and 15 between 15 and 20
between 20 and 25 unknown
* - Some multinational companies with EWCs installed are active in more than one sector; thus, some EWCs are counted double and
if summed up on this slide, their number exceeds the factual number of currently active EWCs (893)

Agenda
1. Introduction – how did the EWCdb develop?
2. European Works Councils and the EWC database
1. Structure of the database
2. Selected statistics on EWCs
3. Websites
1. www.ewcdb.eu
2. www.worker-participation.eu

Examples of exceptional provisions (good, bad neutral)
Examples of agreements in the following categories:
○ budget
○ expert
○ exclusion of specific items from EWC
agenda + further break down per item
○ conflict resolution
○ training
○ time-off for EWC duties
○ confidentiality
○ principle of subsidiarity
○ priority of information
○ renegotiation of EWC agreement
○ transition in case of merger
○ informing employees
○ Guests / external parties
○ other forms of trade union commitment to EWC
○ anti-domination clause
○ information & consultation – definitions
○ extraordinary circumstances
○ renegotiation of agreements
○ legal personality
○ training
○ translation / interpreters
○ Link with other EWCs
○ Additional EWC meeting
•prospect for establishing and changeover to an se:
•clause for creating a joint
•rotation system of ewc reps:
•Access to company premises
•subcommittees / working groups (within an EWC)
•special communication systems for EWC + EWC
websites
•select committee (frequency of meetings)
•gender balance
•EWC on subsidiary requirements
•EWCs inviting employee representatives from
outside of EU/EEA
•EWCs in public
•transnationality
•EWCs appointing members of supervisory /
directors’ boards
•facilities for EWCs
•EWCs and CSR
•Information & consultation procedure instead of an
EWC
•agreements concluded via representative agent (of
company)
•registration / depositing of EWC agreements
•support for application for EU projects by an EWC
•recount of employees

Examples of problematic provisions in EWC agreements
● Experts:
● limited to one expert
● Central management reserves the right to remove any expert (max 2) from any meeting
● Expert's assistance limited only to one area (e.g financial matters): once a year EWC may consult the
chartered accountant of the French group committee to present the accounts and figures
● An agreement does not mention experts, but 'expert opinions' + no guests are allowed in the I&C
procedure
● By principle costs of experts' participation not covered, though possibility of reimbursement at request
with justification.
● Experts not allowed in joint meetings with management (time-outs to consult necessary)
● Select Committee: SC meetings held only in English, no translation or interpretation facilites
available
● going public:
● EWC members are prohibited from making any statements to the media concerning the affairs of the
group or any matter discussed at an EWC meeting;
● Any contacts of EWC members with the press must be approved by the Chairman
● Any communication to third parties outside of the Forum must be approved by management
● EWC (is joint) is not allowed to provide any information to the media without prior consent of
management (CEO)
● informing employees: Any written report of an EWC member to its constituency must be approved
by management if it does not contain confidential data or any defamatory statements. Verbal
statements must not be defamatory either.
● Frequency of meetings:
● Annual meetings can be held as tele-conferences according to a decision by the management
● Adaptation of EWC composition: Changes in employee figures have no effect on composition of
the EWC (art. 3.1)

● extraordinary circumstances: In principle only representatives from individual countries should
participate in the special meetings
● guests/external parties: Guests are explicitly prohibited to participate in the Company X procedure
for information and consultation
● Information & consultation: I&C procedure is understood as meetings of a representative of
management who visits employee representatives in respective sites. Employee reps do not have an
explicit right to communicate with each other.. Consultation should take place in writing or by phone
● Confidentiality:
● EWC members shall be PERMANENTLY bound by confidentiality + sanctions for breach
● all information is categorised as confidential by principle unless management informs explicitly
this is not the case (inverted proportions!)
● all issues discussed in EWC meetings are considered confidential (art. 11.2)
● Budget: explicit exclusion of a budget for EWC
● Agenda setting:
● management will refuse putting an item on agenda which can seriously harm or be prejudicial to
company interest (art. 5.4). Management must give reasons.
● Chairman (management) may classify an issue as outside of scope of the competences of the
EWC; he/she may also add an item to the agenda at his discretion.

● Training:
● session organised only during the morning on the day preceeding the plenary session (art. 4.5)
● Language training limited to 10 days
● Transnationality: is meant as issues affecting at least 4 countries in the EU/EEA, however issues
affecting less countries can be put before the EWC
● Languages:
● Representatives of a country where there are less than 30 employees are not entitled to request
additional interpretation or translation (art. 6.2); the company does not assume costs of
translation/interpretation to more than 4 languages
● For purpose of translation the host country of the meeting will call one or more of Eltel's
employees with knowledge of languege to participate in the meeting (no professional translation;
art. 3.2)
● interpreters / translators not professional ones but where possible employees of the company
● Time-off:
● No time off for EWC work
● As a basis only 1 day off for EWC duties; management of individual subsidiaries may change
this amount.
● Information and consultation:
● may be denied if it interferes with interests of management of the group or subsidiaries + in cases of
confidentiality (standard)
● Consultation does not have to be in advance (Art. 3)

Potentially harmful / ambiguous provisions
● Link to national level:
● National level councils not obliged to divulge information to
EWC prior to fulfilment of national I&C obligations
● It is expressly prohibited for EWC members to organize
meetings with national level employee / national works
council reps / trade union reps within the Member States

www.ewcdb.eu

www.worker-participation.eu
Available in FR, EN, DE
More general and miscellaneous information on EWCs

www.worker-participation.eu
Recast 2009/38/EC
•FAQ on recast (EN and DE)
•History of recast with
database of documents
•Overview on new articles in
the directive 2009/38/EC
•Table: ETUC demands and
Commission proposal
EU wide comparative table on nomination procedures
for EWC

www.worker-participation.eu and EWC training

Useful links:
● www.worker-participation.eu
● www.ewcdb.eu
● www.etui.org – GENERAL ETUI WEBSITE
● www.etuc.org
Our Activities Social dialogue and industrial relations
European Works Councils
● www.ec.europa.eu
EU policies
Employment, social affaires and equal opportunities
Labour law

2013 05 17 ewc database mummia project etui_romuald-jagodzinski_2013_florence_eng

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2013 05 17 ewc database mummia project etui_romuald-jagodzinski_2013_florence_eng