IR Notes

As indicated in our last edition (see IR Notes 262), Ireland’s High Court has handed down an important judgment in the case brought by Jean-Philippe Charpentier, Verizon EWC Secretary (see IR Notes 250) against Verizon’s management. The High Court overturned the decision pronounced on appeal by the Labour Court, which had found entirely in favour of the group’s management.
In November 2021, a number of EWC members acting in a personal capacity, including its secretary, took their case to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), which is the competent body for resolving collective labour disputes in Ireland [editor’s note: under Irish law, an EWC has no legal personality of its own, and therefore cannot take matters to court]. The complainants applied for the company’s management to be ordered to pay the costs they had incurred by taking part in a training course for EWC members, and also to pay certain expert legal costs incurred by the EWC. The WRC ruled that the EWC had already benefitted from a training day organised by management, so the latter was not obliged to reimburse the costs incurred by the 4 members in attending a further seminar – especially given that management had notified them in advance that they would not pay these costs. As for the expert costs, the WRC drew a distinction between areas of expertise that, in its view, qualified for reimbursement, and those that did not (see decision and IR Notes 207) and concluded that management should pay 50% of the eligible costs. However, on appeal, on 27 August 2024, the Labour Court handed down two decisions: one confirming that the training costs did not have to be reimbursed, and the other dismissing the workforce representatives’ application for expert costs to be refunded (see IR Notes 236). In fact the Labour Court overturned the WRC’s decision, holding that the employees’ representative was not entitled to act (decision TID241). As a last resort, the employee representatives then decided to refer the case to the High Court.
In its judgment, which is the first one in this field handed down in Ireland, the High Court notes that the Labour Court had made several “errors of law”. With the exception of training costs, which the High Court confirms did not have to be paid by the employer, given that it had already presented an EWC training course that was deemed adequate, the High Court disputes all of the Labour Court’s conclusions. The Labour Court made errors of law by excluding a collective complaint filed by the EWC; by rejecting the EWC secretary’s capacity as an EWC representative; by not ruling on the matter of whether the expert costs were necessary and appropriate; and by not taking account of the application to have the legal fees of the EWC secretary’s barrister refunded, solely on the grounds that its appeal had been rejected. In particular, the High Court notes that “the EWC, having no separate legal personality or independent financial resources, could only proceed with expert, including legal, advice and assistance”. To ensure that EWC members’ rights could be properly exercised, “the Labour Court should have considered whether it could, or should, permit an EWC or an employee to seek agreement from central management to reimburse all or some of the legal expenses associated with the claim on the basis that those expenses were necessary to satisfy the requirement of s. 17(1A) [editor’s note: of the law transposing the European Works Council directive into Irish law] that an EWC member or employee representative had the means required to apply the rights conferred by the Directive.”
Looking beyond the Verizon case, this landmark case has made a significant contribution to the adoption of the revised European Works Council directive, which plans to abolish the legal restriction preventing an EWC from taking a matter to court, notably in Ireland, where any dispute must be instigated by individuals acting in a personal capacity, at their own expense – a situation that represents a practical obstacle to challenging any decisions made by management (see also IR Notes 204).

Artificial intelligence : On 19 November, the European Commission put forward a new “Omnibus” package, which aims to simplify several pieces of digital legislation, including the regulation governing artificial intelligence or “AI Act” (see press release). Its proposal for a regulation amending the AI Act aims, among other things, to delay implementation of the rules relating to high-risk AI systems until the Commission has had time to prepare tools and guidelines to help suppliers to comply with the requirements. In employment terms, the systems concerned are those used for: recruitment or selection purposes; taking decisions concerning the terms of employment relationships, promotion or termination of employment relationships; assigning tasks on the basis of individual behaviour, personality traits or personal characteristics; or monitoring and evaluating workers’ performance and behaviour. Suppliers will have until the end of December 2027 (rather than August 2026) to demonstrate that their systems are not prejudicial to candidates’ and workers’ fundamental rights, and that they will continue to be systematically supervised by a human.

European Semester : On 25 November, the European Commission adopted the autumn package of the European Semester 2026, with a communication that defines economic and employment policy priorities (see press release). In addition, and for the first time, the Commission has put forward a Council recommendation on human capital, calling on the Twenty-Seven to prioritise i) the education and skills needed in strategic sectors of the EU economy (clean transition, circular economy, industrial decarbonisation, defence and space industry, etc.) and ii) boosting programmes in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). States are also urged to “reverse the negative trend in basic skills”. Furthermore, the proposal for a joint employment report expresses concern regarding the “slow growth” of labour productivity and “sizeable skills and labour shortages”. The Annex of this report includes the first-stage analysis of the social convergence framework (SCF) based on the social scoreboard. The Commission points out that several parts of the autumn package highlight “the importance of social dialogue” (see press release).

Restructuring : On 27 November, the European Commission launched a Skills Guarantee Pilot project with a budget of 14.5 million euros, which will focus on workers from the automotive industry and its supply chain, who are at risk of unemployment (see press release). To this end, it has published a call for proposals (deadline: 29 January 2026) to fund schemes to speed up and improve the transition of these workers to jobs in companies in growing or emerging strategic sectors, by providing targeted upskilling and reskilling programmes.

A “social” Omnibus directive : In the wake of seeing the European Commission put forward “Omnibus” directives in order to simplify whole swathes of EU legislation, the idea of a specific Omnibus directive for European social legislation is gaining ground among EU employers. The European Chemical Employers Group (ECEG) has published a table of proposals for simplifications in this area. However, IndustriAll Europe is critical of this ECEG-led campaign, saying it is “aimed at rolling back worker-focused legislation, (…) is opportunistic, and it distracts from the existential issues the sector must urgently confront”, (see press release). This warning did not prevent four other sector-specific employers’ organisations (Ceemet, EFB, Hotrec, WEC Europe) from launching a Call for simplification and enforcement of the social acquis, on 1 December.

Restructuring : On 12 November, the European Transport Workers’ Federation published new guidelines for supporting trade unions and employee representatives at the time of transnational company restructurings. EWCs and trade-union networks within transnational companies are presented as “key tools to detect early warning signs, share information, and coordinate union strategies at the European level” (see press release).

Future of industry : The IndustriAll Europe trade union federation has published a report on the risks of deindustrialisation in the EU, prepared by the consultancy firm Syndex. According to the authors, of the 18 industrial sectors analysed, only aerospace and defence appear not to be at risk in the short term. The report says that “all the other sectors are struggling facing harsh US and Chinese competition”. The document contains recommendations, aimed at decision-makers, for preventing Europe’s deindustrialisation, and supports some trade union demands, such as the creation of a mechanism, inspired by the SURE programme, “to prevent irreversible industrial job losses” (see press release).

Deforestation regulation : The trade union IG Metall and the employers’ organisation HDH have called on the Federal Chancellor and the EU to intervene and cut bureaucracy linked to the European regulation on deforestation (see press release). The signatories warn of the risks of lost production, job losses, and rising costs for consumers. Under the new regulation, timber must have a declaration of origin, but this requirement is currently giving rise to difficulties in implementation, reported by SME in particular.

Index-linking wages : On 13 November, the government concluded an agreement aimed at achieving a gradual full restoration of the automatic mechanism for adjusting wages to match inflation (Cost-of-Living Allowance – CoLA / Automatic Tariff Adjustment – ATA). This agreement, which is the outcome of protracted negotiations between organisations representing workers and employers, provides for the indexation allowance to be raised to 80% of the increase in the consumer price index (excluding consumption taxes) in January 2026, to 90% on 1 July 2026, and subsequently to 100% on 1 January 2027. The social partners say that they are satisfied with the final outcome, as set out in the newsletter of the OEB — the Cyprus Employers & Industrialists Federation (see press release). Index-linking will also apply once every two years to the national minimum wage.

AI and employment : The Friedrich Ebert Foundation has performed a survey of trade unionists’ use and perception of artificial intelligence (AI), on behalf of the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (UATUC) (see press release). The study shows that trade union members are aware of the issues involved with AI, but remain fairly unprepared when it comes to using it. 49.7% of participants make little use of AI, and those who use it, do so for administrative tasks. Consequently, there is a significant need for trade unions to receive education in this area, so that a strategic and proactive position can be reached.

Collective bargaining : On 26 November, the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Niki Kerameus, signed an agreement with representatives of the country’s main employers’ and employees’ organisations. This historic agreement aims to strengthen collective labour agreements and to increase the numbers of workers covered by them. The action plan to implement this agreement, which is required under the EU directive on adequate minimum wages, will be published in December, and is due to be supplemented by legislation in early 2026. During a visit to Brussels on 1 December, the Greek minister saw this agreement welcomed by Roxana Mînzatu, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Social Rights (see photo), who believes that it is a source of inspiration for other EU countries in terms of social dialogue.

A new tool for contracts : Working in conjunction with social partners, the national labour inspectorate has compiled a checklist to help companies to become more effective in choosing the right type of employment contract when they recruit workers (see press release). The parties involved also want to boost workers’ knowledge of labour law, and thereby help prevent instances of abuse. However, the employers’ organisations have criticised these measures, fearing that they will impair the process of cost optimisation (see press release).

Artificial intelligence : On 27 November, Thomas Buberl, CEO of AXA and President of the AXA group’s European Works Council (CEG), and Pascale Rauline, CEG secretary, jointly signed a charter on the conduct of European social dialogue in the context of the development of artificial intelligence within the group. This charter formalises the commitments made by the Group to its European Works Council, with regard to iterative social dialogue and employee training in the safe, ethical and sustainable use of AI.

Telework : On 1 July, the banking group BNP Paribas and its EWC revised their European Charter on Teleworking, replacing the text adopted in November 2021. The new charter supplements the telework provisions of the November 2024 Agreement on the Fundamental Rights and Global Social Floor, and contains a number of “commitments that were made specifically at the European level”. It provides for specific monitoring of teleworking practice with the establishment of a monitoring commission, made up of the six members of the Bureau of the European Works Council, representatives of the European trade-union federations UNI Europe and FECEC, and management. The charter maintains the principle of “a rate of work time exerted as teleworking at an individual maximum of 50%” (with options for derogations) and regular presence on the site, in principle in “the form of a minimum of one day per week”. The text also limits the length of any partial or total suspension of teleworking to six months, whether at management’s or the employee’s initiative, and at the end of this period, provides for an exchange between the manager and the employee on the organisation of the activity.

Day of action : The EWC of the Spanish textile group Inditex has launched a day of action across Europe, with the support of the trade unions represented within the company, to demand a fairer distribution of the group’s profits. Since it is impossible, in light of national legislations, to pursue simultaneous strike actions across the EU, the Spanish trade union CC.OO coordinated a series of demonstrations outside Zara stores in seven European countries on 28 November, which received good media coverage. “After exhausting other avenues – a letter to the management, a petition at each meeting – the trade unions have decided on holding the rallies as a last resort”, says the UNI Europa trade union federation (see press release).

Combatting climate change : At the plenary meeting of the Clariane group’s European company Works Council, held on 20 November, the Works Council and management signed a charter to accelerate the reduction of carbon emissions by the Clariane group. This document is the outcome of work undertaken by a permanent CSR working group set up by the Works Council. The document makes recommendations to all actors within the company (management, employees and their representatives) structured around three themes: 1/ Inform, raise awareness and train employees; 2/ develop practices to reduce the company’s carbon footprint; 3/ analyse the impacts of climate change and take action to protect employees and residents/patients. For example, qualitative and quantitative carbon footprint indicators will be monitored by social dialogue bodies, especially the Works Council’s CSR working group. Employee representatives undertake to support energy efficiency initiatives and green solutions, particularly when holding social dialogue meetings: videoconferencing, venues accessible by public transport, use of sustainable collective modes of transport, responsible local catering, reduction of plastic waste, etc. Employee representatives will also have to analyse the mapping of the exposure and vulnerability of establishments to climate risks at European and national level, and draw up associated action plans.

Trade union network : On 17 November, trade union representatives from Finland, France, Germany and Spain, and from the Finnish papermaking group UPM met “to align strategies, strengthen cross-border solidarity, and push back against UPM’s deteriorating social dialogue”, says IndustriAll Europe (see press release).