On 30 October 2024, the management of Nokia and a special negotiating body signed a European Works Council agreement replacing the EWC that had previously operated on the basis of the directive’s subsidiary requirements. The agreement provides for the creation of a select committee made up of 5 members, but no secretary. The negotiators wanted to prevent any special relationship developing between management and one of their number. Two annual meetings are provided for, together with other meetings in exceptional circumstances. To qualify for this description, a plan must have a “significant” impact, resulting either from collective redundancies or from substantial changes affecting at least 100 employees in at least two Member States. In terms of resources, the EWC is entitled to use the services of experts paid for by management, and of a trade union coordinator, though management will not pay for the latter. In view of the automatic translation and generative AI tools now available, the agreement stipulates that management will pay translation costs only in exceptional circumstances. The text also regulates the disclosure of confidential information. “There are still some gaps in the agreement”, explains Linas Maknavicius, an EWC member who belongs to France’s CFE-CGC trade union, “but our social dialogue is quite good, and we’ve been able to set up a working group on sustainability reporting (ESG), even though this is not provided for in the agreement. This working group has been able to provide feedback on the sustainability element of Nokia’s 2024 annual report.”
A new EWC for Nokia
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