IR Notes

The European trade union movement is campaigning strongly to get citizens, and employees in particular, to vote in the European elections which will be held from 21 to 25 May to elect a new European Parliament. The European Trade Union Confederation has launched a campaign for “A new path for Europe” with the publication of a manifesto (for other languages click here) and a call to vote “for those candidates who you think will back new policies, that will steer Europe on a more social path”. A similar campaign is also being waged by the European trade union federations, such as IndustriAll Trade Union Europe, which has adopted a Manifesto to put industry back to work (for other languages click here) and gives pride of place on its website to the subject in an interview with its president Michael Vassiliadis. The EFFAT (food and agriculture) federation adopted a resolution, calling on members to mobilise “for an election outcome that supports a social Europe”. At national level, spreading the message is patchy. It is being extremely well transmitted in Germany, where most of the trade union federations are calling upon their members to cast their vote and devoting considerable space on their websites to this topic (see Interview). The message is less audible in other countries. In Italy, the three main Italian trade union organisations, CGIL, CISL and UIL, adopted a joint declaration on 16 May. It is not a direct call to take part in the election, but appeals to the Italian candidates and future elected members to change the direction of the EU by supporting a more social policy. In Belgium, the two major confederations, CSC and FGTB, have published a joint call to vote in order to mobilise their members in favour of a social vote. There is no unity in France, where the subject is absent from most of the trade union organisations’ websites. It remains to be seen whether this mobilisation at European level succeeds in boosting the election turnout.

• European network of public employment services: The Council on 8 May 2014 definitively adopted the decision on the “enhanced cooperation between public employment services” (PSE) of the 28 Member States. The aim is to set up a “network” at European Union level of public employment services in particular in order to evaluate their results and share best practice.

• Validity of quotas in sports teams: The European Commission on 16 April 2014 asked Spain to amend its rules on the composition of basketball teams (see press release). This decision concerns a large number of countries which apply quotas “of locally trained players”. If the quota is too high, the Commission believes that it constitutes indirect discrimination towards players from other Member States. In 2008 the Commission judged as legal a UEFA rule which essentially obliges football clubs to reserve 32% of places in a team for home-grown players. In the case of Spain, however, certain championships impose quotas of between 40% and 88%, which appears excessive in the eyes of the Commission. There are lessons to be learned by all European sports federations from this warning to Spain.


• ETUC position on transnational negotiations: The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) in March adopted a resolution in favour of an “optional legal framework for transnational negotiations with multinational companies”. The resolution states in detail the clauses which the ETUC wishes to include in the optional legal framework – that is to say, which the social partners can choose to apply to their negotiation – and consequently in the agreements which the European trade union federations will be called upon to negotiate.

• A toolkit for gender equality: The European social partners — the ETUC on the trade union side, and the employers’ organisations BusinessEurope, CEEP and UEAPME — have presented a toolkit containing “100 best practices for gender equality at work” compiled from 25 European countries. They are presented in an online database. “The toolkit,” the social partners explain, “is meant to inspire and serve as a catalyst for the design, negotiation and dissemination of effective measures in difference enterprises and working environments”. (See press release)

• Decree on the use of Flemish: The European Court of Justice had, in 2013, found fault with a Flemish decree on the use of languages, judging it to be contrary to the free movement of people (see CJEU, 16 April 2013, C-202/11, Las). The Flemish government has consequently amended this disposition by means of a new decree, published in the Belgian Official Gazette (22-4)(version in Flemish) which addresses in particular the use of languages in relations between employers and employees. The official language to be used for employment relationships between employers and employees remains Flemish, but from now on it will be possible to add “a version having the force of law” for “individual employment contracts in one of the languages spoken in the EU or the European Economic Area and “understood by all the interested parties”. The text specifies the categories of employees concerned and adds that, in case of difference between the two versions of the document, “the Flemish version of the document shall take precedence”.

• Donate a day off to help employees who are parents of a sick child: A law which entered force on 11 May 2014 (law No. 2014-459 of 9 May 2014) allows all employees, subject to the agreement of their employer, as well as civil and military public servants to give up part or all of their unused days off anonymously and without consideration to benefit an employee who is the parent of a sick child requiring his or her presence. The child (aged under 20) must be seriously ill or affected by a particularly serious illness or disability or have suffered a particularly serious accident, making the parent’s continued presence and restrictive care indispensable.

• Meeting with works council representatives at the Ministry of Labour: The employment minister Andrea Nahles, on 8 May 2014 welcomed the chairpersons of the works councils of the companies listed on the DAX 30 flagship index. According to the ministerial statement (in German), the discussions focused on safeguarding skilled jobs, devising more flexible and family-friendly working patterns, the “humanisation of the world of work”, as well as abuses concerning service contracts and temporary agency work. The minister intends to repeat this exercise regularly and also to invite the HR directors of these major companies.


• 20th DGB congress: Germany’s largest trade union confederation, Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB), held its 20th congress from 11 to 16 May in Berlin. It appointed Reiner Hoffmann (58) to its head, who secured more than 93% of votes of the 392 participants and will succeed Michael Sommer. His arrival will anchor the German trade union movement in the EU. This is Reiner Hoffmann’s ambition, having spent 15 years in Brussels, first as director of the ETUI and subsequently, from 2003 to 2009, as the deputy general secretary of the ETUC. “I consider my appointment to be a recognition of my work at a European level.” “We need European rules of play for a European employment market and a social policy,” he explained in an interview with the daily newspaper Die Welt.

• Revised layoff criteria: A law dated 8 May (law 27/2014 of 8 May, in Portuguese) implements the sixth amendment of the Labour Code. This law, which will enter force on 1 June 2014, defines new criteria for individual layoffs on economic grounds where a post is being cut: 1. The lowest performance evaluation; 2. The lowest level of academic and vocational qualifications; 3. The increased cost to the company of maintaining the post; 4. The least experience in the role; 5. The lowest seniority in the company. The text states that “the practical impossibility of maintaining the employment relationship” can be demonstrated by the employer if there is no other post compatible with the employee’s occupational group. This requirement is also applicable to layoffs on grounds of unsuitability.

• Right to flexible working hours: A law promulgated on 13 March 2014 (Children and Families Act 2014) from 1 June next extends the right to request flexible working to all employees. The employer is not obliged to accept, but must consider the employee’s request in a “reasonable manner” and act in accordance with the guide published by Acas, the public organisation for conciliation and arbitration in labour disputes.

• Imerys: The management of the world leader in mineral-based specialty solutions for industry, the French group Imerys (15,805 employees), is concluding the review of its European works council agreement, which had already incorporated the provisions of the recast directive of 6 May 2009 in a renewal agreement signed in 2010.


• Lafarge-Holcim: Following the announcement on 7 April 2014 of the merger of the two cement groups Lafarge (64,000 employees) and Holcim (71,000 employees), the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) organised a meeting in Brussels of the select committees of the European works councils of the two groups to coordinate the actions of the two bodies during the merger process. On the Lafarge side, the EWC requested the negotiation of an “agreement on method” at an initial information meeting on the merger which, according to the EFBWW, will allow: 1. Identification of the different stages of the information and consultation procedure; 2. Provision of resources to permit the workers’ representatives to work on the dossier by attending meetings of the ETUC in Brussels or at the European Commission, for example; 3. Engagement on the setup of a new council as soon as the merger takes effect. At Holcim, the employee representatives are attempting a similar approach.


• Microsoft: The CGIL trade union federation in Italy and the FGM-CGT in France have made a formal request for a European works council to be established at the American IT group Microsoft.

• GDF Suez: The management of the French energy group GDF Suez (147,200 employees) and three international trade union federations – the IndustriAll energy and industry federation, the BWI federation for the construction industry and the PSI public services federation – on 13 May 2014 signed a global agreement on health and safety at work. The same parties had on 16 November 2010 signed a global agreement on fundamental rights, social dialogue and sustainable development which provided for the negotiation of future global accords in particular on training, restructuring, sustainable development and health and safety, which thus becomes the subject of this first application of the global deal. The new accord retains the main content of the group agreement on fundamental principles regarding health and safety dated 23 February 2010. At the time, the group had unilaterally decided to extend this European agreement to its world operations. Now these commitments are incorporated in an international collective agreement. The obligations undertaken will be followed up by a joint “extended health and safety reference committee”, made up of eight management and eight employee representatives respectively, appointed by the three trade union federations which signed the agreement and by the monitoring committee set up within the EWC for the European agreement. The new committee must represent the different geographical regions and include at least three women.

• Schneider Electric: In a press release the French trade union CFDT has announced an interesting initiative in connection with the decision taken in 2012 by the Schneider Electric group to relocate part of the production of its Gardy subsidiary (130 employees) from France to Bulgaria in 2015. Fearing a site closure, the trade union explains that it has convinced the management “to enter into an innovative joint approach based on the anticipation of employment problems and the upgrading of skills”. Supported by employment consultants Syndex, a joint group was formed in 2013 by the players affected by the move: the CFDT representatives, along with those of the CFE-CGC trade union, the local management, and the senior management of Schneider Electric France. The group has worked for one year on two areas: analysing the collective skills at the site and devising reindustrialisation solutions by drawing up a “CV ” of the site in order to find a buyer. In the end, the site is to be gradually taken over by Lucibel, a manufacturer of LED lamps, which intends to relocate production currently carried out in China to the plant.

Europe faces its social problems: A study by the European think-tank Bruegel addresses the social impact of the austerity policy pursued across Europe and highlights the worsening of the situation for younger generations. The document demonstrates that the high level of unemployment, the rise in poverty and inequalities are impeding long-term growth in Europe; on this basis, it makes a series of recommendations for combating these phenomena as quickly as possible (Europe’s social problem and its implications for economic growth, Bruegel policy brief, 2014/03, April 2014).

• Quality of life for families: A survey published by Eurofound on the quality of life in Europe has focused on the fate of families in the context of the economic crisis and in particular on that of lone parents (see executive summary EN). The survey includes a certain number of recommendations about helping lone parents into work, getting people who have been recently made redundant back into work as soon as possible so as “to avoid the risk of disadvantage becoming entrenched” as well as making flexible working hours more widely available and taking measures to help families combine work and family commitments.


• World review of maternity and paternity: The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has published a report on national law and practice on maternity and paternity across the world (link to the summary and to the full report in English). The report compares the national legislation of 185 countries and territories with the ILO’s most recent standards. The ILO finds there is a gradual shift towards maternity leave with a minimum duration of 14 weeks (the standard recommended by the ILO). Of the 185 countries, only three provide no statutory cash benefits during maternity leave, and more than 100 countries now finance benefits through social security, reducing employers’ liability. Out of 167 countries examined, a statutory right to paternity leave is found in 78, and in 70 of these paternity leave is paid.

The European Parliament, which represents 500 million European citizens, does not have the traditional attribute of democratic assemblies, that of proposing legislation, even if a small step in this direction has been taken since the Lisbon Treaty. The Parliament can effectively adopt a resolution asking the European Commission to take the initiative on a particular subject. Indeed, under Article 225 TFEU, the Parliament may “request the Commission to submit any appropriate legislative proposal. It may also, at the same time, fix a deadline for the submission of such a proposal”. The bulk of the European Parliament’s work is conducted in its committees, such as the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, which deals with issues relating to jobs, social protection and labour law. See the European Industrial Relations Dictionary (in English) for further details.