IR Notes

Under this slogan the new European Commission, under the presidency of the former prime minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker, assumed its duties on 31 October last for a five-year term of office which will run until 31 October 2019. “Now it’s time to roll up the sleeves and get down to work,” Jean-Claude Juncker explains. “Europe’s challenges cannot wait” The Commission is therefore going to get on with implementing the programme, presented on 15 July before the European Parliament, in support of “Jobs, Growth, Fairness and Democratic Change“. Its first priority will therefore be to launch a public and private investment programme worth 300 billion euros in order to stimulate investment and create jobs. In his Agenda, which contains nine other priorities, such as that of raising industry’s contribution of 16% to the EU’s GDP to 20% by 2020, Jean-Claude Juncker has also confirmed the importance of the free movement of workers, which he will continue to “defend, while accepting the right of national authorities to fight abuse or fraudulent claims”. He wishes to promote labour mobility “especially in fields with persistent vacancies and skills mismatches”, while at the same time announcing a “a targeted review” of the posting of workers directive “to ensure that social dumping has no place in the European Union”. “In our Union, the same work at the same place should be remunerated in the same manner,” he declared. In other respects, echoing the reflections of Fernando Vasquez alongside in his Perspectives column, Jean-Claude Juncker proposed “that, in the future, any support and reform programme goes not only through a fiscal sustainability assessment; but through a social impact assessment as well”. As key measures, “the social effects of structural reforms need to be discussed in public, and the fight against poverty must be a priority”. What now remains is for these proposals to be translated into concrete actions as fast as possible.

• Assistance from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund: The European Commission on 28 October 2014 proposed to grant 1.8 million euros to Italy from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) to help 608 employees laid off by Whirlpool Europe S.r.l. to find new jobs (see Commission press release). It also, on 24 October, proposed to provide aid of 918,000 euros from the EGF to 760 employees made redundant by Gad abattoirs in France (see Commission press release).

• Commitment to apprenticeships in the food and drink sector: The European social partners in the food industry – FoodDrinkEurope and the EFFAT (European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions) – have adopted a joint initiative (“Youth apprenticeships pledge“) to encourage high quality apprenticeships and traineeships in food and drink manufacturing companies across Europe (see EFFAT press release, in English).

• Posted worker controls to be stepped up: The Minister of Labour, François Rebsamen, on 27 October 2014 announced that the resources available to the labour inspectorate to combat abuses linked to the posting of workers are to be reinforced, with “tougher penalties, and the option of stopping the work being undertaken by the company which is in breach of the law on posted workers”. In other respects, it will become compulsory for employees working in the construction sector to carry an ID card, as is already the case in several European countries (e.g. Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg). Finally, the decrees implementing law No. 2014-790 of 10 July 2014 aimed at fighting against unfair social competition should be published this November.

• Move towards modifying the right to strike: The Labour Minister, Andrea Nahles (SPD), on 28 October presented a draft law (“Tarifeinheitsgesetz”), whose aim is to modify the right to strike. The text, which should be adopted by the German cabinet on 3 December, and subsequently by parliament by summer 2015, comes in response to the situation whereby two rival unions within a company – a relatively rare scenario in Germany’s industrial relations system – can negotiate a collective agreement applicable to the same population of employees. If the unions are unable to resolve their differences, the text provides for the majority organisation alone to sign the collective agreement. If the parties cannot agree on which is the majority organisation, a tribunal will be tasked with determining which trade union represents the larger number of employees, which finally will have the power to sign the collective agreement. As a result, since the right to strike is linked to the defence of the collective agreement at the time of its renewal, the overall effect is that it will only be possible for the majority trade union to call a strike. One of the objectives is to limit industrial disputes by professional groups in businesses where a minority union can paralyse the company. In an oral presentation (in German), Andrea Nahles insists that the new law is not designed to restrict the right to strike or to threaten the existence of smaller trade unions, but is intended to strengthen the autonomy of the social partners, in particular by giving greater weight to the unions which represent the majority of employees in a company.

• Reform of the system of collective bargaining : Law No. 55/2014 of 25 August 2014, which entered force on 1 September 2014, has modified the Labour Code. The law contains measures which facilitate the termination of collective agreements and allow employers to suspend a collective agreement if the business is experiencing economic difficulties. This derogation is permissible provided that this step is necessary to ensure the company’s viability and to safeguard jobs. It must be formalised by an agreement between the employer and the employee representatives.

Alstom: The European Works Forum (EWF) of the French Alstom group on 28 October 2014 gave its opinion on the sale of the company’s power division to the American General Electric group, in keeping with the timetable established in a European agreement signed on 28 August between the management of Alstom and the EWF, represented by its secretary, Kai Müller (IG Metall) and its deputy secretary, Daniel Garcia-Molina (CC.OO). The document gives details of the resources provided to the EWF to follow this bid, in particular concerning the commissioning of an expert, as well as the calendar of different information and consultation meetings. In a press release the European Works Forum threatened not to issue its verdict at the meeting on 28 October, which could have led to the sale process being obstructed. Some of its members, including the secretary, were in particular demanding an agreement on maintaining employees’ jobs for a period of three years, which General Electric refused. Finally, an accommodation was reached. Indeed, a charter was presented the same day by the management teams of Alstom and General Electric, which undertake in particular to continue the information and consultation process within the EWF until the deal is closed. As regards the fate of the European works councils, a negotiation is due to start on reducing the size of Alstom’s European Works Forum following the departure of 65,000 employees to General Electric, while the American group also agrees to commence talks on setting up a European works council for its activities in the EU.

• Chèque Déjeuner: The French cooperative group Chèque Déjeuner (2,300 employees) on 4 November 2014 signed an agreement relating to the establishment of a European works council with the trade union organisations CGT, CFDT, FO (France), CGIL (Italy), UGT, CCOO (Spain) and UNI-Europa, as announced by the AFP Liaisons press agency (31.10.). The EWC, which met the same day, comprises nine members who will represent the group’s 2,300 employees, 1,300 of whom work outside France.


• Lafarge/Holcim: In conjunction with the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW), the two select committees of the European works councils of the Lafarge et Holcim cement groups, which are in the process of merging, on 9 October 2014 published a statement to call for “the establishment of a social contract between the directors of the Lafarge and Holcim groups, the buyers, and the trade unions representing the employees”. The statement underscores that “social guarantees for employees and conditions conducive to high-quality social dialogue are prerequisites that must be taken into account in the disposal plans, alongside the economic and financial conditions” in connection with the merger. The organisations are calling for a number of assurances in terms of job security and regarding employees’ status. The employee representatives are likewise demanding a “guarantee that the buyer recognises the trade unions and has not been guilty of blacklisting in the past”.

• Salini Impregilo: The management of the Italian construction group Salini Impregilo SpA (31,000 employees), formed by the merger of Salini and Impregilo, on 13 October 2014 signed an international framework agreement with the Building and Wood Workers’ International federation (BWI) and its Italian affiliates (Feneal UIL, Fica CISL, Fillea CGIL). (See BWI press release)

• Prosegur: The UNI Global Union international trade union federation on 7 October 2014 filed a complaint against the Spanish private security firm Prosegur with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and requested its intervention. UNI denounces the physical attacks perpetrated on trade unionists in Columbia and Peru (see UNI Global Union press release).

• No improvement on the unemployment front in September: In the euro area, the unemployment rate was 11.5% in September 2014 according to Eurostat (see press release) – stable compared with August 2014, but down from 12% in September 2013. The EU28 unemployment rate was 10.1% in September 2014 – also stable compared with August 2014, but down from 10.8% in September 2013.

As in Germany (see Member states section), the countries of the EU guarantee the right to strike, even if the latter’s implementation is sometimes very highly regulated, either because its exercise is limited to a given period (on the model of the industrial peace clauses in Germany which prohibit the use of strikes unless collective agreements are being renegotiated) or because the trade unions have to adhere to an extremely strict procedure to be sure that a majority of the employees supports the strike call (as in Great Britain). On the other hand, at EU level, the right to strike is guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. However, in keeping with the EU Treaty, the EU is not competent to legislate on this matter. If collective, pan-European action has taken place in the past, as in 2002 in the air traffic control sector for instance, to oppose plans of the European Commission, each action at national level must respect that country’s legislation relating to the right to strike. There is no “European right” to conduct a transnational strike, either at country or sector or at multinational level. To find out more, consult the European Industrial Relations Dictionary (in English).