In 2023, we helped the new employee director at Compagnie des Alpes to analyse the EWC agreement and take her first steps in steering the EWC.
We have provided three two-hour sessions on Zoom to Adeline Charlet and Thomas Daniel, with the support of Marie Lopez, who was then Director of Industrial Relations at Worldline. Since then, we have carried out similar missions (which are confidential), although it is regrettable that management is reluctant to allocate time to strengthen their skills in this area.
Why This Training Matters
A thorough understanding of the legal framework, the EWC or SE-WC agreement and the impact of diverse industrial culture enables more effective social dialogue and can prevent disappointment.
Managers taking up a new position that involves managing the EWC or even transnational social dialogue do not necessarily have sufficient knowledge of how EWCs operate. A legal reading of the texts is not enough. The aim is for them to feel comfortable with the legal framework and the content of their agreement, while understanding the impact of the diversity of national social relations models on the functioning of their EWC or SE-WC. IR Share experts support them, with the assistance of peers or former EWC secretaries, to facilitate their entry into office.😉
Who It's For
This training is ideal for:
What the Training Covers
Each training is tailored to the specific profile of the manager and the company, but here are some insights:
Understanding Industrial Relations Across Europe
- National models of representation: co-determination, union dominance, etc.
- How cultural differences shape expectations and behaviors
Navigating the Legal Framework
- Core principles of the EWC and SE Directives
- Rights and obligations under European law
Understanding the EWC and SE-WC Agreement
- What are the main provisions of their agreement
- Strengths and weaknesses of their agreement
- Understanding the importance of being familiar with their EWC agreement
Become familiar with their EWC
- Understand what it means to represent all European employees
- Customizing agreements to company structures and needs
- Know how to communicate with other members and employee representatives at national level SE-WC Agreement
Become familiar with EWC ecosystem
- the role played by European trade union federations
- the role of trade union experts and coordinators
- the practical functioning of the European Works Council (interpretation, etc.)
- the link with sectoral social dialogue
- the influence of international framework agreements
TRAINING Objectives
With our training, you will:
Prepare
to engage in constructive social dialogue with the European Works Council
Be familiar
with stakeholders involved in the European Works Council and understand their roles
Understand
the legal framework and content of the European Works Council or SE-WC agreement
Make
the management and other managers understand the usefulness of the EWC
Trainers profiles
Frédéric Turlan
Director, Editor of IR Notes
Frédéric is an expert in industrial relations. He has an extensive experience of writing and editing industrial relations and labour law material for a practitioner and policymaker audience.
He has written numerous reports, comparative studies and analyses for Eurofound, as national correspondent for France, and for other research centres across Europe on industrial relations and working conditions issues. He also organised numerous in-house training for European Works’ Councils on EU labour law, industrial relations and other relevant issues for EWCs and transnational social dialogue.
Franck Reinhold von Essen
Expert IR Share
Franck has held local and national trade union positions in listed companies in France. He has also held European and international positions in companies and trade union organisations. Throughout his career, he has worked with and met various stakeholders and articipated in and led special negotiating bodies to develop European collective agreements on various topics. He has followed complex issues such as the Posting of workers Directive, problems at World Cup construction sites in Qatar, changes in corporate strategy at national and European level… He currently has no trade union or political affiliations. He is head of the ‘business office’ and a teacher of economics and management at a vocational high school in the Pyrénées Atlantiques.
Robert Textoris
Expert, IR Share
Robert Textoris has been a member of the secretariat of the European works council of the Engie group since its creation following the merger between the Suez group and Gaz de France. He became secretary in 2016. He took part in 3 revisions of the EWC agreement, which provides for a wide range of resources for the functioning of the EWC (missions, working group, annual training, etc.). In particular, it obtained an exceptional framework for meetings with candidates for the takeover of the Equans services subsidiary. This led to a specific agreement to preserve collective guarantees when the 75,000 employees were sold to the Bouygues group. Robert's experience of European Works Councils goes back to 2003, when he started working for Electricité de France.
