Brussels, 23/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers' Federation (EMCEF) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) published a press release on Thursday 22 November 2007, hailing the signing of an agreement at the new BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) under which it will compulsory for workers to attend meetings of the BASF European Works Council and have worker representation on the company's supervisory board.
BASF SE is active in 22 EU member states as well as Norway and Switzerland and with more than 60,000 workers, it is 'making an explicit communication to management at European level, coupled with fair representation for workers on the company's management bodies.' Under the agreement, BASF SE 'has pledged to inform and consult the European representatives of all the workers on company plans and developments, three times a year… In future, the company management will be obliged to seek consensus with the European representatives of the interests of workers before a decision is implemented. The agreement states that dialogue on a company decision that will have consequences for employment will remain open until it has been subject to in-depth and conclusive discussions with the workers' side.'
Reinhard Reibsch, EMCEF General Secretary, commented: 'Workers have proved through this SE agreement that they want to work responsibly for the sustainable development of a key company for European industry,' 'In today's climate of aggressive investors, compulsory and extensive co-decision with workers in Europe is becoming an important part of good corporate management. Other European companies should follow this example and, in their own interests, consider the support their workers and trade unions can offer. In this context, the fierce resistance from European employers to improving the European Works Council (EWC) Directive looks more and more incomprehensible,' said Reiner Hoffman,, Deputy General Secretary of ETUC.
Reiner Hoffmann welcomed the fact that speaking in a European Parliament debate on 13 November, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso 'confirmed his intention to submit a proposal to amend the EWC Directive to allow EWCs to anticipate and accompany restructuring.' The procedure should be completed by the end of 2008. (G.B.)