10 October 2019
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) and an international trade union alliance have combined forces to...
2 October 2019
On 12 September 2019, global utilities group SUEZ signed a new European agreement on professional equality that applies to almost 61,000 staff working across all its subsidiaries Europewide. The agreement targets a...
27 September 2019
A seven-month campaign that seeks to demonstrate the positive impact of collective bargaining is in the offing. On Thursday 26 September, the trade union federation IndustriAll Europe launched its Together at Work...
18 September 2019
On 17 September, the international trade union federation, the IUF, along with French hotels group AccorInvest announced their signing of a global agreement fighting sexual harassment at work. The agreement was officially signed on 15 July 2019 and it both sets out its zero tolerance policy on sexual harassment as well as recognizing the role trade unions and collective bargaining in eliminating sexual harassment from the workplace. The agreement covers all persons employed by the Group and operating on behalf of...
16 September 2019
Today, on 16 September, Bertrand Camus, chief executive of French utility group Suez, the group’s European trade unions, and the European Union Federations have signed an agreement to reinforce the fostering of professional equality. Suez had previously made a commitment of this kind in 2015, as part of a European agreement on professional equality signed with the same bodies (see article n°8995). This latest agreement resumes that commitment, with an update to part of its contents and its quantified targets....
12 September 2019
In a statement published on 5 September, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) called on its 90 affiliated national trade union organisations to commit to achieving a “just transition”, by actively participating in their respective countries during the week of demonstrations due to take place around the world between September 20 and 27. The statement refers to the Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED) movement, which has listed how unions from around the world are acting in the face of climate...
11 September 2019
Promoting diversity and work-life balance and including workers with disabilities are just some of Italian insurance company Generali’s commitments that have been further bolstered by the joint Diversity and Inclusion statement that was signed by both Generali management and the European Works Council (EWC) in June 2019 and published on the company’s website on 09 September.
26 August 2019
In a judgement handed down on 31 July (here), the Employment Appeal Tribunal rejected the appeal from the European Works Council at Oracle, against an initial decision made on 12 February (see article n°10566) by the UK’s Central Arbitration Committee. The judgement confirms that a company’s management does not need to wait for the EWC to give its opinion before beginning to implement plans at a local level. This decision has been made in the light of the subsidiary requirements laid down by UK law, which...
26 August 2019
On 31 July the French banking group signed with UNI Global Union, the international trade union federation of the private service sector, a global framework agreement covering basic labour rights. The agreement also contains a commitment to parenting, with the establishment of the principle of 16 weeks’ paid maternity leave, which will be available to all of the group’s female employees as of 1 January 2021. Furthermore it is recommended that entities arrange adoption or paternity leave to account for the...
26 July 2019
Planet Labor is taking time off to enjoy the summer break. No fresh updates will be published until the morning of 26 August. You can of course access all our previous articles during this period and we look forward to recommencing business as usual upon our return. If you have any problems connecting to the site, do not hesitate to contact us by email (planetlabor@planetlabor.com) or by telephone (+33 (0) 1 57 40 60 09). Whatever your plans, we wish you all an enjoyable summer.
18 July 2019
An Expert Group on European Works Councils had been the European Commissions’ compromise response to its assessment of the EWC Recast Directive (2009/38/EC); i.e. no new revisions to the text, but instead the establishment of a joint group of experts that would collaborate on preparing a practical handbook with relevant best practices. The first meeting of the group of experts from both employers and trade union bodies was held on 01 April 2019. The meeting adjourned however with no agreement possible and as a...
18 July 2019
On 17 July Orange together with the international services union federation Uni Global, and the Orange Union Alliance (that brings together union organizations represented within the Orange group, c.f. article No. 070469) signed its third global agreement ‘promoting workplace gender equality, combatting discrimination and violence, and promoting work-life balance.’ This new agreement seeks to ensure occupational gender equality, tackle discrimination and violence, and promote work-life balance especially by...
9 July 2019
This global framework agreement, which was signed on 09 July by the French automaker Renault Group along with IndustriALL Global Union, the Secretary of the Renault Group Works Council (a global council) and the trade union bodies represented within it, is in fact quite unique. Entitled, ‘Building the world of work together at Renault Group’, Renault’s second global framework agreement (its first was signed in 2013 and addressed fundamental rights at work, c.f. article No. 130445) comes at a time when the...