4 January 2021
Following the announcement of a strategic transformation and digitalisation plan, the management of Inditex, the parent company of the prêt-à-porter brands Zara and Pull & Bear, revealed that it had already committed in June to preserving jobs despite the closure of shops that its strategy entails. A joint statement issued on 21 December by Inditex and the EWC details the commitment made by the management as well as the approach adopted: “A process has been launched, together with trade union...
22 October 2020
A joint declaration signed on 21 October by the management and EWC of Italy’s second largest bank, UniCredit, sets out the guidelines, principles and future minimum quality standards for remote work, with the aim of offering this possibility to all employees within the group (on a voluntary basis) and in all countries where it operates. The text defines new ‘ordinary’ working arrangements that are based on alternating remote work with face-to-face work (40% of working time for employees in the Headquarters...
28 November 2019
On 28 November, Robert Textoris, ENGIE’s European Works Council (EWC) secretary, together with ENGIE’s CEO Isabelle Kocher, signed a joint declaration that sets out a ‘frame of reference common to all of the Group’s entities and employees’ and that will support them through digital transformations. It recommends the use of transparent social dialogue, as early as possible along transformation project timelines that cover the potential impacts and consequences in terms of training, and with a...
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 continued increase in the number of females employed and affirms its zero tolerance policy in terms of wage discrimination and sexual harassment, as well as making a commitment to match paternity leave remuneration conditions with those for maternity leave (c.f. article No. 11355). In an interview with...
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....
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.
12 March 2019
On Wednesday 5 March, the management at consumer goods group Unilever signed an agreement on the ‘future of work’ with its European Works Council. The deal sets out jointly-devised measures, to be funded by Unilever, to put in place a common programme to support transformation at the group.
4 December 2018
Trade union federation Uni Europa published the information that on 01 July 2018 a joint declaration was signed by the social partners of the Groupama SA EWC (represented by its secretary) and the group’s CEO, which translates ‘the signatories commitment to promoting an innovative approach and a shared vocabulary as regards quality of life at work as an avenue for supporting how...
18 April 2018
On 05 April during the EWC annual meeting the milk products group signed with the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT) a declaration on inclusion, diversity and equality at the workplace. In it the parties commit to ‘enforcing effective measures aimed at achieving real equality between women and men and eliminate any direct or indirect discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, political beliefs, trade union membership or any other personal or...
27 March 2018
On 28 February, Solvay CEO, Jean-Pierre Clamadieu and EWC coordinator Albert Kruft together signed the first European text that recognizes skills acquired by those undertaking employee representation mandates so as to promote their employability and include their representation activity as part of their professional development path. In May 2017 the Belgian chemicals group negotiated a similar agreement with its French BU (UES)*, (c.f. article No. 10189) and this new Charter transposes the content Europe-wide.
