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RESTRUCTURING AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT

RESTRUCTURING AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT. Management choices / company strategies (wrong and right) are very often at the bases of restructuring. Not only economic situation. Restructuring today. Unprecedented number of cases, and job losses

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RESTRUCTURING AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT

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  1. RESTRUCTURING AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT

  2. Management choices / company strategies (wrong and right) are very often at the bases of restructuring. Not only economic situation

  3. Restructuringtoday • Unprecedented number of cases, and job losses • 5 Mill jobs lost in EU over last 5 years, mainly in manufacturing and construction. Other sectors less affected. • German economic engine still functioning. Some companies made in 2012 highest profits ever • Most affected : lower and mid-paid manufacturing and construction workers • Re-employment after restructuring very low in SI, ES, BG, EL, … Higher in SF, NL, SK, DK, CZ, D • Erosion of European industrial network. Future of some sectors in Europe in danger if current trend continues • Those who keep the job : higher precarity, erosion of social protection

  4. View on Restructuring • . Change = permanent feature • . We do not oppose the principle of change. Is part of the lifecycle of a company. • . Ensure socially responsible restructuring • Which means : • workers’ involvement (information/consultation) • Anticipation on future change (Cercas initiative for a legal framework) (in the past many European voluntary initiatives : Restructuring toolbox etc) • Training & Education, LLL (for internal company use, for external labour market use)

  5. Dealing with restructuring from TU perspective • Workers and companies/countries are played off against other • Key-role for EWCs : making full use of rights of new EWC Directive • . Information and Consultation • . Right to deliver a (second) opinion • . Right for several meetings • Trade unions are put in a conflictual position : social dumping / concession bargaining / agreements to secure own employment versus European strategies and European coordination • ( more and more signs that social dumping scenario’s are increasing)

  6. How to deal with restructuring A strategy for a European coordinated approach

  7. Develop an early warning system ! 1 • Check rumours • Confirm or invalidate news • Disclose information to the actors concerned i.e. national officers, the industriAll Secretariat, the industriAll EWC coordinator and EWC members • React rapidly • Anticipate change • Follow external sources (e.g. newspaper articles)

  8. Ensure full compliance with information and consultation rights both at national and European level! 2 • Access to relevant information is essential • Demand for necessary time to develop these alternatives proposals • Disclose information to the actors concerned i.e. national officers, the industriAll Secretariat, the industriAll EWC coordinator and EWC members • Ensure proper information and consultation both at national and European level before the final decision is taken • Request an extraordinary meeting of the EWC when existent • Agree with management on a timeframe for consultation

  9. 3 Set up a European trade union coordination group composed by the unions involved in the company, the EWC and the industriAllco-ordinator! • Tie together all the potential actors: the trade union officials from the trade unions concerned, the EWC members, the industriAll EWC coordinator, the industriAll Secretariat, workers’ representatives within the Executive or the Supervisory Boards. • Create a driving force behind the European strategy and the establishment of a European, co-ordinated response. • The industriAll Coordinator will take care of the general interests of the workers all through the process.

  10. 4 Ensure full transparency of information ! • Create a climate of trust and confidence among the colleagues in the different countries. • Report any attempt from management to strike a deal with one company or in one country to the colleagues concerned or to the co-ordination group. • Do not conclude negotiations before having informed and consulted with the colleagues concerned or the co-ordination group.

  11. 5 Draw up a common platform ! • Signal to management and to the outside world the workers’ intention to stand up together and develop co-ordinated actions. • Supplement basic demands by the development of a plausible and coherent alternative concept combining an industrial plan with socially acceptable measures. • Consider the possibility of bringing in external experts to assist on this matter. • Share the workload between the different stakeholders.

  12. 6 Envisage negotiated solutions acceptable for all! • Seek to negotiate a framework agreement by the union and the EWC with management at European level covering both industrial and social aspects, guaranteeing that restructuring is managed in a socially responsible manner and that the sustainability of the company and employment are guaranteed in the long run. • Explore all possibilities to mitigate the social consequences (reduction of working time, reallocation of work, early retirement, retraining, reclassification, etc.). • Define minimum standards for a social plan Europe-wide. • Do not conclude negotiation at national level or within one company before having informed and consulted with the colleagues concerned at European level.

  13. Develop a communication strategy ! 7 • Relay immediately first reactions, the political platform, conclusions and decisions by the press, the unions, the workers, the politicians, etc. • Ensure that the campaign is ‘worker-based’ by keeping members and workers fully informed. • Communicate to the outside world: Contact politicians, MEPs or anyone with influence.

  14. Envisage cross-borders activities ! 8 • Envisage cross-border actions in case management is not willing to agree to a fair and constructive approach. • Think about worker-based and creative mobilization. • Envisage a European day of action as one of many instruments. • Develop activities in line with national practices and traditions. • Apply the internal industriAll procedure for such actions.

  15. Explore any legal possibilities to ensure that workers are heard! 9 • In the event of a merger, consider your right to be heard in the merger control procedure which is carried out by the European Commission. • Ask to be consulted by the Commission on the abuse of dominant position and raise the issue of the social consequences.

  16. Binding Commitment ! 10 • Ensure that any strategy agreed, any decision taken, at European level will be made binding for all the actors concerned and implemented at national level.

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