International Relations

third Steering Committee of the Project To.Be.E.Ewc

To. Be. E. EWC Project

Third Steering Committee

Brussels, February 16-17 2016

The third Steering Committee of the Project To.Be.E.Ewc took place in Brussels, Hosted by Uni Europa, on February 16 and 17. It was devoted to deepening the themes of the European Work Councils (EWC). Started last year and conceived on a two-year span, the Project is coordinated by Fabi and Filcams-Cgil. Its aim is to provide a multilevel view on these institutions of consultation and information within transnational companies, especially in the fields of Credit and Commerce. That is why in the Project involves European trade unions of Commerce, such as the Swedish Handels, and of Finance, such as the Dutch Fnv, the Rumanian Fsab and the Maltese Mube, and the network of trade unions in the Service sector Uni Europa.

The purpose of the two-days conference was sharing the presented manuals with the European partners. The project experts gathered and scientifically sorted materials and case studies made available by working groups, carrying the experience of important EWCs institutions, such as the Unicredit EWC, represented by Angelo Di Cristo and Francesco Colasuonno from Fabi. The conference was held in preparation of the presentation Conference, which will be held in Bruxelles on may 13, at the presence of delegations from the partner countries and UNI (which is also a partner of the project) and members of the European Parliament and Commission and unions.

The Bruxelles meeting, coordinated by Franco Savi from Fabi and Sabrina De Marchi from Uni Europa, proved to be a chance to sum up the work that has been done so far by the experts, whom duty is to produce a series of instruments to help people better understanding how EWCs work and show their growing popularities in multinationals all over the EU.

In observance of the project’s working plan, the experts produced micro-manuals and checklists to better illustrate all the expects concerning EWC, from its founding procedure to its practical functioning, from the implementation of new representatives to its operational processes, in order to take full advantage of all the potential of the aforementioned institution, in accordance to the European directive n° 38/2009.

The Steering Committee divided its work in two half working days: the afternoon of Tuesday the 16th and the morning of Wednesday the 17th. During the first session, the experts Giorgio Verrecchia, Mario Ongaro and Anna Maria Romano illustrated the contents of the micro-manuals and checklists, written in English. The work is articulated in different sections, with an analytic index that allows a simple browsing of its web version, which will have a vast outreach. The website, which is currently under construction, was conceived in order to become a practical tool to browse for those who want to further deepen their knowledge on EWC. The purpose of the project, in fact, is to assist the unionists, both in the construction and the practical functioning phases.

The micro-manuals and checklists will be gathered and incorporated in a book, which paperback English version will become one of the project’s main accomplishments. The experts’ presentation was followed by a debate with interventions of some unions representatives, in order to clear some of the aspects of the micro-manuals.

The first working day ended with a long debate on the contents of the project. Pietro Gentile from Fabi presented the www.ToBeEewc.eu website and explained its functioning.

A special regard is given to the aspects concerning the disclosure and communication of the project’s contents. For this purpose, educational video clips demonstrating the contents of the EWC manuals in an easy language for the novices will be produced. Nicola Iannello exemplified the basic concepts of EWC in a dialogical form, which could stage with the interventions of at least two “actors”. The idea of shooting video clips found the approval of the audience.

The next meeting is set for the Bruxelles Conference, on may 13, Boulevard du Roi Albert II, in the European Trade Union Institute, which welcomes the initiative with interest due to its practical value and the support it gives to the spreading of EWCs.

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