Will the minimum wage directive be repealed?

In November 2022, the directive on adequate minimum wages came into force. Its objectives are not limited to adequate minimum wages; the aim is to reinforce collective bargaining coverage too. 20 EU countries, including Germany, where collective agreements cover less than 80% of the working population...

Guidelines on the AI Regulation

On 4 February 2025, the European Commission presented guidelines to ensure the consistent, effective and uniform application of the contents of the AI Regulation. The guidelines are not legally binding, but they provide explanations and practical examples to help understand and comply with the requirements. They focus on prohibited high-risk AI...

No further labour law initiatives planned

The European Commission presented its work programme for 2025 on 11 February 2025. The focus is on initiatives to simplify legislation and remove “unnecessary regulations” that burden companies. Three so-called “omnibus” packages are to review and simplify environmental and investment rules...

First national collective agreement for banks in Romania

Since 27 November 2024, a universally binding collective agreement has applied to all 45,000 bank employees in Romania. This is the first time that the banking union FSAB has succeeded in actively using the collective bargaining reform adopted by parliament in November 2022 to extend a collective agreement to the entire industry...

No digital access rights for trade unions in Germany

On 28 January 2025, the Federal Labour Court in Erfurt dismissed in the last instance the complaint filed by the Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union (IGBCE) for digital access to the Adidas plant. The test case began in 2021, when many of the 5,400 employees at the sportswear...

Weekly working hours in Spain to drop

On 4 February 2025, the Spanish left-wing government coalition, approved a bill to reduce weekly working hours from 40 to 37.5 hours while maintaining the same salary. It is considered a “historic step” since working hours had not been modified since 1983. On 20 December 2024, the government reached an agreement on...

British conciliation body rejects right to face-to-face meetings

On 23 December 2024, the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) in London, which continues to be the first instance in British EWC law after Brexit, ruled on a complaint filed by the EWC of the British Council. The complaint concerned the language and cultural institute's decision to outsource some functions, such as IT...

High Court deals with EWC issue for the first time

The High Court in Dublin has reserved three full days, from 1 to 3 July 2025, for the hearing of the legal dispute concerning the US company Verizon Communications. At the heart of the case is the question of whether the Irish EWC Act (TICEA) is compatible with the EWC Directive. On these grounds...

Finnish IT group once again with EWC agreement

On 30 October 2024, an EWC agreement was once again concluded for Nokia after three years of negotiations. After many acquisitions and a large-scale restructuring of the group, the long history of the EWC “by law” operating on the basis of the subsidiary requirements has come to an end. In practice...

Swedish architecture and engineering group with new EWC agreement

On 19 November 2024, a revised EWC agreement was concluded for Sweco in Stockholm. Europe's largest architecture and engineering firm has 22,000 employees (incl. 7,100 in Sweden) and has been steadily growing for years, partly through the acquisition of numerous small and large companies in the industry...

EWC for German-Austrian medical device manufacturer

On 29 October 2024, an EWC agreement was signed between the Special Negotiating Body and the Central Management of Lohmann & Rauscher in Neuwied (Rhineland-Palatinate). The company has 5,400 employees in 29 countries worldwide. The new European Works Council is made up of 15 delegates from 12 countries, who meet once a year...

Belgian packaging manufacturer sets up EWC

On 11 December 2024, an EWC agreement was concluded at the headquarters of VPK Group in Dendermonde (East Flanders). The group has 6,500 employees in 16 European and four non-European countries at 70 locations. The EWC has up to 25 members (maximum) including the UK and is responsible for issues that affect at least 10%...

French certification company sets up EWC

On 13 December 2020, an EWC agreement was signed in La Défense, a business district in Paris, between the Special Negotiating Body and the central management of Apave. With 16,500 employees in 55 countries, the company is mainly active in technical monitoring and materials testing and is growing strongly...

Spanish clothing group preventing harassment at work

On 25 November 2020, Inditex's central management published an agreement concluded with the European Works Council on the prevention of violence against women and harassment at work. It applies to 126,000 employees in Europe (96,000 of whom are women) and makes human rights and health and safety at work a top priority...

Framework agreement on work-life balance

On 20 December 2024, Safran's group management signed an agreement with the European Federation of Industrial Trade Unions (IndustriAll) to improve work-life balance. The French aerospace supplier hereby reaffirms its commitment to non-discrimination against employees with families in terms of salary and...

Fair treatment of employees in change management

On 27 January 2025, the SE works council and Eppendorf's central management agreed on principles for the socially responsible management of restructuring. The EWC Academy had been supporting the SE works council on this since September 2024. The agreement came about because the SE works council of the Hamburg-based...

Improved relations with trade unions at German logistics group

On 2 December 2024, a new OECD protocol for the postal and parcel company DHL was signed in Berlin. This is intended to improve the dialogue with the international trade union federations UNI and ITF. In addition to the meetings at the global level, in the future there will also be regional dialogue forums between...

British retail company establishes EWC under German law

On 30 April 2024, an EWC agreement was signed in Hamburg for the EG Group, which is owned by a British-Indian billionaire family. Founded in 2001, the company operates petrol stations and convenience shops around the world. It employs 9,000 people in the EU, including 4,000 in Germany...

Japanese pharma group establishes EWC under Irish law

On 14 May 2024, an EWC agreement was concluded for Astellas Pharma, one of the three largest Japanese pharmaceutics groups. It covers the countries of the European single market, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Meetings are held every six months, once in person and once virtually...

Italian carton board manufacturer renews EWC agreement

A revised EWC agreement was signed at Reno de Medici's headquarters in Milan on 26 January 2024. The carton board manufacturer has production sites in Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands and is owned by a US investment company. The European works council was newly established in 2015 following a merger...

Europe's largest parcel delivery company increases time-off work allowance

On 5 March 2024, a new EWC agreement was signed at Geopost's headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris. Geopost is a courier express parcel service provider under the umbrella of the French group La Poste. The EWC has 20 members and represents 46,000 employees...

US business travel management company continues with British delegates

On 6 March 2024, the EWC agreement of American Express Global Business Travel was revised at a meeting in London. It is governed by Dutch law. The EWC was established in March 2015 because the credit card company American Express had spun off its travel division and sold it to financial investors...

Spanish gaming operator with global social standards

On 29 February 2024, the group management of CIRSA signed a global framework agreement with the international umbrella organisation of services unions (UNI) in Barcelona. The group, which is based in Terrassa, an industrial city in Catalonia, operates 434 casinos in nine countries (Spain, Italy, Morocco, Latin America)...

US online platform company sets industry-wide standards with health charter

On 8 April 2024, Uber reached an agreement with the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) in London on a health charter for millions of couriers working for the online platform. Uber provides passenger transport and food delivery services in over 11,000 cities around the world...

USA: Volkswagen gets employee representation, Mercedes does not

From 17 to 19 April 2024, the workforce at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga (Tennessee) was able to decide whether to recognise the United Auto Workers (UAW) union as a collective bargaining party. There are no works councils in the USA, so this is the only way to establish employee representation at the plant...

Website exposes the attacks on works councils

The website "arbeitsunrecht in deutschland" (Workplace injustice in Germany) provides information against union busting. It is run by a non-profit organisation that campaigns for democracy in business and the workplace and promotes the establishment of active works councils...

Corporate reports on environmental and social aspects

On 17 January 2024, the Otto Brenner Foundation presented a working paper outlining a new approach to integrated business reporting that addresses environmental and social aspects in addition to purely economic and financial aspects. Since January 2023...

How can trade unions use the German Supply Chain Act?

At the end of January 2024, the DGB trade union education centre in Düsseldorf published a brochure on the opportunities offered by the law, which has been in force since January 2023. Since then, larger companies have been obliged to check their supply chains for human rights violations and...

16th conference for European works councils in Hamburg

Just a few days after the European Commission launched the legislative process to revise the EWC Directive in Brussels, almost 50 participants from eight countries gathered in Hamburg on 29 and 30 January 2024 to discover the details. Labour lawyer and expert on EWC law, Professor Filip Dorssemont...

Restructuring at Dutch payment service provider

The EWC Academy has been advising the SE works council of equensWorldline since 14 February 2024. The Utrecht-based company with 5,000 employees processes electronic payments for 250 banks in the EU and has been operating as a European Company (SE) since 2008...

EWC training at Dutch semiconductor manufacturer

On 6 and 7 March 2024, the EWC Academy held a training course for the European works council of NXP Semiconductors. The largest semiconductor manufacturer in Europe, based in Eindhoven, was a division of the Philips Group until 2006. After the spin-off, a separate EWC was established in 2007...

Strengthening European works councils in Austria

On 29 August 2023, the Austrian Supreme Court of Justice in labour and social matters dismissed an appeal by the central management of Mayr-Melnhof Packaging against the ruling of the Vienna Higher Regional Court of February 2023. This decision was communicated to...

Background information ahead of the European Parliament elections

In July 2023, the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation published an 18-page brochure presenting the institutions of the EU, in particular the composition of the European Parliament. It is elected every five years, the next time in June 2024. Germany sends 96 out of 750 MEPs...

US electric car manufacturer refuses collective bargaining agreements

Since 27 October 2023, more and more Tesla garages in Sweden have been out on strike. The IF Metall trade union initially called a strike for Tesla workers in twelve garages, but 100 garages are now already affected. Since 7 November 2023, there have been extensive solidarity actions by