News

On 10-11 September 2014, trade union representatives of Deutsche Bank, Allianz, BNP Paribas Fortis, UniCredit, Barclays and Société Générale meet in Potsdam, Germany. The workshop is facilitated by the European trade union federation UNI Europa Finance and aims for the participants to improve their practical work in the European works councils (EWC). As the financial sector undergoes massive restructuring across borders, the trade unionists of the companies present at the workshop expressed the need to establish trade union alliances across borders in order to be able to respond to the current challenges. In addition, they see global framework agreements as an important tool to secure a unified standard of basic rights within a multinational company and its operations in different countries, both within Europe and worldwide.

Sigi Stenzel, Vice-President of UNI Europa Finance, chaired the workshop and emphasized the importance of trade union coordination in Europe, especially when it comes to issues of outsourcing, relocation of jobs and the anticipation of change. Even though companies’ managements do still not fully respect EU consultation rights of employees in practice, some participants said that through persistent trade union work, training and the support of UNI, their EWCs have improved their functioning over the last years. On the second day of the workshop, participants discuss more in detail how to establish transnational trade union alliances and how to facilitate transnational negotiations. Some companies such as UniCredit, BNP Paribas Fortis and Allianz have already concluded agreements valid throughout the entire group on issues such as health and safety, lifelong learning or equal opportunities.

The workshop was organised in the frame of the European project “UNI Europa European work councils : fit for purpose” with financial support by the European Commission.