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Now that the new EWC Directive is in force and provides for more rights for employee representatives, the issue of putting these rights into practice becomes even more relevant. After a series of seminars for EWC "Professionals" (experienced EWC office holders), Austrian UNI Europa affiliate GPA-djp held a final conference on 16-17 June 2011 which gathered experts from different trade unions and countries as well as MEP Evelyn Regner to discuss strategies of successful EWC work, bringing together the best from different national industry relation systems, gaining trade union influence within multinational companies, bringing more women to engage in EWC work and visions for future trade union work on EWCs.

In four specialised workshops on the "handling of intercultural processes within the EWC", "cooperation and interface: trade union and EWC", "EWC training and further education" as well as "interventions and legal enforcement of EWC rights", these aspects of EWC work were analysed in more detail. UNI Europa EWC coordinator Claudia Saller participated in the latter, developing ideas on possibilities for enforcing the EWC's rights. See the blog video (in german only): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75x8wPx0yNU&NR=1. For more information on UNI Europa's policy on European Works Councils contat claudia.saller@uniglobalunion.org.