1. 1 Negotiation of restructuring processes at European level and the role of European Works Councils: the case of the … European Works Council IPL/HBS Conference, Turin, March 7 th, 2005 – Georg Leutert

2. 2 1) Background -Formation of FEWC in 1996 -16 members, 3 external experts -Five countries: -Intense co-operation and exchange with Volvo EWC -Frequent meetings -Strong co-ordination/leadership by Select Committee -Day to day business handled by own secretariat

3. 3 1) Background -First negotiations in 1999 (Visteon) -Formally recognized as negotiating body in 2000 -A total of eight agreements negotiated, thereof two re-negotiated agreements and one in progress

4. 4 2) Major agreements -Visteon (2000) -Background: Outsourcing of Ford’s own supplier plants - FEWC response:  Resolution dated 10 May 1999 -Members decided to delegate conduct of negotiations to FEWC -Declaration of mutual solidarity  Agreement ensured continuity of the plants (sourcing commitments)  Agreement constituted basis for subsequent national agreements on issues of co-determination in the context of Visteon  Still today, the FEWC is keeper to the agreement (as well towards Visteon)

5. 5 2) Major agreements -GFT (2000) -Background: Integration of Ford’s European manual transmission business into 50/50 joint venture -FEWC response  All employees have remained Ford employees  Agreement on forward looking investments  Agreements protects plants and ensures their future development

6. 6 2) Major agreements -European Framework Agreement/Code of Conduct (2003) -Agreement on social rights and social responsibility signed by Company and Unions -Well accepted by employees throughout Europe -Seems to be one of the few effective instruments we have in order to conciliate global competition and the European Social model -Initiative in progress to extend to global scale

7. 7 2) Major agreements -IOS (2004) -Background: Restructuring of Ford’s PD processes by integration into cross-brand PD-operations -FEWC response -Exclusion of job losses -Re-investment of savings into new products -Employees who require redeployment, due to IOS, will be provided with the appropriate retraining to ensure their employability

8. 8 3) Strategic approach/recommendations -We have to chase for early information and act quickly -We have to build strong employee networks for on-going information exchange -We have to present ourselves as (strong) unity -We should be in the position to calculate costs on a total cost basis -We (in the West) should try to be better, not cheaper -It is crucial to insert clauses for re-negotiation in each and every agreement we sign

9. 9 3) Strategic approach/recommendations -Short-term business policy is fatal but sometimes increases management’s readiness for concessions -We have to act as “co-managers”, argue the way management does -If we act too late or if we act against major economic principals we risk to end up with a pyrrhic victory -We should strictly separate between purely national topics and European topics but always be ready for actions of trans-national solidarity

10. 10 4) Conclusions -EWC can be a platform for strong unity/solidarity among employee representatives -By the way: Has there been more concrete and lived international solidarity between workers in the past 60 years in Western Europe than some recent cases of EWC show us? -In MNC’s we just can’t win on our own; we can tackle the problem of competition between production sites if we are decided to go for a fair distribution of the existing production volume and see the benefit of joint action

11. 11 4) Conclusions -We risk to die ‘in solidarity’ if our strategy is not based on a solid business model; current financial and economic performance of automotive manufacturers (except of Toyota) is that tough that we can easily pull the rug out from under our own feet