1) The document outlines a working group established to research international framework agreements and joint declarations between multinational companies and unions, with a focus on the role of European Works Councils. 2) The working group will analyze existing agreements in the banking sector and identify best practices for recognizing unions as transnational partners. 3) Over multiple phases, the working group will share findings virtually, collaborate with another group to produce a joint report, and disseminate results through workshops to strengthen social dialogue.

1. With EU Contribution
Global Framework Agreements and Joint Declarations:
EWCs and Trade Unions together to foster workers' participation
rights in financial multinationals".
VS/2013/0502
Working Group 1
Paola Vinciguerra
Fiba, National Training Officer
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 1

2. SPEECH INDEX
1. The International Framework Agreements
and the European Work Councils’ role
2. The WG aims
3. The WG composition
4. Time table: phases and dates
5. The work methodology
2
With EU contribution
10/12/14 VS/2012/0276 – Lyon– PV

3. The International Framework Agreements
The International Framework Agreements are
negotiated agreements between multinational
companies and global union federations in order to
ensure labor standards and minimum guarantees for
workers and trade unions in all countries and at all
locations where these corporations operate
TThhee IIFFAAss aarree ttoooollss ooff ttrraannssnnaattiioonnaall ssoocciiaall ddiiaalloogguuee
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 3
IFAs

4. The International Framework Agreements
 They can help to create a space for workers to organize and bargain
 They have a role in the promotion of labor relations in national contexts
in which they are inadequate
 They are generally focused on fundamental human and workers’ rights,
and on issues such as restructuring and anticipation of change
Their novelty implies the lack of an unique legal status and
of a certain effectiveness
TThheerree iiss nnoott aa ssyysstteemm ooff ssaannccttiioonnss aanndd aa rreeaall eennffoorrcceeaabbiilliittyy
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 4
IFAs

5. The International Framework Agreements
A common definition of «Framework
Agreement» does not exist
The used terminologies are not shared and the names
are various: agreement, framework agreement, global
agreement, European agreement, group agreement,
joint opinion, joint declaration, convention, framework,
charter, principles, guidelines, orientation
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 5 IFAs

6. The International Framework Agreements
Depending on the social actors involved, we distinguish
between:
International or Global Framework Agreements (IFAs/
GFAs) signed by the management of multinational
corporations and the Global Union Federations (GUFs).
 European Framework agreements (EFAs) signed by
management and by the European Industry Federations
(EIFs) and/or the European Works Councils (EWC) of the
multinational
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 6 IFAs

7. The Transnational Company Agreements
The "Transnational Company Agreements" (TCAs) are agreements that
involve
"Mutual commitments, the field of application of which extends to the
territory of several Member States and which are signed by representatives
of a company or group of companies on one hand, and workers'
organizations on the other, concerning working conditions and employment
and/or relationships between companies and workers or their
representatives“
(CE, Directorate-General, Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Commission
Staff Working Document, 2008)
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 7 TCAs

8. The Transnational Company Agreements
 They reinforce the trade union involvement in the operations of
multinational enterprises
 They promote the standardization of established principles, generally
based on the ILO (International Labor Organization) principles on
international relations and working conditions
 They involve a growing number of actors (international and European
trade unions, EWC, local communities, NGOs) whose strategies and actions
should be coordinated
 They tend to fill the asymmetry of globalization: labor standards are in fact
typically national
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 8 TCAs

9. The Transnational Company Agreements
They are very different from the national collective
agreements
They are not directly applicable to the individual
employment relationships, but are intended to inform
subsequent forms of bargaining within countries
That depends mostly on the lack of legitimacy of cosigners:
the international federations and the EWCs
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 9 Legal status

10. The Transnational Company Agreements
 The 180 TFAs signed until 2011 represent a small number compared
with the number of European Works Councils (903) and the number
of multinational companies (about 65,000)
 The national unions tend not to recognize contractual
role to global unions, believing that they have a mere role of
coordinating the activities of national associations.
 Without a promotion and pressure activity from the EU, the
transnational bargaining is likely to remain, at least in the short time,
a marginal phenomenon
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 10 considerazioni

11. I Comitati Aziendali Europei/
European Work Council (CAE/EWC)
They are supranational organizations for the information and
consultation of employees in multinational companies, composed of
representatives of workers in European Union countries.
The establishment of an EWC is possible when a company has at least
1000 employees and at least 150 in 2 Member States.
The European directive which regulates the constitution is the 94/45 EC
of 22 September 1994, recast in 2009 after 14 years of experimentation.
Today, in Europe, more than 900 multinational companies have a
European Works Council: an enormous amount of knowledge and
activities on the themes of information, consultation and participation
of workers
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 11 EWC

12. I Comitati Aziendali Europei/
European Work Council (CAE/EWC)
The competence of the EWC
The "transnational issues"
issues “concerning the Community-scale company or group
of companies as a whole or at least two companies or
establishments of the company or group situated in two
different Member States”
Therefore national issues remain excluded
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 12
EWC

13. The WG1 general task
The first working group, composed of EWCs’
members, will develop research and surveys
on TFAs and Joint Declarations with a
typically transnational view
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 13

14. The WG1 composition
The working group consists of
-3 EWCs’ members
•1 Unicredit EWC member (Marco Berselli)
•1 Crédit Agricole EWC member (Leonello Boschiroli)
•1 Nordea EWC member
-6 dirigenti sindacali europei appartenenti ai medesimi CAE
-1 facilitator (the rapporteur)
Paola Vinciguerra, Fiba Cisl, Italy
- The Project Manager supervision will ensure the compliance with the
working standards
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 14

15. THE WG1 timetable: phases and dates
- Step 1: Valencia 27-28 February 2014
Kick Off and first meeting of the WG1
- Step 2: 3 March to 23 May 2014
Analysis and study "at a distance" and the synthesis on a report
- Step 3: Bucarest 29-30 May 2014
Meeting to share a joint document - Case Study
- Step 4: Dublin 4 July 2014
Follow-up and project results first dissemination
- Fase 5: Alghero 25-26 September 2014
Training Course- European Conference
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 15

16. 1 Step. Kick Off
Aims
1.To present the European project in its articulations
2.To explain the stages of group work and share objectives and
methodology
3.To bring together the participants’ experiences and organizational
contexts
Methodology
1.Participants’ Round table and extensive discussion
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 16
FASE 1: Valencia 27/28 febbraio
2014

17. Aims
To search and analyze the existing TFAs e Joint Declarations negotieted
by the main European level Bank Groups
1.To identify the good practices, ie those agreements where trade unions are fully
recognized as transnational interlocutor
2.To check the nature of the obstacles which prevent a more effective negotiation at
transnational level
3.To summarize the results in a grid to be presented to the other WC in order to
write a joint document
All this focusing on the role of EWCs and how to extend their
negotiating power
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 17
FASE 2: 3 marzo-23 maggio
2014
2 Step. Virtual Agora

18. Methodology
The facilitator will coordinate the research and the group debate on the
web through out the Virtual Agora, a virtual square where the group :
-will share information and the gathered material about the subject.
-will debate and exchange opinions about the work outputs.
all participant are equal and can throw a topic adding value to the
discussion
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 18
FASE 2: 3 marzo-23 maggio
2014
2 Step. Virtual Agora

19. Working tools
The Analysis Form
A questionnaire employed to analyze and summarize the agreements’
main characteristics
The SWOT Analysis
through which we evaluated:
•strengths and weaknesses of transnational agreements with respect to
the negotiating role of the EWC
•opportunities and threats of transnational agreements with respect to
the unions’ bargaining power at national and transnational level
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 19
FASE 2: 3 marzo-23 maggio
2014
2 Step. Virtual Agora

20. 3 Step. Sharing
Aims
1.To raise the participants awareness on the benefits of working
together to achieve more ambitious goals
2.To meet with the other group and find a unified synthesis
Methodology
1.The European Scenario Workshop (EASW)
2.The Case Study solution
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 20
FASE 3: Bucarest 29-30 maggio 2014

21. 4 Step. The Workshop
Aims
1.To present the results of the work at a distance and the unitary
synthesis
2.To identify the challenges facing the trade union on the transnational
level
3.To give maximum dissemination of the project’s objectives
Methodology
1.bottom-up approach
2.extensive discussion on the achieved results
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 21
FASE 4: Dublino 4 luglio 2014

22. 5 step. The training course
Aims
1.To Deepen the legal system on EWC and the EC Strategy on Social
Dialogue
2.To investigate the major collective disputes on the violation of EWC
information and consultation rights
Methodology
1.Seminar approach
2.extensive discussion in plenary
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 22
FASE 5: Alghero 25/26 settembre
2014

23. With EU Contribution
Global Framework Agreements and Joint Declarations:
EWCs and Trade Unions together to foster workers' participation
rights in financial multinationals".
VS/2013/0502
Vs/2013/0502 - Valencia - PV 23