Seminar on Social Standards

Working Conditions and Social Standards in a European Comparison
Target group: European Works Councils
Duration: 1 - 3 days

Background:	The introduction of the EURO as a common European currency has increased the transnational transparency and comparability of the economic and financial situation of individual sites within a company. Cost comparisons - especially of the unit labour costs - put workplace representatives often under pressure. A sometimes dramatic competition for investment and site benefits is the consequence. The EWC is here in demand as mediative instance. Through a comparison of working conditions and social standards in the different countries the possibility exist in the EWC meetings to learn about model settlements and to examine their transferability to the own site. This could be combined with reflections to formulate similar european boundry conditions in the form of a company-wide social charta.
Targets:	The participants receive important information about working conditions in the other european sites of their company. They learn to distinguish between external (organized in multi-employer collective agreements and legislation) and internal (company-specific and therefore formable) factors. On the basis of the shared knowledge all participants should be empowered to carry out an analysis of the own site in a european comparison and to examine management decisions critically. The chances and limits of a europeanization of working conditions and social standards will be discussed.
Topics:	Shared standards - important European directives and laws Working conditions and social standards as a factor in site location: the "logic" of cost comparisons     and group-wide announcements Chances and limits of the comparability from an employees point of view Working conditions within the company: Development of a tool collection to compare selected fields     (e. g. working hours, holiday regulations, extra salaries) Evaluation and use of the information gained Europeanwide assimilation? - European collective agreements, European social charta and     decentralized means. Chances and limits Conclusions for the work of the European Works Council
Methods:	Lectures Case studies Workgroups
Trainers:	Members of the "euro-workscouncil" Training and Consulting Net

Further topics for in-company trainings:

	Workplace representation in the EU
	Communication and cooperation in the EWC
	Bi-national workshops
	Health and safety
	Language training