“EWCs and Employee Board Level Representatives: how to rebalance social dialogue”: read the final report

After two years of investigating how legal and economic expertise can improve trade unions and workers representatives’ ability to exercise their information consultation prerogatives especially on a transnational level, Syndex and its partners Indewo, LBBa and Progress Lawyers Network Antwerpen can now share essential legal considerations and good practices pertaining to existing transnational representation bodies.

Drawing on desk research, interactive seminars, surveys and interviews with key players in transnational social dialogue, this booklet first provides a legal state of play of European Works Councils (EWCs) and Board Level Employee Representatives (BLER). This booklet is also a document of reference supporting the establishment and good functioning of transnational information, consultation and participation mechanisms and bodies. Additionally, it reinforces access to justice and enforcement of procedures. This overview is complemented by 10 case studies based on a practical analysis of EWCs and BLERs from various sectors like transport and logistics, care, the tobacco industry and several others. A review of EWC agreements confronted with interviews of trade unionists highlights lessons learned from how to handle negotiation, the use of expertise and the critical role played by union coordinators, with the goal of spreading best practices that can potentially be replicated among the European network of trade unions and workers representatives.