Parliament seeks review of Directives on collective redundancies and EWCs

On 18 February 2000, the European Parliament called on the European Commission to evaluate the application of the collective redundancies Directive and to speed up its current review of the European Works Council Directive. This call was contained in a parliamentary resolution criticising US-based tyre manufacturer Goodyear-Dunlop for not following redundancy and information and consultation procedures when closing its plant in Latina, Italy, and electricity suppliers ABB and Alstom for not following European-level information and consultation procedures when restructuring.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 18 February 2000 which called on the European Commission to boost worker information and consultation rights in light of the recent decision by the US-based tyre-manufacturing multinational Goodyear-Dunlop to close without warning its plant at Cisterna in the Latina province of Italy with the loss of 549 jobs (IT0001140N). The resolution also criticised the Commission for approving a merger between the ABB and Alstom electricity suppliers in 1999 without considering the full social and employment consequences of such a merger and without respecting Article 127 of the EC Treaty, which states that a high level of employment should be taken into consideration in the formulation and implementation of Community policies and activities. Since the merger, ABB-Alstom Power has announced a major restructuring programme including significant workforce reductions, allegedly without following proper consultation and information procedures through the company's European Works Council (EWC).

The resolution therefore calls on the Commission to:

• undertake an evaluation of the application of the collective redundancies Directive (now consolidated in Directive 98/59/EC) and propose financial sanctions in the case of infringement;

• hasten its current review of the 1994 European Works Council Directive (94/45/EC) (EU9911211F) in order to improve measures on worker information and consultation; and

• authorise mergers or similar operations only if the companies involved respect European social legislation, mainly on worker information and consultation rights.

Goodyear-Dunlop has been criticised in particular for failure adequately to inform and consult workers over the closure and for its refusal to engage in negotiations with trade unions to try to save the 549 jobs at the Cisterna plant and a further 500 jobs at local suppliers that depend on the plant. On the day preceding the parliamentary debate, the general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Emilio Gabaglio, called on the EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Anna Diamantopoulou, to investigate the closure. He said: "For European unions, the Goodyear case, as with other recent cases, clearly proves the need for a strengthening of European legislation in the field of information and consultation."

Meanwhile, on 17 February, Ms Diamantopolou met an employee delegation from ABB-Alstom Power, which claimed that the company did not respect the EWCs Directive when ABB and Alstom announced some 4,000 redundancies as a result of their merger. The union delegation claims that Ms Diamantopoulou recognised that the Directive was contravened and as a result, the delegation intends to take legal action against the company.

During the European Parliament debate on the resolution, the EU Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society, Erkki Liikanen, admitted that although EU legislation provides measures to ensure that companies consult and inform workers "in good time" during periods of change and restructuring, it is possible for such companies to exploit ambiguities in the legislation.

After previous high-profile cases of closures and redundancies such as Renault Vilvoorde (EU9703108F) and Michelin (EU9911210N), the Goodyear-Dunlop and ABB-Alstom affairs once again raise questions in many quarters over the efficacy of European social legislation to protect workers' interests during times of change and restructuring.