Do European Works Councils provide extra potential for trade unions needing more dialogue within transnational companies?
In the the middle of the 1980s a group of European trade union representatives in the metal working industry took the first steps towards creating informal networks. This meant workers from various countries getting together, outside work and sometimes even secretly, in order to develop a joint position vis-à -vis their respective employers. Employers eyed these attempts at creating international representation structures with suspicion. In a few cases, those involved were openly victimised. In almost all cases, management refused to recognise any formal European representation body. One first pilot agreement was signed with the French Thomson electronics company in 1985. In the following years, it was mainly nationalised French companies where workers’ requests for cross-border information and consultation rights were granted. By 1994, a total of 30 multinational companies had signed voluntary agreements providing for the establishment of European Works Councils, with a recognised info
