Romania’s recent law strengthening collective bargaining offers a way forward for the European Union.
Reversing the procurement race to the bottom
Companies must be denied contracts if they refuse to respect workers’ rights.
It’s time to talk about democracy at work
Democracy at work has many benefits but above all it is a matter of human dignity.
An Unlikely Cure For Populism: Workplace Democracy
Trump in the White House, Orban in Hungary, the Law and Justice party in Poland, the AfD in Germany, Erdoğan in Turkey… It seems like the list of challenges to our democracies is worryingly extensive already. Time to act! And the area where one should act might surprise you: our companies. Democracy lives in the […]
Top Of The Christmas Wish List: A Working Time Reduction
In our family, Christmas means sending and receiving wish lists. This year, my cousin took a very honest approach and wished for (among other things) somebody to come and paint her house, a jacuzzi, a pony, and more free time. It didn’t help me much in my Christmas shopping, but it does highlight the fact […]
Do We Need Another Renault To Wake Us Up?
Exactly 20 years ago today, the very first European-wide strike was organized. In all Renault plants workers suspended work for one hour in protest against the closure of the Vilvoorde factory. This gesture of transnational solidarity was made possible thanks to a then recent piece of experimental European legislation called ‘European Works Councils’ (EWCs). But […]
Let’s Give A New Boost To European Works Councils
The social policy track record of the European Union is bleak at best. But in one field the EU did make a marked difference: in 1994 it agreed on the European Works Councils Directive. In multinational companies of a certain size, employee representatives from across Europe have since enjoyed the right to be informed and […]