Allianz SE: the management and the EWC sign a European agreement against stress

First major European project.  The agreement presented on May 5th has a double meaning for Allianz SE.  On the one hand, it is the official recognition of growing problems caused by the development of stress at work.  It is also the first cross-border initiative launched by the EWC for the employees: “Since the adoption of the status of European Company in 2006, the EWC was mostly busy with accompanying the group’s restructuring, which included many job cuts.  However, negotiations took place at regional level and didn’t affect all national subsidiaries the same way.  In this respect, we can say that the agreement against stress is our first major action for the employees with a unitary European dimension” Rolf Zimmermann told Planet Labor.  The negotiations brought together representatives from the biggest countries covered by the agreement, namely Germany, France, the UK and Italy, as well as representatives from the “eastern European pool.”  This group also included Jörg Reinbrecht as “consultant.”  He is a member of Allianz SE’s board, in charge of the “financial services” unit of the Verdi services union and VP of UNI Europa Finance.  In total, the agreement affects the national subsidiaries of the European Union, Switzerland and contracting States in the European Economic Area.  For the definitions of stress and for the framework of actions to come, Allianz SE’s agreement is based on two Community directives: 89/391/EEC (health and safety at work) and 90/270/EEC (on the minimum safety and health requirements for work with display screen equipment) and on the framework agreement against stress the European social partners signed in 2004.