On 20 June, cheese group Bel (which employs just over 5,500 across Europe) along with the SNB and with assistance from EFFAT (European Federation of Trade Unions in the Food, Agriculture and Tourism sectors), signed an agreement for the putting in place of a European Works Council. In terms of geographical scope the agreement includes Ukraine as well as Switzerland in the EWC’s remit and intends to maintain UK representatives under a no-deal Brexit scenario. Information will commence with a notice detailing the alternatives that were considered and the reasons they were not retained. The agreement includes a paragraph that details how the various levels of personnel representation will interact, with in addition the intentions for annual national level meetings between local HR bodies and EWC members as preparation for the annual EWC meeting.
Geographical scope. The agreement covers BEL group sites employing at least 20 staff within the EEA, and including Switzerland and Ukraine (less common) by local worker representatives. In Switzerland and Ukraine representatives will be nominated by the relevant trade unions during their meetings and failing that by local worker representatives. The agreement builds in Brexit by saying that ‘In the case of a country leaving the EU or the EEA, that country will remain under the scope of the agreement and the representatives of that country will continue with the same rights and prerogatives.”
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