British Airways: Brussels’ Labour court forced the company to refer to its European Work’s Council

Brussels' labour court asked British airways (BA) on December 6, 2006, to stop transferring its customer service department from the Vienna airport to the Fraport company and to organize consultations with its European WC, or it will be fined. The court judged that this transfer of activity was part of a reorganization with a European dimension. The firm's management, after nonetheless complying, had submitted an opposition to the court. The latter confirmed the decision last week, ruling the opposition irrelevant. (Ref. 070118)
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The EWC of the British air company British Airways (BA) referred to Brussels’ labour court because it deemed that it should have been consulted regarding the decision taken by the company’s central management to outsource a service to the Vienna airport in Austria. The labour court’s jurisdiction can be explained through the decision taken by BA, in 1996, to create the company’s EWC in Belgium, because, back then, Great Britain was not covered by the 1994 directive. This agreement, revised in

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