On 08 April the French energy group together with three European union federations (IndustriALL Europe, EPSU, and EFBW) concluded a "European Labour Relations Agreement" that focused on employability, and thus training and mobility, and on social guarantees to accompany the group’s transformation processes. Sylvain Lefebvre, Deputy General Secretary of IndustriALL Europe and agreement negotiator on behalf of the European federations discusses with Planet Labor the new agreement and its negotiation.
- What triggered the initiative to negotiate a European Agreement to accompany transformation at the ENGIE group (for details of the agreement c.f. article No. 9597)?
Sylvain Lefebvre. In April 2015, when the group announced its new organization and its new business policy, it was clear that there would be an impact on employees’ working conditions and on jobs and so it was at this point that the union organizations asked management to work together on anticipating the upcoming changes. The European Works Council formulated a request to open negotiations on the issues and management agreed.
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