Total: amendment to the European agreement on assistance in creation, purchase or development of SMEs

New sites included.  On March 28, 2007, Total and the EMCEF (mining, chemistry and energy), FECCIA (managers in the chemical industry) and FECER (managers in energy and research) European trade union federations signed an agreement defining the accompanying measures the group offers to SMEs created or growing close to its key European establishments (sharing of technological resources and skills, support for exports and international development, financing to create, acquire or expand businesses, see our dispatch No.  070289).  The agreement was tried out on four pilot sites: Donges in France, Feluy in Belgium, Leuna in Germany and Tempa Rossa in Italy.  “After the test period, the management and European trade union organizations met to evaluate the actions undertaken and how to continue with the agreement.  These meetings led the management and the FECCIA and FECER European trade union federations to sign an amendment on March 23, 2012” the management explains.  The agreement adds four new employment areas to the 2007 agreement (Antwerp in Belgium, Valdemoro in Spain, Carling in France and Brunsbüttel in Germany).  “The management will keep adding the employment areas of the Group’s European sites, consulting the members of the Liaison Committee [of the EWC] and taking account of the reports and exchanges” provided for in the framework of the agreement’s follow-up procedure.