I posted back in August about HP workers terminating their European Works Council (EWC) agreement in response to the failure to consult properly over massive job cuts.
industriALL, a major union federation which covers IT & Communications, and to which UNITE is affiliated, has built on this by announcing an "HP European Alliance" to coordinate the work of unions, works councils and representatives from the European Works Council - to try to give employees a more effective voice.
It will be interesting to see how this initiative develops. It's common practice for employers to try to play workers in different countries or different unions off against each other, or to try to create conflict between unions and works councils which are each trying to pursue the interests of employees in different ways. Cultural, political, legal and organisational barriers often get in the way of the unity employees need to have an effective voice and it is good to see an attempt to overcome this. Will it help deliver real action to challenge job losses or to curb management by dictat?
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