Swiss multinational companies and their European Works Councils: European voluntarism meets Swiss voluntarism

Abstract

This article analyses how multinational companies based in Switzerland deal with the European Works Council directive. As a consequence of voluntaristic regulations, at both European and Swiss levels, the quality of the practices of information and consultation varies highly, largely depending on company-specific constellations. Our case studies show that Swiss employees play significant roles in European Works Councils, but few benefit clearly and directly from this new institution. Only in rare cases where both managers and key employee representatives have developed a sense of ownership has a truly transnational social dialogue at company level led to tangible results.

When do European Works Councils become useful to employees? Lessons learned from the Alstom / Switzerland case

“…Of the 13 case studies, nine were in Swiss-based companies. On the basis of the results from these cases studies, we showed that in many respects the voluntaristic approach of the EU Directive fits in well with the Swiss industrial relations culture (Ziltener and Gabathuler, 2015). The four non-Swiss companies were chosen from two different sectors: engineering and consumer goods.…”

“…This article assesses the relevance of an EWC for employees in Switzerland, based on four case studies featuring companies headquartered outside Switzerland. These case studies were part of a wider research project on the significance of EWC representation for Swiss employees (Ziltener and Gabathuler, 2015, 2016). Special emphasis is given to the question of whether restructuring in Switzerland is influenced by Swiss employees being represented in the EWC, or, in other words: Have employees in Switzerland benefited from such representation, i.e.…”

When are European Works Councils informed and consulted, and how do they gain influence? A quantitative analysis

“…First of all, it should be mentioned that the control variables included in this model (company size, sector of activity, country of headquarters of the company and country of origin of EWC representatives) explain a meagre 3% of the variance in perceptions of the information, consultation and influence of EWCs. These are issues that are often mentioned in the literature as being important explanatory variables for the variations in EWC presence, agreements and functioning (e.g., Müller et al, 2013; Rüb & Platzer, 2015; Waddington, 2011, p. 18; Ziltener & Gabathuler, 2015). However, this model could not confirm the (continuing) existence of such effects regarding the perceptions of EWC members of the effectiveness of their EWC.…”

What is said in European Works Councils stays there

“…A similar difference was observed earlier in the Air France-KLM EWC where the Dutch tradition of early (and confidential) consultation collided with the more adversarial French tradition of information and consultation (Eurofound, 2015). In a similar vein, Ziltener and Gabathuler (2016) pointed to the specific German attitude towards confidential information. Proximity also played a role.…”