31 January, 2013Volvo Group agrees to establish a World Works Council that will give workers the right to meet annually on a global basis.
The Volvo Group has had an agreement on a European Workers Council since 1994. Global meetings have been held every second year since 2002 with representatives from Volvo plants outside Europe. The global meetings have been negotiated to take place from time to time based on an informal understanding between the unions and the company. The latest global meeting was held in November 2012 in Wroclaw, Poland.
The new agreement is valid from the beginning of 2013, and is a big leap forward. It´s not a Global Framework Agreement, but it gives the unions the right to meet every year on a global basis. The global meeting will be held in the European spring every year, and be a forum for both internal union matters and company matters. One of the days is for consultation and information with the top management, called Volvo Global Dialogue (VGD).
“The unions outside of Europe have been waiting for an agreement like this, and are very satisfied that we can meet once a year,” says Lars Ask International Secretary in the Volvo EWC, adding, “In the Volvo Group nearly half of the employees are outside of Europe, so this is definitely a step in the right direction for the future.”
The European Workers Council will continue to have regular meetings every year in the autumn in Europe.