Remarkable outcomes ETUI, 1 (8/25)
25 years of EWC directive, 25 years of EWC Service
This year soon, the ETUI will publish the results of the largest survey of European Works Council representatives taken to date. This survey brings together the opinions on many EWC relevant topics of more than 1600 employee representatives from over 300 different EWCs. In this blog and some of our blogs to follow, we will give you a sneak preview on some of the most interesting outcomes.
Let’s start with gender equality. Here, it seems, there is still progress to be made. Only 20% of EWC members is female. Looking more specifically for the Select Committees, this is even lower: 15%.
Age is also an interesting issue. The youngest EWC member that participated in the ETUI survey was 26 years old, and the oldest 73. The average age of EWC members is 50 years. The age of Select Committee members tends to be higher on average: 52 years old. How would this compare to the average age of employees? Maybe not even so bad if we look at the large multinational companies in which EWCs are concentrated, taking into account that young people often do not get a permanent employment contract and on top of that, new employees normally do not take on the role of EWC in their first years of tenure?
Finally, let’s look at the years of office of EWC members. Almost 37% have been members for less than three years and about 20% have been a member for more than 10 years. One EWC member has been in the EWC for 30 years.
What do you think is a bigger problem: a high turn-over of membership, leading to lack of experience in the EWC, or people holding on to their position too long?What about the average age in your EWC? Do you recognise the figures? Please share with us.
If you would like to learn more about the outcomes of the ETUI survey, please join our EWC Platform on 15 November in Utrecht. One of the researchers, Stan de Spiegelaere, will be sharing the most remarkable results. . You can still sign in for this platform meeting, see link berlow. Please note: this conference will be in Dutch only.
*The ETUI will soon publish a report on this survey including information for you to work with. Check their website (www.etui.org) in the coming weeks.
Source: De Spiegelaere & Jagodzinski (2019) Can anybody hear us? An overview of the 2018 survey of EWC and SEWC representatives. European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), Brussels.
Sjef Stoop, EWC trainer and advisor
