Amsterdam, 08 November 2000
The first constitutive meeting of the European Works Council of EADS, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, has taken place. Peter Zimmermann, Chairman of the Central Works Council of Airbus Deutschland GmbH and Gerard Patot, Secretary of the Central Works Council of Eurocopter SAS have been elected as Chairman and Co-Chairman, respectively, of the Council.
The EWC has been established to facilitate a permanent social dialogue between the employees and central management of EADS. This common employee forum aims to promote and develop cross-border understanding and exchange of views. The council was agreed upon here last month by the EADS Human Resources Directors and the Special Negotiating Body representing employees and the trade unions within EADS.
"Encouraging employee dialogue and further developing human resources activities is a key component in the full integration of EADS as a cross-border company, and we see this as a major stepping stone toward that end," affirmed Peter Zimmermann and Gerard Patot, the new Chairmen of the European Works Council. The fifteen-member EWC will meet four times per year, two of which will be with the central management. This main governing body will contain representatives from the three EADS member countries plus one from the United Kingdom and will all serve four-year terms. Each council member is elected or appointed pursuant to the law of the EU Member State in which he works.
Some of the issues the EWC may discuss with central management include: the group's structure, the economic and financial situation of the group, substantial organizational changes, new working methods or production processes, industrial restructuring, investments, relocations and employment situations and trends.
There will be several committees in the Council: the Select Committee, Economic Committee, various Subgroup Committees (one for Airbus, Astrium Eurocopter), and National Committees. Each may address different issues that are relevant to their business unit or country.
Both the Select Committee, which will handle administrative issues, and the Economic Committee will be comprised of two representatives each from France and Germany and one each from Spain and the United Kingdom. Subgroup and National Committees will include at least one member from the EWC, along with other EADS employee representatives.
"This is another step towards EADS's full integration, which has been one of our priorities thus far. With employees in four countries, working under different legal regulations, it is paramount that we increase dialogue with and among them," declared EADS Human Resource Heads Rene Chabod (France), Reinhard Havers (Germany) and Javier Matallanos (Spain).
EADS was formed on 10 July 2000 from the merger of Aerospatiale Matra of France, CASA of Spain and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany. It is the third largest aerospace company in the world, employing approximately 87,000.
Contacts at EADS Corporate Communications:
Dr. Rainer Ohler
Tel. +49 89 607 34235
Miguel Sanchez
Tel. +34 91 585 7789
Roland Sanguinetti
Tel. +33 1 42242426
