DSCN0351aza
EWCs Stories

ANTONIO ZAGARI – EWC SUEZ, FIOM CGIL, MILAN

0

From the perspective of council members, the organisation must commit itself to the ultimate implementation of all agreed measures across all its facilities. But this doesn’t mean that trade unions may quickly back off. They will continue to do their work, applying essential procedures.

And I don’t only mean signing a sound agreement. True success in negotiations involves having new rules adopted in the real-life of people they impact. Rules work when they are translated into projects, expectations and daily routine. Otherwise, we say they are nothing but dead letters.

Several months ago Suez’s EWC teamed up with EPSU (the European Federation of Public Service Unions) and Industriali to sign an agreement on equal opportunities with the company. Its provisions address inequalities visible at various companies of the Group and the document is now ready to implement. Developments at different facilities will be monitored. We will also conduct activities to eradicate inequalities in the mid-term perspective.

“We are now embarking on the difficult part of our task. Who will communicate the agreement? Will we communicate this information to facilities where we have no representatives?,” wonders Antonio Zagari.

From the perspective of council members, the organisation must commit itself to the ultimate implementation of agreed measures across all its undertakings.  But this doesn’t mean that trade unions may quickly back off. They will continue to do their job and apply respective procedures.

“We will convene a meeting and invite representatives of all countries sitting on EWCs to present a report addressing the question of equal opportunities at Suez facilities. We must set the deadline, select or possibly train our representatives. We must also identify detailed agendas and diversified approaches,” continues Zagari.

He makes references to activism as he hopes that effectively organised EWCs may become a seed of a union movement that is more powerful than ever. In this sense, the ultimate implementation of agreements – the fruit of the council’s success – acquires fundamental meaning. Especially, in the international and the European perspective.

Zagari stresses that stumbling blocks arise from the misconception that we are able to cope on our own.

“Looking back on my own experience at EWC, I regrettably have to admit that national localism is often taking precedence over the overall interest. Lack of the sense of community may become a factor that does more damage than a wrong strategy.  We should not limit ourselves to what EWCs are able to provide today. We must consider their potential, including prospects for conducting collective bargaining on the transnational level.”

I am thinking here about labour law reforms initiated in different European Union states. “We are confronting them and fighting, experiencing them in national contexts whilst not realising that it’s a part of a much bigger picture.”

That is why opportunities to get together are so valuable – they facilitate networking. Zagari speaks highly of a meeting convened last year by the International Policy Bureau at the seat of CIGL in Lombardy which was attended by members of various EWCs. Each one of them represented different experiences. We talked about our plans for the future and presented our proposals. “I have very good memories of that meeting. I believe that it makes sense to hold similar events but in a structured manner to make them a regular fixture on our calendar. I think that issues tackled by EWCs and their initiatives should be presented to a wider forum to build experiences of the entire federation.

About the author / 

Dedalus

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

#GiocaLeTueCarte

giocaletuecarte

Downloads

Sito web a cura del Dipartimento Internazionale di CGIL Lombardia: internazionale@cgil.lombardia.it (Responsabile Fabio Ghelfi).