Dedalus and Arianna

The European Works Council of the Abertis Group was constituted in the month of July of 2013. To constitute it, we had been working since 2008, when we in the UGT Catalonia contacted the comrades of the French union organizations representing the French dealer SANEF. Furthermore, Joan Muntada (also a member of the council) and myself went to the CFDT (French Democratic Labor Confederation) headquarters in July 2008 and met with the rich representation of unionists of the French highway system, after they had received our union motivations and objectives from the international secretariat of the now extinct State Federation of Transportation, Communication and Sea.

In June 2009, within the framework of a meeting held in Avignon, we asked the company to initiate talks on behalf of CFDT, CC.OO. and UGT, and in January 2010 the negotiating committee for the constitution of the EWC was created, with representatives from different trade unions from Spain, France and Italy.

The actual constitution of the EWC was delayed due to the entry into force of law 10/2011, of 19^th May, which amended law 10/1997, of 24^th April, concerning the rights to information and consultation of workers in community enterprises and groups of enterprises.

Since we started the process of constituting this EWC, and until it was created, the company, the Abertis group, had been structuring itself (segregation of companies and stores, collective dismissals of workers, outsourcing of some activities, etc.) without providing any communication nor explanation of any type. Our prior work of coordination and communication with other French colleagues allowed us to share experiences and have a more global view of how the management policies affect global number of workers.

Three years after its constitution, UGT Catalonia still insists on its goal of making the EWC in the Abertis group a body of great utility for trade union representation and for all workers, male and female.