Dedalus and Arianna

I have been the representative of the European works council of my company for several years. The council often resembles the European Parliament, since we have comrades from basically all over Europe. We find many of the different views on trade unionism reflected in the works council, as well as the different views on trade unions.

The first thing I was surprised by was the difference in the position of the representatives from different countries. Something which is a right in one country at times doesn’t even exist in the laws of a neighboring country, and you can perceive this in the meetings and when we conceive resolutions and agreements. For instance, the stand of a German trade unionist, a country in which laws are strong and where any severance needs to be negotiated with the company, has nothing to do with that of a British trade unionist, where the law limits their powers and severance is practically free. A “midway” agreement represents an epic victory for a British representative, but a huge loss of rights for the German colleague.

It is very fashionable today to speak of the Euro and of the fact that the economic and monetary union still needs a fiscal union, but not many people talk about a workers’ union to defend their right, which, nonetheless, truly is an urgent and necessary issue.