29 Amendments of Jessica POLFJÄRD related to 2021/2005(INI)
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 27 a (new)
Citation 27 a (new)
— having regard to the University of Leuven research project of May 2016 “European Works Councils on the Move: Management Perspectives on the Development of a Transnational Institution for Social Dialogue”,
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the voice of workerssocial partnership and collective bargaining between representatives of employees and employers on national level and the social dialogue on European level is a key element of the European Social Model, whose shared legacy of social dialogue, workers’ participation, collective bargaining, employee representation on boards, health and safety representation, and tripartism are the building blocks of a diverse and socially sustainable future;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas democracy at work plays a key role in strengthening human rights in the workplace and society, not least when trade unions and workers’ representatives, including trade unions, are actively involved in business due diligence processes; whereas the responsibility to ensure human rights in the workplace remains with the Member States; whereas more democracy at work would be an effective way of addressing the inequalities at work and in society;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas workers’ participation, collective bargaining coverage and unionisation are decliningshould be supported and promoted across the EU;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas trade unions and workers’workers’ representatives, including trade unions, together with employee representatives have played a key role in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the workplace, from the introduction of measures to protect the health and safety of workers, notably essential workers in highly exposed workplaces, to the implementation of job retention schemes such as short-time work and new forms of work organisation like working from home;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas according to Eurostat, in 2020 EU Member States with well- developed industrial relations systems, working arrangement sand short-working schemes performed better than the EU average and far fewer workers lost their job19a; __________________ 19aEurostat press release, Euro area GDP down by 12.1 % and employment down by 2.8 % (EU 11.8 % and 2.6 %), August 2020.
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas sustainable corporate governance can only be achieved with employee involvement; whereas the economic model based on the short-term ‘shareholder value’ principle has failed to encourage long-term investment and proper respect for human rights and, in particular, for the participation rights of trade unions and workers during past crises20 ; __________________ 20Rapp, M. S., Wolff, M., Udoieva, I., Hennig, J. C., ‘Mitbestimmung im Aufsichtsrat und ihre Wirkung auf die Unternehmensführung’, Hans-Böckler- Stiftung, No 424, June 2019; Ernst and Young, Study on directors’ duties and sustainable corporate governance, July 2020.
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas employees are not mere ‘stakeholders’ of companies, but ‘constituting parties’ alongsideneither shareholders who have to bear the entrepreneurial risk; therefore, the final decision-making power should remain with shareholders and managers; whereas worker participation in companies is a key component of a pluralistic model of corporate governance based on democratic principles, fairness and efficiency23 ; __________________ 23ILO study of November 2018 on corporate governance models: structure, diversity, evaluation and prospects.
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
Ka. whereas small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) provide 6 out of 10 jobs in the European Union;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes the rich and interlocking network of workers’ participation at workplaces across the entire Union, from workers and trade unionworkers representatives, including trade unions, elected by and from the workforce at the local level, to cross-site works councils in more complex companies, to dedicated health and safety representation, and employee representation on companies’ supervisory or administrative boards;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Highlights the need to raise awareness of EWCs among employee and management representatives; stresses that EWCs are a unique forum to exchange information, build and promote corporate identity;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Acknowledges the different legal frameworks for board-level worker participation in 18 EU Member States and Norway; highlights that the scope and intensity of worker participation in company boardrooms varies greatly;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Is convinced that the workers’ voice must be a key component of EU initiatives to ensure sustainable corporate governance and due diligence on human rights, respecting the principle of subsidiarity;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Highlights the importance of continuously improving the EU’s and Member States’ education, training and skills policies including vocational training, in particular in order to ensure lifelong learning and training, as well as the upskilling and reskilling for all workers;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to respect the agreements between European social partners at both cross-industry and sectoral level, in accordance with TFEU Article 154 and 155, and to refrain from unilaterally deciding, in spite of the joint request of those social partners, not to transpose such agreements through a generally binding Council decision;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to establish the necessary conditions and requirements to ensure that at least 80 % of coradequate and proporations in the EU are covered byate sustainable corporate governance agreements by 203025 ; calls, to this end, for the establishment of strategies agreed with workers to positively influence environmental, social and economic development through governance practices and market presence, to strengthen the role of directors in pursuing the long-term interests of their company, to improve directors’ accountability towards integrating sustainability into corporate decision- making, and to promote corporate governance practices that contribute to company sustainability, including corporate reporting, board remuneration, a maximum CEO-to-worker pay ratio, board composition and stakeholder involvement26 ; __________________ 25Commission staff working document of 4 March 2021 accompanying its European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan (SWD(2021)0046). 26 Ibid.
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Regrets that the Commission does not live up to its better regulation goals and the pledge of doing less more efficient; requests the Commission to develop reliable reduction targets for administrative burdens for European SMEs and mid-cap companies; to this end, calls on the Commission to enable the workers' voice be heard in this process;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission to deliver on its commitment to put forward without further delay a directive on bindingevaluate to put forward a voluntary framework on human rights due diligence and responsible business conduct, including workers’ rights such as the right to organise and collectively bargain, health and safety, social protection and working conditions; stresses that this directive should establish mandatoframework should support voluntary due diligence covering companies’ activities and their business relationships, including supply and subcontracting chains, and should ensure the full involvement of trade unions and workers’ representatives throughout the whole due diligence process; calls on the Commission to consider exempting SMEs and other actors not involved in long supply chains;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Is convinced that introducing and monitoring new digital technologies in the workplace successfully and in a trustworthy mannerwill have a positive impact on the working environment and will require timely and meaningful information for and consultation with trade unions and workers’' representatives, including trade unions, to ensure full respect for their health, safety, data protection, equal treatment and well-being at work and prevent undue exploitation and surveillance of workers, in particular via management by algorithms; underlines the fact that trade unions and workers’' representatives, including trade unions, should have the necessary access and means to assess and evaluate digital technology;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses the need to strengthen, enforce and consolidate all thenforce relevant EU laws to ensure that information and consultation is an integral part of company decision-making at all levels within companies;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses the importance of ensuring timely and meaningful information and consultation across the EU before any decisions are made abouton policies or measures with cross-border implications; emphasises thate need of workers’ representatives must have access to the requisite expertise to assess the implications of these cross- border policies and processes for the workforce and companies;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the Commission to introduce a new framework directive on workers’ information, consultation and participation for the various kinds of European companies, including subcontracting chains and franchises, and for companies that use EU company mobility instruments, in order to establish minimum standards on issues such as anticipating change and restructuring, in particular at company level;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Stresses that manysome shortcomings in EU law wcould be overcome by introducing thresholds for a minimum EU standard of board-level representation under this new framework directive; considers, to this end, that workers’ representatives should have the following number/proportion of seats on boards: 2 or 3 seats in small companies with 50 to 250 employees, one third of all seats in companies with 250 to 1 000 employees, and half of all seats in big companies with more than 1 000 employees (within the company and its direct or indirect subsidiaries);alls on the Commission to consider a thorough impact assessment, while respecting the principle of subsidiarity as well as the positive and negative freedoms of association of employees and employers
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls on the Commission to guarantestrive to ensure information and consultation rights to ensure thatin order for the European Works Council canto deliver its opinion before consultation is completed at the respective level; calls on the Commission, moreover,Member States to ensure access to justice, to put an end to exemptions for old, so-called ‘voluntary’ pre-directive agreements after more than 20 years, to introduce sanctions, to consolidateintroduce effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties in order to ensure compliance, to aim to clarify the concept of the ‘transnational character of a matter’ and incorporate it intoin the context of the European Works Council Directive, to prevent the abuse of confidentiality rules, and to ensure the efficient coordination of information, consultation and participation at local, national and EU levels;