lundi 6 mars 2006

Works Council : Oracle & SAP on the same line ?

Oracle European Workers Council negociations, initiated in March 2004 on France Labor Union request still have a long way to go before the final go live due in March 2007, according to the maximum 3 years timeframe allowed by the EU EWC directive.

The negociations fail to succeed at the moment on the following points :
- What is a transnational event that needs to trigger an EWC meeting ?
- Can employee raise questions regarding Terms & Employement conditions ?
- EWC Termination, amendments or continuity terms.

Seen as cumbersome bureaucracy, instead of valuable feedback and shared benefits for both employees and management, work's councils are seen as the new devils that take away agility and responsiveness.

These questions are especially emphasized at SAP, where the management requests employees to reject a work council creation : http://www.hopp-info.de/index_e.html
Depending on the results, the headquarter German location may be questionned...

However, history in Oracle has shown us that relocations and lay off plans do not wait Works' councils to happen.

Hold-on SAP employees, like Oracle ones, you need to voice your opinions, invent alternatives, instead of just implementing. That's just what agility is about...