EOR Verizon: one culture, one vote

At Verizon Business, the telecommunications company, a part of Verizon, an EWC has been set up which represents about 5000 workers in 20 EU Member States in addition to Norway and Switzerland. Elections have taken place. The first meeting will take place in March.

Verizon is a US undertaking and has 250 000 workers throughout the world. The 5000-strong European workforce is spread unevenly across the Continent. Half of it works in the UK, whereas there are Member States where the company only has 15 workers. The headcount is about 500 in the Netherlands.

Few policy areas are not dealt with transnationally in a global telecommunications company such as Verizon. “Actually, not one” says Annelies Rotte, who as an organised Dutch Works Council member took the initiative to set up an EWC along with a French colleague.

That was two years ago, at a time when Verizon was completely taken up integrating the former Worldcom, which it had taken over after it had gone bankrupt. Rotte says that explains why it was some time before her initiative was taken up. But after that the company was completely cooperative, among other things by helping convene a Special Negotiating Body of 15 people. “It’s not only because the law requires it”, says Rotte, “The company also sees the advantages to an EWC. They want good relations and efficient dialogue.”

What is special about Verizon’s EWC is not only the presence of two non-EU countries, but also the fact that all sites have a representative, whether they have 2500 workers or 15. The rationale is that all cultures must be represented. Such a composition can easily be to the detriment of representation in other respects, but that is not the case according to Rotte. It was not deliberate, but there is a broad mix from all sections among the EWC worker members: support, network management, sales, support services and product development.

The point of contact of the EWC worker members is the Head of European HR who sees to it that all sites comply with the law in their own country. He works in Germany, but is an American. Rotte: “The US management is well-prepared. They’ve received training and they also came up with a rather comprehensive proposal pretty soon after the beginning of the negotiations.”

She also suspects that the EWC will focus a lot on subjects such as employability, training, education and mobility. “These are things that we would really like to discuss at that level.”