Cehave begins European consultation with full conviction

Cehave produces and sells animal feed and is also active in other ways for cultivators and cattle breeders. It has production locations in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Spain, and China. Its turnover is 1.2 billion. This will just about double in the coming year when Cehave merges with Agrifirm.


CEO Kees Sijssens and his P&O manager considered that the time had come for an organ in which one could consult directly with employees’ representatives from all over Europe. “We are becoming a truly international company. And, in addition, we also qualify under the law”, Sijssens said. He told us that his own Dutch COR was initially “a little bit shocked”. “I explained to them it changed nothing in their position. When COR members ask me something in the future about situations outside of the Netherlands, I will certainly not refer them to their EWC representative. I inform them twice a year about it and am not planning to change my practice.”

Some country managers initially reacted sceptically. The one has had more experience with members of works councils than another. And, in an EWC, employees consult directly with the highest ranked manager. Sijssens understands such feelings but does not let them to be decisive. “Country managers know me to be an open person even though I can be hard. I also want to have this form of open communication with employees. Our staff and the satisfaction of staff belong to the core values of this company. We are going to meet twice a year and also have joint dinners to create a bond of trust. Therefore, I want to use the EWC in order to listen. But not to interrogate them; I don’t want to abuse the consultation, which I explained to the country management. But I also told them that this is the way we’ll do it.” Cehave is now setting up consultation platforms in countries where there is no consultation with employees’ representatives (Poland and Hungary). Sijssens thinks that this will be settled in 2010.

In the establishment of the EWC, external experts from FNV Formaat and from VNO-NCW were involved, and Cehave has studied several existing covenants. Some of them Sijssens found to be quite “thick and complex”, as he put it. He found two things to be important: simplicity and the prevention of “squabbling, an atmosphere of us against them.” In order not to make things needlessly complicated, the advisor from VNO-NCW was dismissed, and Cehave worked further with their own lawyer and with Mariëlle van der Coelen of FNV Formaat.

The result is that an agreement was signed in November whereby the last requirements of the EU were satisfied. It was also agreed that the company would automatically conform to the translation that the new EWC directive will receive in Dutch law. With the merger with Agrifirm, the distribution of seats will still be examined because with it the percentage of Dutch employees will increase considerably.

The first EWC meeting took place immediately after the signing. It will meet again each spring and autumn. Before each meeting, o the EWC members will receive a day training.