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The world's second largest building materials manufacturer will be founded following the forthcoming acquisition of Italcementi from Bergamo by HeidelbergCement. An agreement on the merger of both European works councils was concluded with the central management on 20 May 2016. Both bodies were established on a "voluntary" basis before September 1996 and therefore, do not fall under the EU Directive. The merger is a reaction to the founding of LafargeHolcim, the new industrial giant based in Switzerland.
Following the announcement of the merger, a joint coordination committee of both EWCs was established and held monthly meetings with central management. The purpose of this regular involvement process was to avoid delaying the merger through consultation procedures. 400 of the 2,500 jobs in Italy are to be lost due to the relocation of administrative services to Germany. One plant in Belgium has to be sold. Although the merger has not yet been finalized, the constitutional meeting of the merged EWC took place already on 14 September 2016 in Hockenheim (Germany), and included discussions on the request for an international framework agreement.
The EWC agreement of HeidelbergCement dating from 2012 is to continue unchanged. After the sale of the plant in Belgium there will remain only one country in which both companies do business, i.e. Spain. New EWC elections have been held there. Likewise, new elections have also been held in all other countries where Italcementi has a presence, based on HeidelbergCement's rules for appointing representatives. The steering committee has been expanded from five to seven members, including two members from Italcementi. Italcementi's EWC agreement which was revised last in 2007, is now no longer valid.
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