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The request for establishing a European works council for the Bose Corporation, the audio technology manufacturer for retail customers and the automobile industry was initiated on 22 December 2016. After three years the negotiations between the special negotiating body (SNB) and management of this US company have now broken down. The Brexit is largely to blame. Bose has 8,000 employees worldwide, including 1,100 in Europe. Without the workforce in the United Kingdom, Bose would fall below the threshold of 1,000 employees and no longer be subject to the EWC Directive.
Management was speculating that EWC legislation would no longer apply in the United Kingdom on the day after Brexit and consequently would not have to establish a EWC. As a result there were virtually no negotiations at all during the first two years. Serious talks only began once the Brexit was postponed in spring 2019. The SNB was able to elaborate a draft agreement on 17 and 18 June 2019 at central management headquarters in Friedrichsdorf (near Frankfurt) from then on with the support of the EWC Academy. However no agreement could be reached since the positions of both parties were so far apart from each other and there was insufficient time left for meetings. Another "default" EWC will therefore be established shortly, which is now becoming more and more common in US companies (see report in EWC News 2/2019). Bose falls under German jurisdiction.
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