News type
Date end
News memo
On 22 February, the Bobigny regional court ordered the French railway company SNCF to pay damages for acting unlawfully in connection with the sale, in 2017, of its logistics subsidiary STVA (2,150 employees), which operates in eight European countries (see judgment). Management only informed the company’s European Works Council of its plans, at the Council’s request, at the plenary meeting held in June 2017, without consulting it. The court held that: 1/ the sell-off was “transnational in nature and [it] came within the scope of the European Works Council’s right to information; 2/ the quality of the information provided to the European Works Council was inadequate; 3/ the decision to privatise the STVA group via an invitation to tender was taken in the last quarter of 2016, i.e. before the European Works Council held its plenary meeting. Consequently, it appears that the works council was “informed late” of the sell-off and also “inadequately, such that the procedure associated with the European Works Council’s right to information was impeded”. The court pointed out that “consultation must be carried out in a timely manner, i.e. prior to the decision to sell off the business”. The court held that because STVA no longer belonged to SNCF but to the CAT group, the sell-off “involved a change of employer for STVA’s employees”, which “substantially affects their interests, and SNCF therefore had a duty to consult the European Works Council”. Secondly, “the means whereby the CAT group promised [, etc.] not to carry out any restructuring linked to the acquisition in France is ineffective”: it can “be rescinded at any time”, applies “only to France” and is valid “only for three years”. The European Works Council has expressed its satisfaction with the judgment on its website (see press release: https://www.ceesncf.com/2019/02/27/le-comit%C3%A9-d-entreprise-europ%C3%A9en-fait-condamner-la-sncf/)
Source Info
News date