Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-07-04-Speech-2-199"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20060704.28.2-199"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, my focus, and that of my contribution, will be on the main aspects of restructuring. However, I would like to say that I support the Portuguese workers in their efforts to retain and develop their employment. I also know from past experience that, as Mr Schulz has mentioned, GM has not always been good at conducting social dialogue, an example being its relations with its factories in Germany and Sweden, when it played the workers in the different countries off against each other. That is not a way of behaving that I am fond of.
I share the view that restructuring is not new. Rather, it is something we have always lived with. In my home town there was once a rubber factory, but it is no longer there. In its day, nearly everyone in the town worked there. There will continue to be restructuring in the future as well. In some cases, restructuring is badly handled. This leads to job losses, and the region in question is hit hard. There are, however, also successful examples of restructuring where new jobs have been created and regions have been able to survive and even progress, with longer-term employment. So, what is the secret? Well, there are a few key factors. They are social responsibility, participation and a long-term approach.
Firstly, then, the long-term approach. I do not have a high regard for companies that do not themselves have some form of long-term plan of how they are to tackle global competition successfully and that only take subsidies in the short term before then leaving the region in question. In addition, participation is needed, by which I mean participation by the most important asset that companies have, namely their staff. Employees are companies’ most important resource and should not merely be given information and consulted when changes are being made. Employees should be a part of the restructuring process. They should be able to be involved with it and influence it. That way, there is no need to go out on the streets and demonstrate. That way, new jobs can be created. There is also a need to demonstrate social responsibility from very early on and to train staff so as to be able to meet the long-term challenges of the future and for the regions, as it is often companies that play a large role in regions where there is a need to demonstrate social responsibility.
As far as the automotive industry is concerned, it is an industry that has become increasingly globalised and that consists of an ever decreasing number of companies. Restructuring will be needed. There are a number of things that we can do at the European level. We can, as Mr Jonckheer said, strengthen works councils and the directives concerning these. We can work on information and consultation. I believe that we need framework agreements between industries and trade unions at the European level in order to be able to manage the changes that will come in the future. This will be increasingly important. Restructuring is something that we have to live with, but it can be made a success if employees are allowed to participate actively and if the companies involved demonstrate social responsibility."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples