[Context]
[Foreword]
[Definition]
[Good Practices]
[Success factors]
[Recommendations]
[Skills]
[Financial resources]
[Lexicon]
[Report (pdf)]
CONTEXT
Almost half of Europe’s sugar factories have closed and almost 16,500 direct jobs have been lost since the reform of the sugar regime began in 2006.
At the plenary session of their Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee in February 2008, the social partners in the sugar industry acknowledged that, given the reform of the sugar regime and industrial change, workers could no longer be guaranteed long-term employment in the same company. They therefore decided to undertake jointly a project aimed at improving employability.
The work was carried out under standard 7 of the Code of Conduct, which stipulates that “In case of restructuring (…) the sugar industry acts in a socially responsible way. Steps are taken to improve the employability of employees.” This joint initiative also ties in with standard 2 of the Code of Conduct, on Education, Vocational and Lifelong Training.
The “employability” project was launched in December 2008 with financial support from the European Commission. The initial results of this work were presented to the European Commission at a conference held on 28 October 2009.
The project has led to the creation of a specific, practical web-based tool that is accessible on the joint website www.eurosugar.org. These online materials provide the social partners with an interactive toolbox covering the following aspects:
- a definition of the concept of employability
- good practices both within and outside of the sugar industry, along with success factors
- an analysis of the skills required in the sugar industry, the skills that look like to develop and the skills common to different trades
- information on possible sources of funding for projects at European and national level.
This last section complements the Practical Guide to the Structural Funds, placed on the website eurosugar.org in 2006. The information about the European Union’s financial perspectives for the period 2007-2013 has been updated
(http://www.eurosugar.org/en/guide.html).
There is also a detailed lexicon explaining in various languages the meaning given to several terms used in this project concerning the concept of employability.
To carry out this project, the EFFAT and CEFS secretariats had the backing of an “employability” steering committee comprising experts from their member organisations and chaired by Jean Pierre Pinasseau and Thomas Buder. The members of the group made a major contribution to the success of this initiative, thanks to their active participation throughout the project’s 15-month lifespan.
The steering committee in turn received assistance from the Observatoire social européen for certain parts of the project. The work of the OSE, led by Anne Peeters and Claude Larsimont, involved in particular the identification of good practices, the section on financing, the coordination of translations and the formatting of the report’s three language versions.
The members of the working group are :
| Austria |
Thomas BUDER (GMTN-PROGE)
|
| Czech Republic |
Richard VIT (Agrana) |
| France |
Jean-Pierre PINASSEAU (S.N.F.S.)
Régis DEGOUY (FGA-CFDT)
Jean-Michel DESMECHT (FGA-CFDT) |
| Germany |
Norbert KAILICH (Südzucker) |
| Italy |
Giorgio SANDULLI (Unionzucchero) |
| Poland |
Stanislaw LUBAS (Solidarnosc)
Tomasz WIRKUS (Solidarnosc)
Tomasz OLENDEREK (Polski Cukier) |
| Spain |
Alberto SANCHEZ (Azucarera Ebro)
Teresa LUIZ-RUIZ (AGFAE)
Alberto DE FRUTOS (FTA-UGT)
Félix FEO CASARES (CC.OO.)
Felix GONZALEZ DEL VAL (CC.OO.)
Montserrat SAGARRA FITÒ (CC.OO) |
| United Kingdom |
Floyd MAJOR (Unite) |
EFFAT Secretariat : contact Eric DRESIN
CEFS Secretariat : contact Dominique LUND
