This year, elections for the works council (OR) will be held. The number of members of the Works Council could even increase to 9.
The Works Council of Intertek Polychemlab currently has 7 seats. This means that 7 colleagues can contribute to the "quality assurance" of employee participation within the company.
Emergency clock
The chairman of the Works Council – Rense Boersma – has sounded the alarm among employee organizations: At the end of January, only 4 of the 7 seats will be occupied. It is of course a shame that if the facilities and possibilities are there, they cannot be fully utilized.
Calls for new Works Council members by the Works Council itself, supported and even together with the management, have unfortunately not (yet) led to registrations.
We would like to wholeheartedly support the chairman's call: Works councils have proven their usefulness in various places and in many situations over the years. Works councils give substance to the long-standing desire of employee organizations to give employees input and participation. When it comes to consent, advice and initiative, the employer cannot ignore the Works Council. The Works Council is also an important supervisor of Safety, Health and Welfare issues. What is sometimes forgotten is that the Works Council also monitors compliance with the collective labor agreement. Furthermore, the Works Council will provide sufficient training and education facilities for Works Council members.
In a sense, a Works Council forms a kind of “shadow management” with representatives from all levels of the company. In that respect, time spent in the Works Council is also an interesting time and certainly not a waste of time. Financial insight (via the figures) and insight into the population via an annual social report offers the opportunity to put yourself in a situation in which you can ask yourself: “If I were in charge here. . . “
As soon as the elections approach, our members will receive a separate invitation to nominate themselves as a Works Council member. So think about it seriously. Given the number of vacancies (3), you may be able to express your interest earlier.
If you have any questions about this message, please contact the representative, John Kapteijn, by email john.kapteijn@unie.nl or call 06-5252 2067.