LIZ LYNNE WELCOMES EU DIRECTIVE ON INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES

12.00.00am GMT Tue 5th Feb 2002

West Midlands Euro MP Liz Lynne has welcomed the decision by the European Parliament to adopt a Directive giving new rights to information and consultation for employees in larger firms.

The Directive (to be implemented by 2005) will ensure that workers in undertakings with 50 staff or more have the right to be consulted regularly on developments affecting the business. This would cover information on proposed job cuts/expansions, new business plans or proposed changes to staff contracts, before decisions are taken.

Liz Lynne, Lib Dem member of the Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs Committee, said she welcomed the compromise text for the directive voted through yesterday by MEPs at a plenary session in Strasbourg.

She said: "Timely consultation of workers helps the effective management of a company. Recently we have had to witness many workers affected by large scale redundancies discovering their fate in the pages of the press. BMW made no attempt to inform the workers of Rover of their plans, for example.

"The directive strikes a balance between the need for employees to know how secure their jobs are going to be in the future and the rights of employers not to disclose confidential information that could damage their business.

"I am pleased that instead of the stringent measures originally proposed for employers who break the obligations in this directive, we have agreed a set of measures that are effective, dissuasive and proportionate to the nature of the infringement.

"After three years of debate and negotiation, we have agreed a directive which is much more balanced and workable."