Chrysler 2014 Annual Report Download - page 128

126 2014 | ANNUAL REPORT
Sustainability Disclosure
Environment Health and Safety Leadership Awards
The Environment Health and Safety Leadership Award (EHSLA) is a group-wide recognition program open to all FCA
employees and contractors.
The main objectives of the EHSLA are:
to recognize individual and group initiatives that contribute to improvements in the safety and environmental
performance of FCA’s products and production processes
to promote knowledge sharing and application of best practices
to encourage a culture of environmental awareness and safety.
Industrial Relations and Social Dialogue
At the Investor Day held in Auburn Hills on May 6, 2014, FCA presented its 2014-2018 Business Plan to members of
the international financial community, dealers, suppliers and media. In addition, as confirmation of the importance the
Group places on social dialogue, representatives of the most represented trade unions at Group plants in Europe, the
U.S. and Brazil were also invited to attend.
At the European level, EU regulations require that all Community-scale undertakings establish a European Works
Council (EWC), which ensures workers the right to information and consultation. Fiat S.p.A., the predecessor of
FCA, first established an EWC in 1997 on the basis of the establishing agreement signed in 1996 and subsequently
renewed (with amendments and modifications).
During 2014, FCA and the IndustriALL - European Trade Union (The European federation of metalworking, chemical
and textile sector trade unions) jointly agreed on solutions to issues, primarily related to the absence of affiliated
trade unions in certain Member States, that had prevented the proper establishment of a European Works Council
in implementation of the renewal agreement signed in June 2011. The FCA EWC held its first meeting on 19-20
November 2014, with 16 members representing workers in each of the European member states where the Group
has a significant presence. Also present were representatives of the trade unions signatories to the establishing
agreement. During the meeting, management presented information relating to the Group’s financial performance,
changes in workforce, current market conditions and sales performance for each of the Group’s main businesses.
Participants were also given an overview of the 5-year business plan for EMEA, as presented on May 6, as well as the
corporate reorganization and creation of FCA completed during the year.
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining, conducted in accordance with local law and practice, resulted in various agreements with trade
unions on both wage and employment conditions.
Worldwide, approximately 90% of FCA employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements. Also of major
significance in this area are the supplementary pension and health care schemes, which are the result of negotiations
and continuous dialogue between FCA and the trade unions.
In Italy, where all employees are covered by collective bargaining, FCA and the trade unions reached an agreement
for 2014, which included a €260 one-time payment to all personnel in the company’s employ on the date of the
agreement, an in-principle agreement on the employment conditions already negotiated and a commitment to
conclude a 3-year collective labor agreement with changes in current wage and employment conditions that reflect the
operating requirements of the 2014-2018 business plan. Negotiations for renewal of the collective labor agreement,
initiated in late 2014, are still ongoing.
Outside Italy, an average 81% of employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements. That percentage varies
from country to country on the basis of local practice and regulations.
For FCA companies in the European Union, wage negotiations in 2014 took into account the fact that the Group’s
operations in the region were still loss-making. Plants were operating below capacity and the auto market remained
weak as many European economies continue to struggle with low levels of inflation and, in some cases, even deflation.
Accordingly, in 2014 the Group worked to contain the cost of labor without reducing activities or personnel.