Empowering the workforce: The growth of workers councils in Europe’s tech industry
At a time when workers are facing many challenges regarding their working conditions, they are increasingly developing solutions to join forces and fight for labor rights. One of the most effective solutions is the creation of works councils.
Despite a recurring opposition from tech employers, workers councils are multiplying all around Europe. They are essential tools implemented to strengthen a safer work culture in organisations as they allow workers to defend their rights within a specific company. Employees from works councils must be informed about the economic situation of the company and employers need to consult them for major layoffs or restructuration plans.
TikTok Berlin Works Council
A relevant example is the Tiktok Berlin Works Council which was initiated in October 2022 by a group of 11 employees of the Chinese-owned social media. TikTok has grown significantly in the past few years. Yet, workers felt an unfair repartition of this expansion, specifically in terms of redistributing salaries and increased workload. Poor pay and stressful working conditions led some employees at the Berlin site, especially content moderators, to form a workers council. Management initially blocked the first request over election terms but wasn’t able to prevent the second attempt. With the help of the German trade union Ver.di, they finally succeeded in uniting and forming a workers committee that can negotiate with management on better working conditions or fairer wages. TikTok was not the only tech company reluctant to authorize the formation of works councils. Berlin was witnessing a growing movement of organised tech workers in several companies, such as food-delivery firms Gorillas and Flink or the famous carmaker Tesla.
“It is very optimistic that the content moderators at TikTok in Berlin and at Telus, the service provider working for Meta in Essen, are organising themselves into a union. The successful works council elections demonstrate the need and determination to work towards improving working conditions. The mental strain in content moderation is immense, the workload very intensive, colleagues want to campaign for improvements as soon as possible and are supported in this by ver.di”, said Matthias von Fintel, Head of Media, Journalism and Film at ver.di.
Works councils enhance workers’ power as they allow them to be more actively involved in operational decision-making processes. By providing a formal platform for workers to voice their concerns, these councils ensure that employee perspectives are considered in key company decisions. As a result, works councils can contribute to increased transparency, improved communication between management and staff, and ultimately, a more sustainable and fair workplace culture.
EFJ Collective Bargaining Workshop in Istanbul
On 23-24 September 2024, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will organise a workshop dedicated to collective bargaining in Istanbul, Turkey, as part of its project called Stand Up for Journalism (SUJ). This workshop will address the different challenges surrounding collective bargaining, including how to sustainably embrace digital changes in the new evolving media landscape. Andreas Hänisch, from the TikTok Berlin Works Council, will be one of the speakers during the panel entitled “Collective action in the headlines”, on 23 September 2024.
