The Board of Executive Directors and the Supervisory Board of BASF resolved to propose to the Annual Meeting on 26 April the conversion of BASF Aktiengesellschaft (AG) into a European Company (Societas Europaea, SE) with the name BASF SE. The process of employee participation in the SE is to be launched 19 March. Euro Dialog and the BASF Works Council have commissioned Robert Oswald, senior employee representative, with organizing the special negotiating body (SNB).
Euro Dialog and the BASF Works Council have commissioned you with the formation of the SNB. Firstly we would be interested to know why you think it is good that BASF AG should become an SE?
As the employee representative I can say: This is first and foremost an entrepreneurial decision, but if it is made correctly it can benefit all parties concerned. What we find important is the opportunity of expanding holding options in Europe. Naturally this is not so simple, but I think, through our many years’ experience with Euro Dialog alone, that we are well positioned to realize our ideas in the upcoming negotiations - not only for the good of the staff in Ludwigshafen, but across Europe!
What do you want to achieve exactly?
This is something we have to clarify internally first, the SNB has yet to be arranged. What is certain though is that we will integrate our concepts, for example that the quality of co-determination in BASF SE has to be ensured without compromises. On the numbers of Supervisory Board members, here we are already committed to achieving parity of seats and we definitely want to renegotiate this. We have therefore stated our conditional agreement. Nevertheless, we are positively disposed towards the process, as there is room to maneuver in terms of content, which we naturally wish to take advantage of for ourselves, and will do so. Negotiations with corporate management are certainly not going to be a walkover though.
Who is supporting you in this process?
We, and here I mean the employee representatives in Germany and Europe, are obviously working closely with the trade unions on this. Michael Vassiliadis, member of the executive IG BCE (German Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union) main board, is also on the BASF Supervisory Board and is therefore familiar with the demands the conversion process confront us with. There is particularly close cooperation here with the EMCEF, the European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers’ Federation. We are confident we can take advantage of the opportunities the SE has to offer. At the end of the day, social partnership and the culture of co-determination should become the basis of cooperation throughout Europe.
back
