Paper for MNCs Symposium, IIRA World Congress, Sydney, August 2009 Transnational Employee Voice in Multinational Companies: variable dialogue in European Works Councils Paul Marginson 1 , Jonathan Lavelle 2 , Javier Quintanilla 3 , Rocío Sanchez Mangas 3 1. IRRU, University of Warwick, UK 2. Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Ireland 3. IESE Business School, Spain Contact e-mail: Paul.Marginson@wbs.ac.uk 1. Introduction Fifteen years after the European Union’s (EU’s) adoption of the European Works Councils (EWCs) Directive, only four out of every ten of the multinational companies (MNCs) covered have established an EWC (ETUI, 2008). Previous studies find variability in the incidence of EWCs according to factors such as country-of-origin, sector and size (Waddington and Kerckhofs, 2003), although none has employed multi-variate analysis to establish the relative strength of these influences. Amongst those MNCs which have established EWCs, research also points to considerable variability in the extent and quality of social dialogue taking place within them. The qualitative studies concerned, based on multiple case study designs (Lecher et al, 2001; Marginson et al, 2004), identified marked differences in management practice towards EWCs. These studies aside, management’s EWC practice continues to remain rather neglected: the situation has changed little since Mueller and Hoffmann (2001)’s review of existing research on EWCs at the beginning of the decade. This paper draws on findings from a unique international database, compiled from parallel surveys of employment practice in the operations of MNCs in three European countries - Ireland, Spain and the UK - to address both dimensions of EWC variability. It uses multi- variate regression analysis to investigate the factors shaping the incidence of EWCs and those factors which account for variation in management’s information and consultation practice. Earlier quantitative analysis of EWC incidence has been bi-variate in nature (Waddington and Kerkchofs, 2003), and whilst earlier surveys have analysed management attitudes towards EWCs, employing bi-variate techniques (e.g. Nakano, 1999; Wills, 1999), this is the first survey to address management’s information and consultation practice. 2. Variability in the existence of and management practice towards EWCs a) Existence of EWCs The provisions of the 1994 (revised 2008) European Works Councils Directive accord primacy to negotiated arrangements between company management and employee representatives in implementing the employee information and consultation requirements it specifies. The Directive further specifies that the process to establish an EWC has to be triggered by employees and their representatives, or by management, and lays down procedural rules to this effect. Implementation of the Directive’s provisions in MNCs which fall within its scope is not, therefore, automatic. Of the 2,200+ estimated currently covered by the Directive, 860 are estimated to have EWCs, representing around 40% the total (ETUI, 2008). Underlying this overall figure, Waddington and Kerckhof’s (2003) analysis identifies variation in the ‘strike rate’ of EWCs established relative to MNCs covered according to country-of-origin, sector, employment size and degree of internationalisation. Compared to an overall strike rate of 34 per cent at the time, they found German-owned MNCs to be