THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF WORKS COUNCILS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COMPANIES (Rola i znaczenie rad zakladowych w przedsiebiorstwach Europy Srodkowo-Wschodniej)

The objective of this paper is to define the role and position of works councils in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe as well as to identify the scope of their functions. The establishing of such employee participation institutions in these countries was the result of the implementation of the European Union directive of 2002, which established a general framework for informing and consulting employees. Initially, trade unions were reluctant or even had a hostile view of works councils. They saw them as rivals and feared that they would lose their monopoly in representing employees. With time, in most cases, trade unions mitigated their averse attitude and began to use works councils as a field for their own activity and as a possibility for extending the range of information. However, works councils are relatively scarce in Central and Eastern Europe and most do not exercise their statutory rights in full.