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The internationalisation of representative employee participation and its impact in the Asia Pacific

Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

As the rationale for representative employee participation has become more compelling in recent years, the European works council model has become internationally influential. The 1994 European Works Council Directive gave further momentum to the internationalisation of this model within an expanding European Union, and potentially beyond the EU. This article surveys the existing structures for representative employee participation in the four countries of the Asia Pacific where they are the most substantial: Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Australia. Noting the limitations of representative employee participation in these countries, and more generally in the Asia Pacific, the article explores a major opportunity for developing multinational representative employee participation by exerting pressure on firms operating in the Asia Pacific which are subject already to the European Works Council Directive. It identifies the main firms in this category, and suggests a major role for global unions – the international trade union secretariats – in instigating the momentum for multinational works councils in the Asia Pacific.

Key Words: Asia • employee representation • works councils

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