The Group’s commitment to social dialogue is enshrined in its Manifesto. VINCI’s general policy reflects its fundamental principles:
The Group has always operated using a decentralised organisational and management approach, including with respect to social dialogue. One of VINCI’s priorities in its social dialogue approach is to develop close relations that are relevant and adapted to each business, giving employee representatives a real role to play at each business unit.
Although employers and employees build strong relations locally at VINCI subsidiaries, social dialogue also takes place at Group level through two bodies, the Group Works Council and the European Works Council.
The Group Works Council, which covers French companies (nearly 38% of the Group’s workforce), is comprised of 30 primary representatives, 17 alternate representatives and five trade union representatives, all from different business lines. In 2023, three meetings were initiated with the representative trade union organisations at Group level to renew the agreement on the scope, role and operation of the council. Following these negotiations, a new agreement was signed with most of the trade union organisations for the 2023-2027 term. The agreement provides for the following:
In addition to the resources allocated to the Group Works Council, in 2023 VINCI renegotiated its agreement to promote social dialogue. The agreement aims to create a basic set of actions designed to support and encourage efficient social dialogue at Group companies located in France. It clearly defines common principles for occupational health and safety, gender equality (especially the fight against sexism, promoting women’s access to leadership roles and intergenerational dynamics) and the environment.
In keeping with the Group’s decentralised approach, this agreement, now open-ended, sets out practical recommendations for social dialogue. In the context of new member appointments at more than 85% of Group entities in 2023, these recommendations cover areas such as the scope of elections, management awareness, and the professional development of employee representatives. The agreement also provides guarantees to ensure that social dialogue is effective throughout the Group in France and maintains annual funding for trade unions represented on the Group Works Council. Totalling about €240,000, this assistance goes to financing their training, promoting their actions and supporting their trade union activities. This amount is included in budgets covered by the Group to finance training and expertise.
The European Works Council (EWC) takes up discussions at the European level that originally initiated within the various local or national organisations (European Economic Area and Switzerland, representing 72% of the Group’s workforce at 31 December 2023). Composed of 31 full members and 31 alternate members from 15 countries where the Group operates, the council also has representatives from the United Kingdom, even after Brexit. The EWC has the unique role of information and dialogue with employee representatives at the European level. Its primary purpose is to improve the rights of workers to information and consultation. It is an essential element in the policy to promote social dialogue across all the Group’s European subsidiaries.
Renewed in 2023 after the agreement was renegotiated in 2022 with a special negotiating body made up of 12 employee representatives from all countries where the Group operates in Europe, the EWC and management held an orientation day to present the Group to new members and teach representatives about their role and how the council works.
The EWC met six times in 2023, in the presence of management, (two plenary meetings, one of which was exceptional, one meeting attended by all full members and alternate members, and three meetings of the officers).
To ensure that EWC members are properly informed and trained on CSR issues and to involve them in implementing CSR measures taken by the Group, a CSR Committee was created in 2018. This committee’s meetings provide an opportunity to explore and debate issues relating to safety, the Group’s environmental ambition and its social responsibility. As an example, at the two committee meetings held in 2023, discussions covered health and safety action plans and the responsible subcontracting policy (via the Group’s social audits), as well as possible ways to extend it outside France.
In addition to this CSR Committee, the new agreement signed in 2022 includes social innovation in the form of working groups created to focus on the current CSR and labour-related issues affecting the Group and its cross-border operations. These working groups came together to draw up an action plan that lays down the common principles for entities operating in Europe in dealing with the key topics to be addressed over the term.
