Uwe Zebrowski, Works Council member at Hauni in Hamburg Secured the “Factory of the Future”

Uwe Zebrowski has just won the Gold Works Council Award with his works council. Until 2018, he was still a manager—“Head of Quality & Maintenance”—at the Hamburg-based tobacco machinery manufacturer Hauni. But when management began laying off people en masse, he ran in the works council elections and became works council chair.

“They brought in a management consulting firm that, once again, just flew over us from a helicopter’s-eye view,” Zebrowski recalls. “I’ve worked with management consultants myself many times. It always boils down to cost-cutting, downsizing, and closing operations. They never get down to the process level because they usually lack the expertise to do so.”

Uwe Zebrowski receives the Gold Works Council Award for the “Factory of the Future.” Photo: Cordula Kropke

 

Employees Have a Say Through a Forward-Looking Collective Bargaining Agreement

Together, they recruited members for IG Metall, applied pressure, and negotiated. They prevented the closure of the manufacturing facility—and secured a “Future Collective Bargaining Agreement”: Employees are now shaping their“Factory of the Future”with their own ideas—featuring improved processes and new products.

This is also stated in the text of the collective bargaining agreement: “Employees and works council members are given the opportunity to contribute their ideas on the future direction of the Factory of the Future in accordance with the right to co-determination in economic matters under the Works Constitution Act.”

Hauni allocates one million euros annually to an innovation fund for this purpose. A joint steering committee composed of management and the works council ultimately decides which innovations will be pursued.
 

2021 Works Council Award in Gold for the Hauni Works Council

Hauni Employees Secure the Future with Their Ideas