Best practices in socially responsible restructuring for printing companies

 

 

‘Best practices in socially responsible restructuring for printing companies’ was an Intergraf-led project (2009-2010), funded by the European Commission’s DG Employment's PROGRESS programme. It was the first time that social partners in the graphic industry at European level, supported by their national affiliates, engaged themselves in a discussion on the topic. The project partners were KVGO (Netherlands), Assografici (Italy), bvdm (Germany), trade unions FISTEL-CISL (Italy), UNITE (UK), VER.DI (Germany) as well as UNI Europa Graphical.

 

The project ran from December 2009 until November 2010.

 

The aims

Currently, the printing industry is facing extremely difficult challenges due to increasing competition from new media and imports from low cost economies. The situation is further aggravated by the current economic crisis. The project’s aim was to identify and tackle the challenges of the sector in both the short and the long-term. The project united social partners in different European countries to exchange information and best practices on socially responsible restructuring. Its scope covered the different needs of both large companies as well as SMEs.

 

A large number of workers and employers’ organisations throughout the EU participated in the project through the network of affiliates. The goal was to give guidance to companies in order to better face the changing market conditions. The results will be widely disseminated to social partner organisations, national and European institutions and the public.

 

Results

The project delivered a study and a toolkit. The study identifies the restructuring issues in the printing industry caused by the different drivers of change, and the particular implication for employment in both large and small companies. It also features case studies. The toolkit provides practical advice to printers on restructuring.

Read the Executive Summary

 

The newsletter Printing Matters for the Future summarises the key findings of the study and features best practice examples and interviews.

 

The work programme

The project ran from December 2009 until November 2010. Two workshops and a conference were organised in order to collect, exchange and analyse information. All Intergraf associations and their member companies were invited to participate.

 

The first workshop, aimed at large companies (over 250 employees), took place on 18th and 19th March 2010, and the second one, aimed at small companies (under 50 employees), on 15th and 16th June 2010. Both events were held in Milan.

 

The results of the project were presented in a large conference on 23rd November 2010 in Brussels.

 

Read more about the events.

 

For more information about the project, contact Anna Bask abask(at)intergraf.eu.