Get to know and Set Up
The meeting between the UniCredit European Works Council (UEWC) and the Management of the UniCredit Group followed the election of the UEWC Chairman, Andrea Bonansea – Italy, the Vice Chairman, Peter Koenig – Germany, and of the Select Committee, the UEWC’s operative body which deals directly with the permanent communication with the Central Management (further to the Chairman and Vice Chairman of UEWC, the Select Committee is composed of Ezio Massoglio and Angelo Di cristo – Italy, Karl-Heinz Sprengling – Germany, Wolfgang Heinzl – Austria, Dariusz Kiziakiewicz – Poland).

September 20, 2007: Information and Consultation process
The meeting started with the celebration of the setting up of this important organisation. This is the result of the strong will on the part of the employee representatives as well as Group Management: The UEWC is considered a fundamental governance instrument, set up to manage the increasing complexity linked to the new international dimension in our Group.
“This is a special day for us. Both sides are determined to make the UEWC work well, without forgetting that our European Works Council is the major and most innovative in existence.” Rino Piazzolla, Head of HR Strategy, confirmed the management’s intention to do everything possible to facilitate the information and consultation processes within the Group, which is also provided for in the Agreement on UEWC, which represents a unique international instrument of consultation and fair cooperation.

Each Top Management presentation has been followed by consultation, characterised by a genuine spirit of cooperation and sincere interest. It is clear that the UEWC will play an important role within the Group in terms of transparency, communication of information, and in the creation of a Group corporate culture.

Strategies and Projects
Alessandro Profumo, Group CEO, opened the information session, illustrating the strategy of the Group with a focus on the recent acquisitions of Capitalia, USB in Ukraine and ATF in Kazakhstan; based on these latest transactions, the UniCredit Group re-confirms itself as the “First Truly European Bank” and one of the most important players in the global financial sector. The gradual adoption of a “divisional model” – private, retail, corporate – within the Group reflects the strategy to focus on the customer’s needs.
Our CEO, after having illustrated the results achieved in Central and Eastern Europe, affirmed that “the Group has now reached an optimal dimension: Now is the moment to improve our presence in the countries in which we already operate and to leverage on our unique and strategic network”.
The speech ended with a statement on how important it is to have strong and representative employee bodies as reliable and powerful interlocutors, which are capable of efficiently managing the pending process of reorganisation.

Ranieri De Marchis and Paolo Fiorentino, CFO and Deputy CEO of the Group respectively , outlined the current financial situation of the Group and the current strategy of reorganisation in the “Operation” area, linked to the set up of “Group Competence Centres” on a European scale. With respect to the concerns raised by the UEWC with regard to jobs, Mr Fiorentino replied: “The major instruments for the reorganisation will be re-training and leveraging on all the existing competencies and skills. The expertise centres are supposed to provide the service for all the Group entities throughout Europe. In any case, at local level, every single situation will be managed with full transparency and cooperation with the employee representatives.”

With regard to the current financial market crisis, our CFO stated that “the variety of our business activities preserve us from market turmoil” and explained that, thanks to diversification of investments and liquidity stock, the economic/financial ratios of the Group are solid.

Rino Piazzolla illustrated the occupational figures and trends of the Group and confirmed the intention to increase network presence and specialised roles, to continue to invest in the Life-Long Learning project, which is meant to reach all the employees at every age/level in order to improve professional mobility and growth. Commenting on employee distribution, Mr Piazzolla emphasised the growing level of women in management and mentioned the “Top 100 Women” project, which aims to increase women’s presence in key roles. More generally, in terms of equity gender, the majority of employees in the UniCredit Group is represented by women. UEWC also confirmed its commitment to the development of women’s roles within the Group; as such “equity gender” will be one of the possible issues, to be dealt with by future working groups.

The meeting continued with the speech by Oliver Maassen, Head of “HR Integration”, on the Digi-Simplification project – aimed at harmonising the HR processes throughout the Group – and on the relevant aspects of data protection, which are now regulated by a specific UniCredit Policy that is being implemented in all the countries where UniCredit is present. In some states, analysis of the related issues is still pending.

Of particular interest for the colleagues were also the following:
the speech by Fabrizio Angelini, Head of “Communication and Editorial desk”, focused on the “People Survey 2008”, which is meant to measure employee satisfaction and align business processes with the needs of the Group’s employees. In future, the survey results and the following action plans will be shared with UEWC members, based on the results from each country. There is mutual commitment to implement the employees’ participation in the survey throughout the Group in order to allow more efficient and focused action plans.
the speech by Paola Pierri, President of Unidea Foundation, which was of great interest because of the variety and the aims of the initiatives in place. The need to increase the circulation of information about this specific topic within the Group was addressed.

Major Employee topics highlighted by the UEWC
During the overall discussion, the UEWC members drew the Management’s attention to:
the need for high levels of transparency and prompt information communicated to employees and their representatives, with particular attention to reorganisation and mergers/acquisitions, emphasising the opportunity to discuss with the local representatives the possible changes on working conditions, in order to come up with shared solutions;
“commercial pressure” management and effects of working (e.g. overtime);
the need to have a general view of the on-going projects within the international network.
The Management confirmed its full commitment to adhering to the national and collective protocols of industrial relations, and to always acting in a transparent and loyal manner, especially within the framework of the forthcoming reorganisation process. Remedies will be taken wherever this seems to be lacking.
An overall representation of the commercial practices throughout the Group will be given during the coming meetings and more detailed information on the international network’s projects will be delivered in advance of the future meetings of the UEWC.
The Management confirmed its availability to meet UEWC members on the occasion of the approval of the new Business Plan, should it have an impact on two or more countries represented.


Next Step
The next official meeting of the 44 members of the UEWC from the 27 countries will be held in 2008; in the meantime, contact between the Select Committee and Central Management will be continued, with the possibility of creating joint working groups on specific issues.

Information
Further details on the meeting and some of the documents distributed will be available during the coming days on the Group’s OneGate site, whilst, at local levels, every UEWC member will guarantee the communication of information in accordance to national legislation and local practices.

UniCredit Group H.R – Industrial Relations UniCredit
Central Management European Works Council