The Information & Consultation Regulations - whither Statutory Works Councils?

In an era when more and more workers face so called "Rice Krispy redundancies" and "termination by text", it was widely hoped that the European Information and Consultation Directive (2002) and the implementing Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations (2004) would put a stop to such abuse. It was also expected that for the first time in the UK, employers would be legally obliged to inform and consult employees at workplace level on a whole range of issues. So how successful have the Regulations been and what can we expect in the future? From 6th April 2005, companies with 150 or more employees were legally obliged to consider information and consultation arrangements with their workforce. From April 2007, this will apply to companies with 100 employees, and from April 2008, to those with 50 or more. But the Regulations have to be triggered by a request from the workforce, so it is important that in the run up to full implementation trade union representatives are fully aware of the pros and cons of the Regulations and how best to use them.