Overview of International Instruments for the Protection and Promotion of Workers’ Rights in a Globalised Economy GLOBALISATION OF RIGHTS

International Opportunities for TU (1) UNITED NATIONS (www.un.org) Global Compact (CSR) ILO (www.ilo.org) Conventions/Recommendations ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998) and Follow Up ILO Tripartite Declaration on MNEs and Follow-up (CSR)

International Opportunities for TU (2) OECD Guidelines on MNEs (CSR) TUAC/Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (56 members in 30 countries) Codes of Conduct Framework Agreements

What is the UN Global Compact? Birth: World Economic Forum, 1999 UN GS Kofi Annan challenged business leaders to join an international initiative – the Global Compact – that would bring companies together with UN agencies, labour and civil society to promote UN universal principles and values; initiative launched in New York in 2000 Today more than 3000 companies from 80 countries from all regions of the world , international TUs and NGOs are engaged in the Global Compact, working to mainstream and advance 10 universal principles in business activities in the areas of HUMAN RIGHTS, LABOUR, ENVIRONMENT AND ANTI-CORRUPTION NCP itself existed even before the 2000 revision. However, there were only a few existed. The review reaffirmed the governments’ commitment to establish, activate and effectuate NCPs. NCP must be : Visible, Accessible, Transparent, and Accountable (four basic criteria) NCPs should inform inwards and outwards investors of the Guidelines!!! NGO - in most NCPs, NGOs are still outside of the formal framework Case on Marks and Spencer : ---- Talks began between French and UK NCPs Still, there are large gaps among the NCPs in terms of the fulfilment of the four basic criteria!!!

UN Global Compact – major contribution of UN to promotion of CSR 10 UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES applicable in all 191 UN member states: Human Rights 1. Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights. 2. Make sure they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

UN Global Compact - Labour - Environment Corruption 3. Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; 4. The elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour; 5. The effective abolition of child labour; 6. Eliminate discrimination in respect of employment occupation. - Environment 7. Business should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges; 8. Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; 9. Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies. Corruption 10. Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery NCP itself existed even before the 2000 revision. However, there were only a few existed. The review reaffirmed the governments’ commitment to establish, activate and effectuate NCPs. NCP must be : Visible, Accessible, Transparent, and Accountable (four basic criteria) NCPs should inform inwards and outwards investors of the Guidelines!!! NGO - in most NCPs, NGOs are still outside of the formal framework Case on Marks and Spencer : ---- Talks began between French and UK NCPs Still, there are large gaps among the NCPs in terms of the fulfilment of the four basic criteria!!!

Nature of the Global Compact Initiative based on a voluntary choice of companies to commit themselves to responsible mode of conducting business; Involves all relevant social actors: governments, companies, labour, NGOs and UN and its authority. GC is a network including GC Office and 6 UN agencies: OHCHR, UNEP, ILO, UNDP, UNIDO and UNODC.

UN Global Compact Role of trade unions: Check the reports of the MNEs sent to the Global Compact and use it for their local/global trade union work

ILO UN specialized agency that promotes social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights UNIQUE TRIPARTITE STRUCTURE ILO ROLE: Formulate international labour standards in the form of conventions and recommendations and Supervise their application in the ILO 179 member states

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CODE Conventions (185) Designed to be ratified; binding legal obligation subject to international supervision; minimum standards NOT maximum standards! Recommendations (195) Often supplementing a convention; provides guidelines for national policies and action; TRIPARTITE AND UNIVERSAL; PRODUCT OF SOCIAL DIALOGUE; GOVERNMENTS, TRADE UNIONS AND EMPLOYERS INVOLVED IN THE FORMULATUION, ADOPTION AND SUPERVISION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ILS AT NATIONAL LEVEL

ILO Conventions: Supervisory Mechanism For Ratified Conventions Article 22 Report - Review by CEACR Article 24 : Representation Article 26 : Complaint For Non-Ratified Conventions Article 19(5-e) Report For Freedom of Association matters Special procedure through Committee on Freedom of Association ILO Declaration Annual Review on Non-ratified Core Standards General Survey +

ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1) Adopted in 1998 by the ILC; applies to all ILO member states; Commitment by governments, employers and trade unions; Supported by follow-up: evaluation procedure of Annual reports sent by member states that have NOT yet ratified one or more core conventions and Global Reports which cover one of the four categories of principles

ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (2) Core labour standards – 4 groups of principles/rights: - FoA and C.B. (C. 87 & 98) Discrimination (C. 100 & 111) Forced labour (C. 29 & 105) Child labour (C. 138 & 182)

ILO Tripartite Declaration on Principles concerning MNEs and Social Policy Adopted in 1977 by GB (amended in 2000) as a voluntary instrument to: Main voluntary instrument as regards labour aspects of CSR; Regulate conduct of MNEs: Aims for enhancing the positive social and labour effects of the operations of MNEs ILO MNE Declaration - Only set of guidelines of its kind globally agreed by business, labour and governments Objectives: To encourage the positive contribution which MNEs can make to economic and social progress, and To minimise and resolve difficulties to which their operations can give rise

ILO MNE Declaration : Follow-up Periodic surveys on the effect given to the principles of the Declaration (every 4 years, 8 surveys so far) Receivability To date, only 5 cases were decided by GB Pure reports of wrongdoings of MNEs are outside the scope of the Procedure

ILO and the role of T.U. National legislation ; defending workers by promoting ratifications of ILO conventions Monitoring; role of TU in the ILO supervisory mechanism Use ILO instruments for shaping agreements at various level.

OECD/ Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development 30 member countries (AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, CANADA, CZECH R. , DENMARK, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, GREECE, HUNGARY, ICELAND, IRELAND, ITALY, JAPAN, KOREA, LUX, MEXICO, NETHERLANDS, NEW ZEALAND, NORWAY, POLAND, PORTUGAL, SLOVAK R., SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, TURKEY, UK, USA) committed to democracy and the market economy A provider of comparative data, analysis and forecasts so that governments can: compare policy experiences; seek answers to common problems; identify good practice and co-ordinate policies.

OECD Guidelines for MNEs Adopted in 1976, and reviewed in 2000 Guidelines, major features: comprehensive set of rules, multilaterally endorsed, binding for adhering governments which are requested to promote their application by MNEs operating in their countries and by MNEs based in their countries operating worldwide voluntary to enterprises, not legally but morally binding; Major components: NCP, CIME (Committee on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises) , and TUAC OECD MNE Guidelines was originally adopted as part of the Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises Aims to encourage the positive contributions that multinational enterprises can make to economic, environmental and social progress and to minimise the difficulties to which their various operations may give rise. It is “the consensus of the member governments of the OECD as to what constitutes responsible behaviour of international business.

OECD Guidelines : content The Guidelines consist of ten chapters covering most aspects of company behaviour: Concepts and Principles, General Policies, Disclosure, Employment and Industrial Relations (FoA, CB), Environment (OSH), Combating Bribery, Consumer Interests, Science and Technology, Competition and (10) Taxation.

Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD - TUAC - international trade union organisation which has consultative status with the OECD; TUAC represents views of organised labour in industrialised countries; 56 national trade union centres in 30 OECD countries, covers 66 million workers.

OECD Guidelines : application The Guidelines apply to MNEs operating in or from: the 30 OECD member countries, plus currently nine non-OECD members: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Estonia, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia. Guidelines also apply to these companies’ operations worldwide.

Role of TU Check OECD Annual Report on Guidelines When a company breaches the Guidelines, TU can raise this case with the NCP Consult TUAC; it works closely with ICFTU, WCL, ETUC and GUFs. (http://www.tuac.org)

Code of Conduct Is a written policy or statement of principles adopted voluntarily by a company to express its commitment toward a particular conduct NOT NEGOTIATED BUT UNILATERAL DECLARATION Code of conduct for business consumer rights, product safety or environmental protection ethical behaviour codes for employees International instruments to monitor the social responsibility of business ILO MNE Declaration OECD Guidelines for MNEs attempt by UN to set a global code

New Code of Conduct Four Major Characteristics Purely private, voluntary initiative (PVI) Response to the situation of poor labour standards created by the failure of national governments; international application Cross-cutting application to suppliers and subcontractors New Code of Conducts are: Responses to negative publicity generated by reports of dangerous working conditions, inhumane working hours, starvation wages, brutality and the widespread use of child labour.

Definition of New Code of Conduct “Commitments voluntarily made by companies, associations or other entities which put forth standards and principles for the conduct of business activities in the marketplace” (“Workers’ tool or PR ploy?” – by Dr. I. Wick)

Number of New Codes 246 codes (June 2000 by OECD study) 118 by individual companies, 92 by industry and trade associations, 32 by partnerships between stakeholders and 4 by inter-governmental organizations Only 163 mention monitoring Only 30% mention freedom of association, and only10.1% refer to ILO codes

Why New Codes are important for Trade Unions? New Codes are on “labour practice” Great potential and also danger Most companies adopt COC without involving trade unions So, they can be used as an excuse for having no union Distinction between Unilaterally adopted codes and Negotiated codes Therefore, workers’ organizations have to know pros and cons of the new codes. For maximum utilization of the new instruments, trade unions should understand their background, role, limitations, advantages and main features. Truly applied, codes may establish ILSs as binding international framework for responsible corporate behaviour So, union’s involvement is vital

CSR and TU CSR could be a positive process for TU if: - Strengthen FoA and the creation of unions Strengthen C.B Support organising Not only comply with the law but it goes beyond national legislation (socially and ethically responsible to stakeholders/local communities) Alliances of TU and civil society

Negotiated agreements and global labour relations INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK AGREEMENTS Instruments negotiated between a MNE and a Global Union Federation (GUF) concerning international operations of the company; MNEs commit themselves to applying the same labour standards to their employees in all the different countries where they operate

Framework Agreements Implement Core Labour Standards; Apply “Decent working conditions”; Apply environmental standards; Promote good labour practices

Major Framework Agreements IUF - Danone (1988), Accor hotel group (1995), Nestle (1996), Del Monte (2000) and Chiquita (2001) IFBWW - Ikea (1998), Faber-Castell (2000), Hochtief (2000) ICEM - Statoil (1998), Freudenberg (2000) UNI - Telefonica (2000), OTE (2001), Carrefour (2001)

Codes of conduct and FA Codes of Conduct International Framework Agreements Unilateral actions Negotiations between workers and management Not all Core Labour Standards are necessarily acknowledged All Core Labour Standards are explicitly acknowledged Rarely address suppliers Usually include suppliers Monitoring, when envisaged, is under the management’s control Unions are called to participate in the implementation process Feeble basis for dialogue Strong basis for dialogue between unions and management

Important Aspects for FA Capacity of GUFs to engage in F.A. with a large number of MNEs Monitoring F.A. Capacity of MNEs to control subcontractors or supply-chains Extension of EWC versus GWC and strategic alliances between European Trade Unions and GUFs. Agreements between MNEs and GUFs for the implementation of monitoring of FA

International Instruments Framework Agreements ILCs ILO Tripartite Declaration on MNCs UN Global Compact CFA ILO Declaration on F.P.R.W. OECD Guidelines for MNCs Code of Conducts Social Labelling Regional Economic Agreement Private Public National Labour Relation / Tripartite Committees Labour Legislation National

Policy and Strategy for T.U. Set up institutional mechanisms and capacities to fully utilize all the available international instruments Regular reporting Complaints procedures in case of violation (case: CROATIA, asbestos) Multilateral approaches to problem-solving Importance of International, Regional, and Sub-regional trade union networks/IT and communication systems Networking / SoliComm portal http://www.solicomm.net/

PROGRAMME FOR WORKERS’ ACTIVITIES OF THE ILO TURIN CENTRE (ACTRAV) WWW PROGRAMME FOR WORKERS’ ACTIVITIES OF THE ILO TURIN CENTRE (ACTRAV) WWW.ITCILO.IT/ACTRAV ACTRAV-Turin