CHILD LABOUR

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Danish Ethical Trading Init iat ive

Addressing Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining in Global Value Chains

Photo: ©

International Labour Organization / C

rozet M.

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FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Photo: ©International Labour Organization / Cassidy K.

In recent years the focus on companies’ responsibility for ensuring proper working conditions through-out their supply chain has been primarily on how to provide workers with improved health and safety conditions, wages and working hours. Meanwhile, how to empower local parties to enhance their bargaining position and dispute settlement capacity has not been comprehensively addressed. A pre-requisite though, is that workers and employers are ensured the right to freedom of association (FoA) and the right to bargain collectively (CB), which according to the ILO, are fundamental principles and a reflection of human dignity.

WHY FOCUS ON FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COL-LECTIVE BARGAINING?

The application of these fundamental human rights can have a major impact on work and liv-ing conditions, as well as on the development and progress of economic and social systems. It guarantees the ability of workers, and employers, to join and act together to defend not only their economic interest but also civil liberties such as the right to life, security, integrity and personal and collective freedom. Thus FoA and CB are key issues to address in order to reach general im-provements in relation to wages, working hours, child labour etc.

By respecting the fundamental right of FoA and the right to CB throughout the supply chains, workers can be helped to strengthen their nego-tiating position by uniting and bargain collectively with employers. This has shown to be the case for workers throughout the world, who are free to organise in trade unions and thus have improved their wages and conditions of employment.

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

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linked, as collective bargaining cannot work with-out freedom of association since workers’ views need to be properly represented. Workers should be able to freely form and join a union, which es-sentially means they must be free to choose how and by whom they are to be represented and em-ployers must not interfere in this process.

Freedom of Association refers to workers’ right to create organisations (unions) that represent them. It also applies to employer organisations. Collective bargaining is the process of negotiation between unions and employers, and usually con-cerns working conditions and terms of employ-ment. Both are fundamental rights and they are

WHAT IS FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGANING?

The key conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining

UN Declaration of Human Rights (article 20 and 23)

Article 20 (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 23 (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

ILO Convention no. 87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise

The right of workers to join a trade union of their choice is a key principle for the ILO and is enshrined in this Convention. The right to freedom of association also includes the right to independence from government and employer interference and the right for trade unions to elect officials and organise their own affairs.The legal stages to reach agreements between workers and employ-ers belong to the organising rights. The right to collective action is one of the means through which both workers and employers may promote and defend their economic and social interests. ILO’s Free-dom of Association Committee has therefore always recognised the right to strike by workers and their organisations as a legitimate means of defending their economic and social interests. (See: Free-dom of Association: Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee of the Governing Body of the ILO, Geneva, International Labour Office, Fifth (revised) edition, 2006).

ILO Convention no. 98: Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention

This Convention provides for protection against anti-union discrimina-tion, for protection of workers’ and employers’ organisations against acts of interference by each other, and for measures to promote and encourage collective bargaining.

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FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Companies should understand and recognise that high quality products, productivity and increased competitiveness, requires a workforce with high quality skills and working conditions and whose rights are respected. This should be essential to companies’ good business practices. Many companies work with guidelines, policies and activities initiated to further an improvement

DIEH recommends companies to put focus on workers representation and trade unions when engaging with suppliers in order to ensure work-ers’ rights and improve general labour issues. Trade unions represent the view of the workers in the communication with employers and at the bargaining table to ensure workers’ rights and

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF COMPANIES

WHAT SHOULD COMPANIES DO?

of human and workers’ rights in their supply chain and promote respect for labour standards. However, the challenge is to make sure that they are developed with the participation of represent-ative trade unions and include guarantees that freedom of association and collective bargaining will be respected.

DIEH AND FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

FoA and CB are key focus areas of DIEH. The DIEH Guidelines on Ethical Trade is the basis of the work on Ethical Trade in DIEH and is founded on UN and ILO conventions and guidelines in-cluding the provisions on FoA and CB.

DIEH seeks through dialogue and collaboration between its members, which represent trade unions, NGOs, business associations, companies and public institutions, to identify and promote good practices and develop practical solutions to ethical dilemmas including FoA and CB. Thus the DIEH members have shared their knowledge on FoA and CB and its root causes. Through this

dialogue they have reached a common under-standing of the challenges and dilemmas, which companies face in tackling this issue in their sup-ply chains and agreed on recommended actions.

As a result of this work DIEH has developed a briefing paper, position and recommendations to guide its member companies in promoting FoA and CB in their supply chains. In line with the ILO’s and UN Global Compact’s recommenda-tions, the DIEH recommended actions include measures to be taken both in the workplace and in the community in order to effectively address FoA and CB in global supply chains.

improve working conditions.Overall the companies should engage in dialogue with their suppliers and promote FoA and CB and furthermore support the efforts of the supplier to improve within this area.

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FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

DIEHS POSITION ON FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

• Where freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining is restricted or prohibited under law, the employer shall facilitate, and not hinder, alternative forms of independent and free workers representation and negotiation, in accor-dance with international labour standards.

• The right to organise should be seen as a right to informed decision-making regarding affiliation, therefore workers should be allowed to receive comprehen-sive information about their rights and the advantages of being a member of a trade union.

• If there is more than one union present, the employer should treat them equally. If national law allows or requires the employer to give privileges to the most representative union, minority union’s right to freedom of association still must be respected.

• The employer should comply with national and international standards in relation to strikes and industrial action.

• In countries where governments do not honour their international obligations due to the lack of legislation that complies with international standards, employers and trade unions should still make every effort to respect these standards. Some countries have legislation in place to pro-tect workers’ rights, but implementation might be poor due to inadequate enfor-cement. Employers should, nevertheless, obey the law.

• In accordance with ILO conventions, DIEH believes that workers, without distinction, shall have the right to freely join or form trade unions of their own choosing and to bargain collectively.

• In many countries only legally registered unions can sign binding Collective Bar-gaining Agreements. Therefore, no other form of workers’ organisation can replace a union. But even where there is no union yet, workers should be encouraged to organise elections of representatives to engage in dialogue with management. If a union exists the employer should not undermine it by negotiating directly with elected worker representatives or indivi-dual workers on matters that are reserved for unions. Negotiations should be carried out in good faith.

• Workers representatives or trade union members shall not be discriminated against or otherwise penalised because of their membership in or affiliation with a trade union.

• Worker representatives shall have access to carry out their representative functions in the workplace.

• Employers shall recognise the trade uni-ons of their employees, notify authorities according to national laws and facilitate public recognition to make sure workers’ representatives are covered by whatever protection the labour laws may offer.

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FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS

In the workplace

• Workers should be free to join or form a union without interference from manage-ment. Union representatives should have access to the workplace.

• Workers should be fully informed about their right to form and join a union by management. It should be clearly establis-hed that no warnings or threats against forming or joining a trade union will be tolerated.

• Worker representatives should be re-cognised by authorities and protected by law – companies should therefore follow the legal requirements and procedures of each country in order to make any such protection enter into force.

• Worker representatives should have ac-cess to appropriate facilities so they can arrange regular meetings.

• A procedure for protecting “whistleblo-wers” should be in place, if workers need to notify proper authorities that a violation of rights takes place in the workplace.

• Worker representatives should have a notice board where the union can publicise its officials and public notices and be al-lowed to distribute other informative trade union material among the workers.

• Representative organisations should be recognised for the purpose of collective bargaining and provide information ne-eded for meaningful bargaining.

• During collective bargaining there should be no limit for the workplace related is-sues that can be negotiated.

• If the union raises an issue with the workplace management the latter should be willing to discuss this and if necessary help implement improvements.

• When a Collective Bargaining Agreement is signed, it should be made known to all workers, supervisors and managers in the workplace.

Photo: ©International Labour Organization / Dey A.

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FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

In the community

• Companies should join multi-stake-holder initiatives where possible to support efforts nationally and interna-tionally in finding broader solutions to help promote freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.

• In order to ensure long term impro-vements of workers’ rights, local sta-keholders should be empowered and supported in their efforts to enhance their bargaining position and dispute settlement capacity.

Photo: BESTSELLER

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Printed matter

Danish Ethical Trading Init iat ive

Danish Ethical Trading InitiativeOvergaden Oven Vandet 10, st.

DK-1415 Copenhagen KPhone +45 2162 2666

info@dieh.dkwww.dieh.dk