An initiative for the Globalisation of Rights
What is What is OBSERVATÓRIO SOCIALOBSERVATÓRIO SOCIAL (Social Observatory)(Social Observatory)
It is an initiative from the main
Trade Union Confederation in
Brazil (CUT), in cooperation with
DIEESE, CEDEC e
UNITRABALHO.
Our goal is to OBSERVE the
behaviour of NATIONAL,
MULTINATIONAL companies in
regards to the fundamental
RIGHTS at work.
FNV-Mondiaal – Netherlands
DGB-Bildungswerk - Germany
AFL-CIO – USA
International Labour Office
PSI – Public Services International
LO – Norway
Hans Böckler Foundation – Germany
Oxfam – United Kingdom
SASK – Finland
Sssmsm,ama,d
The Social
Observatory
cooperates with
the following
institutions:
ABN Amro Bank
Ahold/Bompreço
Akzo Nobel (I e II)
Bayer
Basf
Bosch
Cargill (port)
Embratel
Honda (port)
Light (port)
Hartmann-Mapol
Nestlé (port)
Nokia
Norsk Hydro
Aluminium supply chain (to
be published)
Parmalat
Philips
LG Philips
Santander (port)
Sara Lee (port)
Shell
ThyssenKrupp
Unilever (I e II)
Wal Mart
Some previous reports and studies
DATA BASE
COMPANY PROFILE(available only in portuguese)
PRODUCTS
RESEARCH REPORT
MAP OF PROBLEMS
SOCIAL AND LABOUR BEHAVIOUR
PUBLICITY
WEB SITE
ARTICLES
REPORTS
NEWS CLIPPING
PUBLICATIONS
MAGAZINE
CD-ROM’S
Research: references and methods
REFERENCES AND INDICATORS
• Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (ILO)
• Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (ILO)
• OECD Guidelines to Multinational Enterprises
• UN Global Compact• Decent Work Concept
– Decent Work Country Programmes– Four dimensions:
• Fundamental Rights• Employment• Social Dialogue• Social Protection
REFERENCES AND INDICATORS
• Norms were adapted for the evaluation of COMPANIES
• We take into consideration the context, the laws, and the practices in Brazil
• We elaborated indicators for 9 rights/themes (2 main blocks)
• Plus one complementary block regarding Corporate Social Responsibility policies
INDICATORS
Block 1:Fundamental Rights• Freedom of association and collective
bargaining• Non-discrimination• Abolition of Forced Labour (supply chain)• Abolition of Child Labour (supply chain)
Block 2:Work and Employment Conditions• Job creation• Decent wage• Decent working hours• Health and Safety at work• Employment and social protection
Complementary block: Engagement, monitoring and transparency of the CSR policies
INDICATORS
Example: Freedom of association and collective bargaining – how to measure?
• Freedom of a worker to be unionized;• Unions representatives’ access to the company;• Respect to the right to strike;• Recognition of decisions aproved on assemblies;• Access to information about the company for
effective negotiations;• Direct negotiations between company and
unions
INDICATORS
Example: Health and Safety at work – how to measure?
• Participation of workers on the elaboration, aplication and monitoring of the mechanisms to improve working conditions;
• Existence of clear information about the work environment and the risks to health and safety;
• Programs on prevention and protection;• Number of accidents in the last years;• Medical center’s conditions;• Proper treatment of injured or ill workers
RESEARCH PROCEDURE:
Participatory Methodology Company
Trade Union / Confederation
Other representative groups
Monitoring group
Documents analysis
Workers’ opinion survey Representative sample
Stratified samples
“Closed” questionnaire
Applied by researchers (or self-applied)
RESEARCH PROCEDURE:
Open interviews Managers
Trade Union Leaders
Members of CIPA (Internal Comission for Accidents Prevention)
Others
Focal group – group interviews
Report validation
Trade Union
Company
Publication of the validated report
Negotiation
ThyssenKrupp Example
2003:
• Setting of the research project
• Social Observatory Europe Project – Exchange and European campaigns (Germany/ DGB and Netherlands/ FNV)
• Negotiation with company management
Example: ThyssenKrupp
• Controlled 17 companies and 40 locations in Brazil
2002:
• DGB and IGMETTAL visited the Trade Union office and two plants
• Contacts with CNM (Brazilian Metalworkers Confederation) and CUT
Research description:
Field research in two plants: Foundry (Barra do Pirai/ RJ) and Elevators factory (Guaiba/ RS)
Sample size: 492 of 1.918 workers
Numbers of managers interviewed: 10 from areas like Health and Safety, Environment, Human Resources, Industrial Relations
Numbers of trade union leaders: 2 one from each city
Group: 6 researchers and 1 statistician
Time: from July 2002 to June 2003 – five months of negotiation
Main difficulty: HR staff close monitoring of workers interviewed
Example: ThyssenKrupp
Main conclusions:• Bad work environment conditions in the foundry plant• Wages below the sectoral average
Germany-Brazil exchange: discussions about the report
outcomes between trade unionists and management Report publication provokes impact and headquarters
reaction Germany HQ management visits the plant Trade Unions in Brazil develop a Company network (7
unions) Company headquarters announces investments from 7
million euros for improvement of the work conditions in
the foundry factory
Example: ThyssenKrupp
WWW.OS.ORG.BR