The Consumer Goods Forum moved in a timely way when integrating\nthe Global Social Compliance Programme into its structures and work. The GSCP\nsustainability toolbox had been completed and the convergence-driving\nequivalence process was well established. Emphasis needed to be shifted to new\nthings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking up the challenge of forced labour in global supply\nchains was both bold and ambitious and sends a signal about how serious the\napproach is. When the joint CGF effort takes off it can again prove that voluntary\nprivate sector initiatives can effectively defend and support human rights and\npromote decent work in the globalised economy. As a member of the Advisory\nBoard, I am pleased that GSCP was given the task of initiating and helping to\nlaunch this work. It does show the success of our common initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I was invited to bring the trade unions into this newly\nformed sustainability platform my first reaction was rather reserved. There was\nthis group of leading multinational retailers and they had already developed a\ncode and set a work programme. Would we really be able to influence, or be\nthere just to give credibility to big business? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My discussions with the founding companies, particularly\nCarrefour at that time, convinced me that changes and adjustments would be made\nso that we could come on board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was not a self-evident decision for UNI Commerce. Some\nof the GSCP companies were engaged in serious labour conflicts with our\naffiliates \u2013 how could we work side by side with them without weakening the\nunion positions? What about the right to form trade unions and conclude\ncollective agreements?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My view was \u2013 and still is \u2013 that industrial country\nemployers and trade unions cannot act out on their disagreements or labour\nconflicts at the expense of workers and their families in supplier regions.\nThis would be both immoral and unethical. We have a shared responsibility for\nsupporting human rights and decent working conditions in countries that cannot or\nwill not do it on their own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe my own Nordic background where seeking social dialogue\nand partnership plays a central role for my conviction that we should join.\nThus I was pleased and even impressed that the UNI Commerce unions agreed and\ndecided to set out on the joint voyage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our work on the Reference Code as well as the other parts of\nthe unique GSCP sustainability toolbox was always marked by a genuine will from\nall participants to find the best and most effective approaches to defining\nwhat good looks like and how it can best be promoted in the global supply\nchains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today\u2019s labour relations climate is harder than when we\nbuilt up GSCP together. Instead of sharing the results of growth employers and\nunions deal with paying the costs of shrinking economies. This has also\naffected sustainability work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Global unions have downgraded or even ended their\nparticipation in many schemes and initiatives. They are openly questioning social\naudits and voluntary programmes, calling for more legislation instead. For\nthis, they have formed new alliances with militant social advocacy\norganisations. We have indeed witnessed something of a collapse of broad\nmulti-stakeholder cooperation on social sustainability in global supply chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the ILO International Labour Conference in June this year\nwe could see the divides. Unions and their NGO allies were pushing for a new\nbinding Labour Convention while employers denied that there were governance\nproblems or any need for new regulations. The end result was largely\nnon-committal as could be expected and discussions about a possible new\nConvention continue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many unions and advocacy organisations hope that the UN\nGuiding Principles for Business and Human Rights would be applied through\nbinding legislation in the home countries of buyer companies. I have seen this\nclearly also through my participation in Germany\u2019s Textile Alliance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With governments unwilling to put their own business sectors\nat disadvantage, this will not happen. Also from a development point of view\nincreased risks for sanctions \u2013 also for unintended issues \u2013 could lead brands\nand retailers to leave some of the least developed countries where the need for\na foreign economic involvement may be biggest. I am convinced that respecting\nthe UN and OECD due diligence obligations will continue to rely largely on\nvoluntary corporate responsibility schemes and initiatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I do understand the NGO and union frustrations over what\nthey feel is an all too slow pace of positive changes through audit based\ninitiatives. Still I think that much of the criticism is unfair, maybe also\ndriven by their own organisational interests. The projects that they have\ndeveloped themselves are highly supportable and can be useful as best practice\nexamples, but too narrow both to substance and coverage to make a real\ndifference for the total supply chain picture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both buyer companies and sustainability schemes have done\nmuch to support human rights and decent working conditions in global supply\nchains. GSCP has played a major role in moving emphasis from audit reports to\nimproving labour conditions. Both capacity building and remediation has grown,\nmost of it enabled by the buyer community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Social auditing continues to be an essential part of this\nwork. GSCP has done much to support the auditing industry in its efforts to\nsecure audit quality and reliability and this work now continues in the new\nAssociation of Professional Social Compliance Auditors. I have joined the APSCA\nStakeholder Board together with representatives of some of the CGF member\ncompanies, a further sign of these links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Approaching the forced labour issues through joint\nactivities does not mean that the CGF, GSCP or member companies would abandon\nthe rest of their agenda. Driving convergence of social sustainability work at\na high and demanding level remains essential if we want real and positive\nchanges to take place in the supply chains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Very much is already being done, but regrettably much of it\noutside the public eye. While brands and retailers are very skilled in\nmarketing their products they are much less active in telling about their own\nsustainability work. Here, both the CGF and GSCP should pay much attention to\ntransparency and reporting. The work to eradicate forced labour will give a\ngood opportunity to do this and thus also draw attention to the need for broad\npublic-private cooperation to defend human rights at work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Consumer Goods Forum moved in a timely way when integrating the Global Social Compliance Programme into its structures and work. The GSCP sustainability toolbox had been completed and the convergence-driving equivalence process was well established. Emphasis needed to be shifted to new things. Taking up the challenge of forced labour in global supply chains … <\/p>\n