| Bienvenido | El Congreso | Norrköping | Documentos | Prensa | Sobre la FITTVC |
|
|
|
For The Press
Thursday June 22, 2000 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Are multinationals serious about eliminating abuses of worker rights and paying a living wage to the workers who produce their goods ? Can unions or NGOs in industrialised countries negotiate codes of conduct to protect workers in developing countries ? Who should negotiate codes of conduct ? Who should police them, and how ? Who should bear the financial cost ? How can unions in producing countries use codes of conduct to promoting organising and advancing the bargaining process ? These are some of the many questions to be addressed in a panel discussion entitled 'Can Corporate Codes of Conduct Tame the Multinationals'. ITGLWF General Secretary Neil Kearney is a leading specialist on codes of conduct. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Council on Economic Priorities Accrediation Agency (CEPAA), which developed SA8000, and is a member of the UK's Ethical Trading Initiative Board of Directors. Kearney explains the dramatic increase in the number of codes of conduct: "The process of globalisation has been accompanied by an increase in violations of worker rights. But fortunately, it has also been accompanied by a revolution in communications, with abuses which in the past might never have come to light now being reported in the news soon after they occur. Multinationals are very vulnerable, and reports of abuses can destroy in one stroke the image multinationals have spent millions to promote. This is starting to have an impact and is reflected in the dramatic increase in the number of codes of conduct." But according to Kearney, many codes of conduct are simply public relations' exercise. Many do not refer to the right to organise and bargain collectively, and lack specific provisions for the implementation or monitoring of suppliers. They rarely include provisions for company disclosure of suppliers, or mechanisms for workers to register complaints without fear of retaliation. Warns Kearney, "such codes lack credibility and legitimacy, and are not worth the paper they are written on". Kearney stresses the need for verification to be carred out by professionals trained in factory inspection skills. "Workplace issues are complex affairs, and untrained monitors can often be deceived by appearances. Unlike workers who are in the workplace day after day, monitors are generally there for only a short time, and often see only what the employer wants them to see. For instance, some factories are clean and offer reasonably good working conditions, yet workers are denied the right to organise". Many today suggest that if companies can be forced to adopt and implement codes of conduct, then labour problems will disappear. 'But' stresses Kearney, 'codes of conduct are not an end in themselves. They are not a substitute for effective labour legislation, nor are they an alternative to workers organising themselves into unions. They will not on their own lead to better wages and working conditions. Even when observed, they cannot replace the representative function of trade unions at the workplace, nor do they cover all the legitimate concerns of workers". Concludes Kearney: "Codes of conduct can be a useful tool for promoting organising and advancing the bargaining process, but if misused, they can be harmful to workers interests". The session 'Can Codes of Conduct Tame the Multinationals?' will be held on Wednesday June 28 starting at 16:00 at the Louis De Geer Congress Centre in Norrköping, Sweden. Congress sessions are open to the press. Further information on the ITGLWF 8th World Congress is available at www.itglwf.org. For more information, contact: Neil Kearney (ITGLWF, Brussels) at 32/2/512.2606 or 32/75932487 or 32/75932487 (cell)
|
|
Bienvenido | El Congreso | Norrköping | Documentos | Prensa | Sobre la FITTVC |