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