Commerce

Back to article: Global union for commercial workers puts focus on world-wide organising in multinationals

UNI Commerce priorities and work programme

Adopted at the UNI Commerce Steering Group Meeting in Nyon on 13 November 2004

1. UNI Commerce is the Global Trade Union for Commercial Workers, part of Union Network International.
2. UNI Commerce works to ensure that there is a strong social dimension in the globalisation of retail trade and distribution.
3. UNI Commerce is a global and regional voice and tool of its affiliates, a union of trade unions.
4. The global dimension of UNI Commerce continues to grow in importance as the largest employers move from regional to global markets.
5. The focus of UNI Commerce is on the leading multinational traders that set the conditions for development, competition and labour conditions for the whole industry.
6. The main task of UNI Commerce is to help affiliates organise workers in multinational retail, wholesale and distribution companies, and to establish and operate global UNI Commerce networks to defend and promote their rights and interests.
7. Commercial workers and their families have the right to live their lives in dignity, with sufficient wages, quality jobs, social security, good health care, and stable employment under favourable conditions.
8. Only with a strong trade union presence in the leading multinationals, and through social dialogue and collective agreements, can this be achieved.
9. The fight against walmartization of employment and working conditions in commerce is a priority for UNI Commerce.
10. UNI Commerce will continue to develop its social dialogue with multinational traders, to ensure that they respect the fundamental workers’ rights and subscribe to the principles of corporate social responsibility.
11. Global agreements and a constructive cooperation with management to implement the commonly agreed principles in all countries continues to be the approach of UNI Commerce to its social dialogue with the commerce multinationals.
12. The approach to solving problems related to workers’ and trade union rights in the multinational companies where a global social dialogue exists is based on negotiations and joint interventions with management.
13. UNI Commerce can undertake campaigning and solidarity action in cooperation with affiliates, and the whole of UNI, if sufficient progress cannot be made through this social dialogue.
14. Home country affiliates and other trade unions with an important presence in the multinational companies are close partners and important supporters of UNI Commerce in its social dialogue, participating in it and being closely consulted about major issues.
15. UNI Commerce will follow the multinationals to all new markets, helping to ensure that the workers in these countries are represented by trade unions who engage in social dialogue and collective bargaining on their behalf.
16. Together with its local affiliates and in social dialogue with the companies, UNI Commerce works to ensure that all workers have the effective right to establish and join trade unions, and that their unions engage themselves in social dialogue with management, concluding collective agreements that establish secure and good employment and working conditions.
17. Where necessary, in cooperation with and with the support of home country unions and other affiliates, UNI Commerce initiates and implements trade union development projects to facilitate effective organising, social dialogue, collective agreement negotiations, grievance handling and other union functions in the multinationals.
18. As part of its dialogue and cooperation with leading multinational retailers and wholesalers, UNI Commerce will develop concrete approaches to ensure that China, which is by far the most important of all new global growth markets, fully included in these objectives, principles and activities.
19. UNI Commerce will step up its global campaigning and networking to organise the workers of Wal-Mart, world’s largest trader, in close cooperation with its US affiliate UFCW.
20. UNI Commerce works to ensure that Wal-Mart, Lidl and other traders that seek competition advantage from social dumping respect the international labour norms, and fully implement labour and social legislation, and collective agreements.
21. UNI Commerce gives particular attention to the struggle for improving the position of the predominantly low-paid and disadvantaged women workers in commerce.
22. UNI Commerce will develop policies and initiate negotiations with leading multinational traders about the impact on employment, and on employment conditions, of the latest wave of introducing new technologies, including self scanning and the use of RFID chips in the distribution chain.
23. Uni Commerce will establish a structured network cooperation between affiliates organising workers in wholesale trade and logistics, commercial sales representatives and automobile salespersons, to develop the global and regional dimensions of promoting their interests.
24. The active social dialogue between UNI Commerce and the commerce employers, in the ILO and in the European Union, contribute to a labour relations culture in global commerce where leading retailers need to apply the principles of corporate social responsibility and respect the organising and collective bargaining rights of their workers.
    
25. UNI Commerce will continue to oppose the pressures for indiscriminate deregulation of commerce within the GATS process of the World Trade Organisation, calling for the protection of workers against work during unsocial hours, and particularly on Sundays and holidays, as well as for preserving the right of national and local authorities to regulate the establishment of new stores on social and employment grounds.