When Marks & Spencer made its decision last spring to close its stores in continental Europe, the way it was done launched a lively discussion in media about corporate social responsibility. The overwhelming majority of those who expressed themselves were of the opinion that a company has responsibilities far beyond those to its shareholders. The profit motive cannot be the only driving force for corporate decisions, nor can an enterprise neglect the effects of any decisions on other stakeholders, and particularly on its own workers.

In fact, the campaign which UNI Commerce and its affiliates concerned launched in order to challenge the decision of Marks & Spencer lead to a stricter European legislation to be introduced, concerning the obligation for management to consult with the workers about decisions which could impact on employment. The British government withdrew its opposition immediately after the UNI Commerce – TUC demonstration in London. At the subsequent meeting of the EU Council of Ministers, the presidency made a direct reference to the Marks & Spencer case as a reason for speeding up new European legislation.

Like in many other fields of labour relations, corporate social responsibility can be accessed through a multitude of means. Legislation lays down the minimum requirements and is necessary to control those enterprises, which would otherwise compete through irresponsible behaviour and social dumping. Collective and other agreements between trade unions, companies and employers’ associations on different levels, from workplaces to the global arena, complement the legislation. Voluntary initiatives and the adoption of social responsibility schemes or standards is a further way for companies, large or small, to commit thgemselves to a socially responsible behaviour.

International instruments, codes, guidelines and declarations, such as International Labour Conventions, the United Nations Global Compact, ILO and OECD guidelines and the SA8000 standard create a framework for this approach. The solid basis for it is the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up, of 1999.

At the World Economic Forum, Davos, on 31 January 1999, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan challenged world business leaders to "embrace and enact" the Global Compact, both in their individual corporate practices and by supporting appropriate public policies. These principles cover topics in human rights, labour and environment :

The SA8000 aims at setting a uniform, auditable social responsibility standard, including a third party verification of compliance. SA8000 is based on the principles of 11 Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The SA8000 standard covers a number of workplace conditions:

• child labor,
• forced labor,
• health and safety,
• freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining,
• discrimination,
• disciplinary practices,
• working hours and compensation.

The final area covered by the standard is management systems, which stipulates necessary systems for ensuring ongoing conformance with requirements of the standard.

UNI supports and is actively engaged in the work of the Social Accountability International, which administers the SA8000 Standard.

The European Union’s approach to corporate social responsibility is strongly influenced by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which was proclaimed at the Nice Summit last year. Although it does not yet have legal force, it can already be considered as a guideline for the direction in which the EU is moving on these issues.

The Charter sets out rights under six headings:

• dignity, which includes the right to life, the prohibition of torture and the prohibition of forced or compulsory labour
• freedoms, including freedom of thought, expression and association, as well as the right to asylum and to own property
• equality, covering among other issues non-discrimination and rights for children
• solidarity, which includes working conditions, prohibition of child labour, the right to health care and the right to engage in collective bargaining and strike action;
• citizens rights, such as the right to vote and freedom of movement; and
• justice, covering principally the right to a fair trial.

In July this year, the European Commission issued a Green Paper on "Promoting a Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility". With this document, the Commission wants to launch a broad European debate on how to promote corporate social responsibility, based on a "deepening of partnerships in which all actors have an active role to play".

According to the Commission, "Corporate Social Responsibility is the concept that an enterprise is accountable for its impact on all relevant stakeholders. It is the continuing commitment by business to behave fairly and responsibly and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the work force and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. "

"By expressing their Social Responsibility, companies are affirming their role in social and territorial cohesion, quality and environment. Through production, employment relations, and their investments, companies are able to influence employment, the quality of jobs and the quality of industrial relations, including respecting fundamental rights, equal opportunities, non-discrimination, the quality of goods and services, health and the environment".

The Commission believes that "social partners also play a crucial part in the wider implementation of CSR. Any company strategy towards CSR based on an integrated and balanced approach to economic, social and environmental factors requires innovative thinking and thus new skills and closer involvement of the social partners."

UNI-Europa Commerce and EuroCommerce have started to prepare for a social dialogue on corporate social responsibility. They have also agreed to try to make a joint statement on the European Commission’s Green Paper. 

UNI Commerce has actively promoted the United Nations Global Compact. In discussions and negotiations with management, multinational commerce enterprises have been encouraged to sign up.

Enterprises have also been encouraged to adopt the SA8000 standard, which sets a credible and stable framework for social responsibility particularly when it comes to supervising sourcing and purchasing. In our active participation in the Social Accountability International (SAI), we have underlined that when a retailer or wholesaler adopts the SA8000 standard, it cannot be credible without applying the same principles on its relations with its own personnel. This line of action will be pursued further.

In the European social dialogue for commerce, the work on social responsibility issues is based on two previous agreements, those on child labour and on fundamental principles and rights at work. Also in this context, UNI-Europa Commerce has proposed that the social partners jointly recommend that all European retailers and wholesalers sign up for the Global Compact and for the SA8000 standard. UNI-Europa Commerce and EuroCommerce have agreed to work further on these two issues as well as on some other related aspects of social responsibility.

Recognition of the right of all workers to organise in trade unions of their choice is often a more difficult thing for employers to accept than the other fundamental rights at work. This is why UNI Commerce as well as other trade unions must continue the active efforts to secure that it is fully implemented. On various levels, agreements have been reached by UNI Commerce and UNI-Europa Commerce, which secure trade union rights for commercial workers. These have been based on existing international instruments and declarations, some of which are related to in the following:

The right for every worker to freely join a trade union is enshrined in the ILO Declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work, 1998, and in the International Labour Conventions C87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948, and C98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949. The Declaration is to be respected in all countries which are members of the International Labour Organisation, regardless whether or not they have ratified the two Conventions. In any case, Conventions 87 and 98 have been ratified by almost all member countries.

Article 2 of Convention 87 defines the basic right for any worker to organise:

"Workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, shall have the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of the organisation concerned, to join organisations of their own choosing without previous authorisation."

In Article 11, the governments of member countries are given the obligation to ensure that the right to organise is respected:

"Each Member of the International Labour Organisation for which this Convention is in force undertakes to take all necessary and appropriate measures to ensure that workers and employers may exercise freely the right to organise."

Convention 98 gives further support for the right to organise by forbidding employers to interfere:

Article 2 says that

" 1. Workers' and employers' organisations shall enjoy adequate protection against any acts of interference by each other or each other's agents or members in their establishment, functioning or administration.

2. In particular, acts which are designed to promote the establishment of workers' organisations under the domination of employers or employers' organisations, or to support workers' organisations by financial or other means, with the object of placing such organisations under the control of employers or employers' organisations, shall be deemed to constitute acts of interference within the meaning of this Article."

In the commerce sector, the right to organise has been confirmed by employers and trade unions on different levels.

A global ILO tripartite meeting for commerce in November 1998 stated in its unanimously adopted conclusions that

"Freedom of association and collective bargaining rights and continuous social dialogue, on the basis of the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up of 1998, are also valid in the commerce sector."

"The ILO should undertake promotion of all the international labour Conventions relevant to commerce, as well as social dialogue at appropriate levels. The ILO should, in cooperation with the social partners, also develop and widely distribute a manual on social dialogue in commerce to assist the social partners, particularly in countries where the institutional framework for social dialogue is still weak or non-existent."

42.Workers employed by multinational enterprises as well as those employed by national enterprises should, without distinction whatsoever, have the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of the organization concerned, to join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorisation. They should also enjoy adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination in respect of their employment.

43.Organizations representing multinational enterprises or the workers in their employment should enjoy adequate protection against any acts of interference by each other or each other’s agents or members in their establishment, functioning or administration.

Although not an international labour standard or otherwise legally binding document, the ILO declaration is an important expression of tripartite opinion in support of trade union rights.

The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, which were adopted in June 2000, give a clear obligation for these companies to respect the right of their workers worldwide to organise in trade unions:

«  IV. Employment and Industrial Relations

Enterprises should, within the framework of applicable law, regulations and prevailing labour relations and employment practices:

1. Respect the right of their employees to be represented by trade unions and other bona fide representatives of employees, and engage in constructive negotiations, either individually or through employers' associations, with such representatives with a view to reaching agreements on employment conditions; « 

The guidelines further say that workers must not be victimised for exercising their right to organise:

In August 1999, the European social partners in commerce signed an Agreement on Fundamental Rights and Principles at Work. This agreement repeats the text of the ILO Declaration, as a sign of the commitment of the social partners to actively implement it in European commerce:

There is no question about it that it is always possible for a commerce enterprise to comply with the clause on freedom of association. The reservation has been made at the request of EuroCommerce with regard to possible limitations in being able to enforce some of the principles in business relations with third countries.

The proclamation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights last year brings added importance to the European social dialogue agreement. The Charter, which is expected to become legally applicable in the near future, confirms

In Europe, on a company level, agreements have been made with Tesco and Metro, which aim at ensuring respect for the right to organise.

With Tesco, a social partnership agreement has been concluded in Poland between Tesco Polska and Solidarnosc, at the initiative and with the involvement of Uni Commerce. This agreement secures the Polish workers of Tesco the right to join Solidarnosc and establishes the principles for labour relations and collective bargaining. In Hungary, with the participation of Uni Commerce, similar negotiations are on their way between Tesco and KASz.

With Metro, an understanding was reached in 1999 about the right for all Metro workers to join a trade union. This was done at a meeting between FIET Commerce and the personnel directors of all parts of the Metro chain, where they – one after another – declared their respect for the principle. Some months later, an agreement was signed between FIET Commerce and Metro, declaring the respect for these rights also in Turkey, where serious problems had been encountered. The Metro management was, however, not prepared to enforce this agreement in Turke where the country managers continued with a union busting campaign.

On the global level, Uni Commerce has signed in April 2001 an agreement with world’s second largest retailer Carrefour, and the most international of them all, which says that

" Carrefour undertakes to monitor jointly with UNI the proper application of ILO conventions 87-98 and 135.

Those international standards define:

- the right of employees to joint a trade union of their choice,

- the right to collective bargaining,

- the protection of employees and their representatives against any act of discrimination tending to infringe upon trade union freedom.

Respect for union rights and recognition of fundamental rights are part of the corporate culture of the Carrefour Group."