Decent Work, Human Rights and CSR

1. Decent Work, Human Rights and CSR Prof. Tom Sorell University of Birmingham

2. Outline • What is decent work? • Decent work and CSR • Old and new CSR • New CSR accommodates Decent Work by its Human Rights focus • New CSR organizations • Bearing of the financial crisis

3. Main argument • Decent Work Agenda, developments in CSR movement and the recent financial crisis point to the importance of human rights in both CSR and industrial relations • CSR tools –practical instruments that support companies in the practical implementation of human and labour rights, reflect this

4. What is decent work? • Decent Work Agenda 2006 • a set of constraints on trade policy in the context of globalization • combines an EU approach to industrial relations and the welfare state with international labour standards and the Millenium Development Goals • Concept of Decent Work developed by International Labour Organization (ILO) starting in 1960s • Employment key to international development • IFIs have role to play in facilitating employment

5. What is decent work? 2 • “Four pillars” of decent work: • productive and freely chosen employment • rights at work including the core labour standards • social dialogue • social protection Four pillars combined with international development and poverty-alleviation agenda

6. Decent Work and Human Rights • productive and freely chosen employment (Convention concerning Forced Labour—1930) • rights at work including the core labour standards (Articles 23,24 UDHR) • social protection (Article 11, ICESCR) • More expansive: • “a social policy commitment to empowerment, human rights and social justice, as well as an investment in broad based economic growth” European Working Group on Decent Work and Social Protection

7. Decent work and human rights • “Social dialogue” the distinctively European element in Decent Work. In EU context it means • consultation procedures involving the European social partners: the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (BUSINESSEUROPE), the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation (CEEP) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).

8. Important instruments • ILO Tripartite Declaration Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (2001; revised 2006) • OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (revised 2001) • Global Compact (2000)

9. Decent Work and HRs

10. CSR –old and new • Old-primarily American • Voluntary, often associated with pr effort • Expression of values, company by company • Primarily concerned with local non-business responsibilities of local branches of US big-business in US e.g. http://www.heinz.com/Heinz_CSR_Web.pdf

11. U.S. CSR vs Avant-garde CSR • Avant-garde: voluntary compliance with international human rights norms at the request of HR NGOs • Novartis • Norsk Hydro • Why avant-garde? • because human rights law not designed for non-state actors • Because most businesses do not submit willingly to international norms, still less legal ones

12. Transnational Companies • Companies with operations in more than one country • Not all American or even Western corporations • Not all avant-garde http://www.cnooc.com.cn/yyww/default.shtml • TNCs owned by HR abusing states, elites • TNCs from countries with weak HR traditions

13. HR and business NGOs, HR business groupings • HR NGOs and businesses • OECD • The Global Compact • IFC and Equator Principles

14. HR NGOs and business • Amnesty Business Groups • IBLF • BLIHR

15. The Global Compact (1999- ) • http://www.unglobalcompact.org/AboutTheGC/index.html • Voluntary organization • Has thousands of members • Two overarching principles: Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses

16. Global Compact (Principle 2) • “Complicity” http://www.unglobalcompact.org/AboutTheGC/TheTenPrinciples/Principle2.html

17. UN Norms • Adopted 2003 by the UN Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights • An attempt to bring TNCs into the UN Treaty system • Gives TNCs responsibilities for respecting and sometimes promoting h-rs in their “sphere of activity”

18. UN Norms 2 • Contemplate monitoring and legal enforcement mechanisms like those of UN treaty bodies • Outline responsibilities that some avant-garde Western TNCs have already voluntarily accepted • Heavily criticized by business. Were sent for further study by Harvard political scientist, John Ruggie

19. UN Norms 2 • Contemplate monitoring and legal enforcement mechanisms like those of UN treaty bodies • Outline responsibilities that some avant-garde Western TNCs, e.g. Novartis, Nordsk Hydro have already voluntarily accepted • Heavily criticized by business. Were sent for further study by Harvard political scientist, John Ruggie

20. Ruggie process • Scepticism about “sphere of activity” in which Norms say companies have H-R responsibilities • Criticism of attempt to introduce legally enforceable norms; Due diligence • http://www.business-humanrights.org/Documents/Ruggie-HRC-2006

21. Effects of crisis • Vastly increased unemployment, loss of homes, uncertainty about the future • Increase of those on less than $1 rise by 40 million, less than $2 by 100 million • 9.5 percent unemployment in Eurozone (as of today) • Bankruptcies and near-bankruptcies in financial sector • New capitalization requirements • Reduced commercial and personal credit • Reduced activity in housing and related sectors, tourism, consumer goods

22. Effects of crisis 2 • Increased domestic public expenditure, public sector deficits through • Bank and manufacturer support • Unemployment costs • Sudden reduction in private sector pension funds • Reduced tax receipts • Decreased foreign expenditure? • Aid budgets

23. Effects of Crisis 3 • Increased public ownership of banks, manufacturing • Increased democratic accountability for publicly owned companies and operating decisions • bank bonuses? • Repossessions • Redundancies?

24. Effects of crisis 4 • Reduced CSR activity in sectors affected by bankruptcy, sharply reduced revenue? • Do certain commercial sectors have special corporate responsibilities? • Banking and financial services (because of responsibility for crisis) • Manufacturing (because of support during crisis) • What might these responsibilities be? • Responsibility to lend?

25. Crisis and Decent Work • Social Protection • More important, but less easy to fund? • Intergenerational issues • Gender Issues • Social Dialogue • Vaguer boundary after crisis between private and public sector; should governments put greater pressure on companies as “owners”, major shareholders? • Economic Growth • How will this be affected by long-term public debt problems in the rich North?

26. Crisis and Decent Work 2 • Globalization issues • Will worsening deficit position of Northern countries draw funding away from aid, MDG support? • European issues • Restrictions in labour markets? • Growth in informal economy?