Exclusif Eramet establishes global social dialogue body, unprecedented in the mining industry Transnational industrial relations On 5 July, French multinational mining and metallurgy company Eramet announced the creation of the Eramet Global Forum, a global social dialogue body designed to support the group's internationalisation at a time when 80% of its workforce – 9,000 staff members – work outside of Europe, as a result of several sales. The forum will be able to negotiate global agreements on social protection and quality of life at work.
Société Générale to offer digitalisation related guarantees and social coverage to its employees worldwide Transnational industrial relations On 23 June, French banking group Société Générale renewed, for a second time, the global agreement on employee rights that it initially signed with UNI Global Union in 2015 and again in 2019 on its first renewal. The document reinforces its commitments vis-à-vis due diligence, countering harassment, progress towards gender equality and it also inaugurates guarantees over digitisation, notably on AI. Above all, the text introduces death cover as well as maternity/paternity leave entitlements for all 117,000 employees worldwide.
Exclusif Réglementaire Corporate due diligence (part 2/2): no longer applying just to large French corporations Initiatives from the public authorities and other stakeholders Since the start of 2023, corporate due diligence is no longer the preserve of the French statute books with German legislation now entering into force and discussions over the adoption of an EU Directive set for before the end of the year. While corporate vigilance plans are often incomplete and due diligence is slow to become effective, an growing number of stakeholders are nonetheless taking the issue on board. Indeed the topic is now becoming both an area for inter-corporate co-operation as well as a topic for intra-company social dialogue. Below, we provide some feedback from major names including Engie, Vinci, and Carrefour.
Transnational company agreements: older workers the great forgotten of negotiations Transnational industrial relations At a time when most Western countries are seeking to increase the legal retirement age – to reduce pension scheme deficits or, in some cases, to address skill shortages – mind RH has taken a closer look at the transnational company agreements signed by multinational firms with a view to fostering the employment of older workers within their foreign subsidiaries. Seven agreements have been picked out, most of them European, which focus on the employability and job retention of ageing employees.
Exclusif Teleperformance: global agreement committing to trade union freedom eventually signed after years of conflict Transnational industrial relations On 01 December 2022 French digital business solutions group Teleperformance succumbed and signed a global agreement on social responsibility. The text, which mind RH has obtained, commits Teleperformance both to guaranteeing freedom of association wherever it is poorly guaranteed by law and to complying with due diligence obligations; two issues over which the company has been facing litigation.
Global Framework Agreement: Carrefour commits to fighting sexual orientation and gender-based discrimination Transnational industrial relations The global union federation UNI Global Union, and French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation Carrefour have announced a second renewal of their global framework agreement on the promotion of social dialogue and diversity.…
Orpea: CGT and CFDT unions demand cancellation of global agreement on ethical employment and union rights Transnational industrial relations The CGT and CFDT, respectively the second and third largest representative unions at Orpea in France, are asking UNI global union to reverse the global agreement signed in April with the nursing home giant. Contacted by Planet Labor, the global union federation stands its ground. The International Trade Union Confederation and the European Trade Union Confederation, which received a copy of the letter sent on 4 May, have still not chosen their side.
Orpea: global agreement on “ethical employment and trade union rights” is ill received Transnational industrial relations French nursing home group Orpea has penned a three-year global framework agreement with UNI Global Union, for a partnership covering ethical employment, social dialogue, collective bargaining and trade union rights. The agreement comes as the group, which employs 70,000 people across 23 countries, faces various complaints of discrimination against union members as well as investigations into its working conditions in France. It has been panned by various trade union federations as a "pseudo agreement".
Solvay: new global framework agreement signed that pre-empts corporate due diligence requirements Transnational industrial relations Belgian chemical group Solvay, which employs more than 23,000 employees worldwide, has renewed the global framework agreement (GFA) between itself and Industriall Global Union, the global union federation. Penned on 31 March 2022, the text – valid for a period of four years – anticipates legislative advances on companies' due diligence obligations and should allow for social dialogue to be developed at the group's sites in the United States, where union representation depends on a majority vote of the employees.
Engie enters into a new Global Framework Agreement on Fundamental Rights and ENGIE’s Social Responsibility Transnational industrial relations On 20 January 2022 the French multinational utility company, which operates in 70 countries, signed a global framework agreement (GFA) with three global union federations IndustriALL, BWI, and PSI. The agreement, which runs for a period of four years, commits the group to a global social protection programme, Engie Care, to prioritise sustainable employment, and to the creation of a ‘World Forum’, a joint dialogue body which will be responsible for monitoring the duty of vigilance. This text reinforces the company's commitment to international social dialogue after a first GFA was concluded in 2010.
