Freudenberg And Unions Seal Global Agreement

For the first time, a leading multinational in nonwoven and allied products has signed a global agreement with trade unions.

     

The 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) finalised the deal today with German-headquartered Freudenberg after a series of negotiating sessions. The main points are trade union rights, workplace equality, protection of health, safety and the environment and a ban on child labour and forced labour.

The agreement with the ICEM encompasses Freudenberg's long-standing business principles, notably "the social commitment that the Freudenberg Group has towards all its employees." It specifically recognises that full cooperation and consultation with workers and their unions are the best way of furthering the interests of the company and its shareholders.

All sites of Freudenberg and its subsidiaries worldwide are covered by the agreement. It was negotiated in cooperation with the ICEM-affiliated German union IG BCE, which is a co-signatory.

The ICEM organises more than 20 million workers within 379 unions in 103 countries.

Freudenberg employs about 30,000 people in 41 countries.

Primarily, it supplies components to manufacturers, such as the auto, engineering and footwear industries. Sealings, vibration controls and lubricants are among its main products. But almost a quarter of its sales now come from consumer goods, including household products, floor coverings and footwear.

Its consolidated worldwide sales rose to DM 7 079 million last year. The EU accounted for 57.2 percent of this, followed by North America at 30.6 percent. While Germany remains by far the company's biggest market, the proportion of international sales has been rising rapidly.

The emphasis in the global agreement is strongly on trade union rights and other human rights. Specifically cited as touchstones are the relevant Conventions of the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO). Through the agreement with the ICEM, Freudenberg undertakes to respect, as a minimum, Conventions 87 and 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining; Convention 135 on non-discrimination against union reps; Conventions 100 and 111 on equal opportunities and treatment; Conventions 29 and 105 on forced labour; and Convention 138 on child labour.

Significantly, the agreement provides for ICEM monitoring and for annual meetings between Freudenberg's global management and the ICEM. Both sides commit themselves "to contact each other directly and immediately in case any conflicts or violations of the agreement arise, in order to seek a common solution."

This is the crucial difference between a global agreement and the internal codes of conduct adopted by many multinationals. The Freudenberg agreement is fully verifiable by the ICEM.

The agreement clearly acknowledges "the right of the employees in the Freudenberg Group to freely join trade unions of their choice, to elect workers' representatives and represent their interests in negotiations concerning collective bargaining agreements." It is "part of the cooperation and confidence" between Freudenberg and its workers that "wherever the employees wish to organise themselves in trade unions, and trade unions apply for recognition, ways are sought to develop good labour relations in joint dialogue." This "rules out any kind of unequal treatment, discrimination or sanctions against trade union organisation."

Freudenberg also commits itself to "sustainable protection of the environment and natural resources" and to ensuring the safety of the workplace and of its products.

It further "condemns involvement in unethical or illegal business" and undertakes not to produce "weapons or any kind of war materials similar to weapons."

"Confidence and cooperation between management, employees and their representatives, innovation and flexibility in work organisation are the basis for the employees' future success and that of the Freudenberg Group," the agreement says. Every effort will be made to achieve "a consensus about the introduction of flexible, efficient and customer-oriented forms of work organisation", while taking account of "the needs of the employees."

"This agreement is in the best interests of Freudenberg's workers, but also of all the company's stakeholders worldwide," said ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs today. Higgs negotiated and signed the deal on the ICEM's behalf.

"Today, we are witnessing a big step forward in global industrial relations," Higgs emphasised. "The ICEM intends to negotiate and implement a whole series of such agreements with the major global corporations in its sectors."

He paid tribute to the efforts of ICEM German affiliate IG BCE in securing the global agreement. "We were able to build on the good cooperation between IG BCE and Freudenberg in Germany," Higgs said. "We thank IG BCE President Hubertus Schmoldt and all his team for their decisive role in achieving this breakthrough."

Schmoldt, who is also an ICEM Vice-President, said the agreement is in line with "the traditionally fair and constructive policies of the Freudenberg Group." It opens up "the opportunity to jointly make innovative contributions to the further global development of good industrial relations," Schmoldt insisted. "Particularly important for us is the fact that the ICEM is now recognised as a trade union representative at all the company's sites."

For the Freudenberg Management Board, Dr. Hans-Jochen Hüchting commented: "The approach from IG BCE and the ICEM fell on fertile ground as far as we were concerned, because the main contents of the agreement - such as the rejection of child labour and of forced labour and the commitment to environmental protection and to the responsibilisation of our employees - are already enshrined in our business principles and codes of conduct."

Germany's Labour Minister Walter Riester welcomed the agreement as "an important step towards more social responsibility between employers and employees" in the Freudenberg Group.