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19 October, 2009
A special feature at the IGBCE Congress in Hannover, Germany, occurred on closing day, 16 October. It was a round-table forum on Global Networks. The panel was moderated by Constantin Grund of the Freidrich Ebert Foundation, and included ICEM President Senzeni Zokwana.
It also included Fabio Lins from ICEM Brazilian affiliate CNQ/CUT, who addressed the highly successful Latin American network of workers within the German chemical company BASF; Robert Oswald, chairman of the European Works Council of BASF; and Ralf Blauth, Human Resources director of Evonik, now a German chemicals firm that evolved from another company, RAG, that had been signatory to a Global Framework Agreement with the ICEM.
Fabio Lins, Senzeni Zokwana, Constantin Grund, Robert Oswald, Ralf Blauth
Zokwana spelled out the ICEM’s philosophy behind Global Agreements, as well as the distinct features of ICEM workers’ networks within single multinational companies, specifically related to the regional and global level.
“These networks are the direct result of several years of contact between workers of the same company,” he said. “We have found that the regional networks are working the best, partly because of language and work similarities, but also because company managers have joined with these taking on a high degree of dialogue and actual negotiations.”
Lins added that the best example of this might be BASF in Latin America, which has now completed its tenth year. “We have succeeded in convincing the BASF managers in both Europe and Latin America to play a hands-on role in this network,” said Lins. “That has enhanced our work, brought better safety standards to all worksites, and addressed such issues as subcontracting directly with management.”
Oswald added that the BASF Asia-Pacific Network is moving forward, with the introduction of methods and common values brought forward from both Europe and Latin America. “I must add that Supervisory Board members and workers’ representatives on BASF’s European Works Council have gained valuable knowledge and benefited greatly from the experiences that have been shared in both regions,” said Oswald.
Blauth addressed the question of a merged company – RAG and Degussa forming Evonik – coming forward now to re-negotiate a Global Agreement. He said it is still too early in the process to predict an outcome. “We are pragmatic and will place great emphasis on the practicability of reaching such an agreement. The communication process is important in and of itself, and this process inevitably leads to improved company practices.
Warda concluded the session by stating both Global Framework Agreements and multinational workers’ networks are invaluable instruments to improve dialogue between labour and management, as well as setting forth best practices for trade unions in cross-border workplaces to adopt and implement so work standards can become harmonized.