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12 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 66/1998
The oil sector's first-ever globally applicable agreement on industrial relations was signed in Copenhagen on 7 July between energy multinational Statoil and the trade unions.
A major player in oil, gas and related industries, Statoil has operations in 27 countries and employs more than 18,000 people.
The agreement covers basic trade union rights, health, safety and the environment, information and training.
IN GLOBAL ACCORD: (l. to r.) Statoil's Jostein Gaasemyr, ICEM's and NOPEF's Lars Myhre and ICEM's Vic Thorpe.
(photo: ICEM)
Signing for the unions were Lars Myhre and Vic Thorpe.
Myhre is President of the Norwegian oil and petrochemical workers' union NOPEF and chairman of the oil industry section of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM).
Thorpe is the ICEM's General Secretary.
For Statoil, the agreement was signed by Jostein Gaasemyr, Vice-President of Labour Relations.
The declared aim of the agreement is to "create an open channel of information between NOPEF/ICEM and Statoil Management about industrial relations issues in order to continuously improve and develop good work practices in Statoil's worldwide operations." It applies to "all Statoil operations over which the company has direct control, i.e. Statoil is the operator."
Statoil, NOPEF and the ICEM "affirm their support for fundamental human rights in the community and in the place of work." They also "recognise the importance of protecting health, safety and well-being at work" and share concerns about the impact that "production and distribution may have upon the natural and human environment."
Many of the agreement's specific provisions are linked to the relevant standards (Conventions) set by the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO).
In particular, the unions' new global agreement with Statoil includes the following commitments [quote]:
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the right of every employee to be represented by a union of his or her own choice and the basic trade union rights as defined by ILO Conventions 87 and 98. Statoil therefore agrees not to oppose efforts to unionise its employees.
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to employ no forced or bonded labour as proscribed in the ILO Conventions 29 and 105
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to employ no child labour as proscribed by ILO Convention 138
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to exercise equality of opportunity and treatment in employment as required by ILO Conventions 100 and 111
to pay fair wages and benefits according to good industry standards in the country concerned
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to provide a safe work environment, deploying common "best practice" standards.
[end of quote]
NOPEF/ICEM and Statoil will meet annually to review progress in implementing the agreement. In addition to general industrial issues and matters concerning health, safety and the environment, the annual meeting may address the following topics [quote]:
- the economic and financial position of the company and the development of its business, major industrial and technological projects
- general corporate policy on employment/occupational health, safety and environmental issues affecting the company
- training matters
- issues affecting the exercise of trade union rights
- any other issues mutually agreed upon.
[end of quote]
The agreement gives full protection to union officers and to employees who provide information on its observance and implementation. Statoil itself undertakes to make available "relevant information and other agreed facilities" to union delegates, in return for a commitment by the unions to respect the commercial confidentiality of the information provided.
The global agreement explicitly does not replace local-level industrial relations, and it embodies "the principle that industrial relations issues are best resolved as close as possible to the place of work."
"NOPEF/ICEM and Statoil will both contribute to specific training programmes," the agreement states. This will include health and environment "best practice" training for union delegates from countries where Statoil is the operator and management training programmes within Statoil. "In case of NOPEF/ICEM contributions to Statoil training programmes, costs may be covered by Statoil subject to agreement."
Commented Statoil's Jostein Gaasemyr : "This is an important step for Statoil, because we see the implementation of human rights as a crucial challenge in some of the environments in which we do business. This is an extension to the global level of the constructive, problem-solving relationship that Statoil has maintained with NOPEF for the past twenty years. We have long worked together with NOPEF,and NOPEF has now provided the link forward to our new global cooperation with the ICEM".
The new agreement is "a major step forward for global industrial relations in the oil industry," Lars Myhre commented. "It will benefit the workers and the company. Not for the first time, Statoil has shown itself to be a far-sighted employer with a good understanding of its own longer-term interests."
"This is an important day for the ICEM and for the world trade union movement," said Vic Thorpe. "Statoil has recognised that it makes sense for a global company to relate to trade unions globally, as well as nationally and locally. We are confident that more such agreements will follow soon in the oil industry and in other sectors where the ICEM represents the world's workers."