29 April, 2020Global unions IndustriALL, Public Services International (PSI) and Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) welcome and support the programme launched by energy multinational ENGIE Group. The global unions recognize ENGIE’s acknowledgement of the key role trade unions and social dialogue play in the current crisis to ensure the long-term sustainability of the company and the health, safety and well-being of its employees.
Given the urgency to ensure social security coverage to all ENGIE employees in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, ENGIE has approached the global union federations to make parts of ENGIE CARE immediately effective.
“We welcome this initiative from our global framework agreement partner in the face of the pandemic. Workers are paying a high price and we urge ENGIE to make it accessible to workers all over the world,”
says Valter Sanches, IndustriALL Global Union general secretary.
“Austerity policies have forced many governments to cut public funding in social security and other public services. ENGIE’s commitment to ensure a common social protection base to its workers worldwide is a commendable contribution to complement the state provision, where existing, and to provide support where workers have no protection. But it also highlights the need for governments to invest in public social protection systems to alleviate the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis and to ease the recovery of the economy,”
says Rosa Pavanelli, PSI general secretary.
“As partners in the negotiations for a new International Framework Agreement, we are jointly committed to the protection and promotion of workers’ rights around the world. BWI therefore welcomes ENGIE’s pro-active response to mitigate the negative impact of Covid-19 to all its workers. This highlights the importance of recognizing collective bargaining at all appropriate levels with trade unions to identify threats to workers’ health, rights and welfare, and to develop and implement workplace responses,”
says Ambet Yuson, BWI general secretary.
ENGIE, IndustriALL, Public Services International (PSI) and Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) remain committed to the continuation of their dialogue and to the negotiations on the global framework agreement that will resume as soon as conditions allow.
The new ENGIE GFA will include the company’s commitment to guarantee a common social protection base in terms of parenthood, health, disability and death throughout its world operations for all employees, implemented via the ENGIE CARE programme.