24 June, 2019IndustriALL Global Union has renewed its global framework agreement (GFA) with Italian energy company, ENI, at a meeting in Athens, Greece, on 21 June.
The GFA was signed between ENI industrial relations manger, Fabrizio Sbarra, and IndustriALL, general secretary, Valter Sanches, as well as representatives of Italian affiliated unions FILCTEM-CGIL, FEMCA-CISL and UILTEC-UIL, which were co-signatories.
The renewed GFA includes improvements in its human rights due diligence process to ensure its alignment with the UN guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Eni has also made a strong commitment to workers’ rights by collaborating with the ILO to produce a guide named “International Labour Standards and Eni”. It serves as a useful reference book to implement the GFA and ILO Conventions in countries where Eni is operating and which haven’t ratified fundamental conventions.
As the International Labour Conference overwhelmingly adopted a new convention to eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work on the same day as the signing, a paragraph was added to the GFA forbidding any form of violence or harassment, either sexual or based on personal and cultural diversity, without exception, and affirming that that the parties will not tolerate harassment, violence or bullying of any kind, whether inside the workplace or outside.
The strengthened GFA puts greater emphasis on improving working conditions in supply chains, and a includes a new article on sustainable development and environmental protection in which the company commits to continue reducing the carbon intensity of its operations and investing in the development of low carbon energy products.
The GFA also includes the principle of a "Just Transition" for a meaningful transition towards economies and companies that are environmentally sustainable for all, in accordance with ILO guidelines.
Valter Sanches, General Secretary, said
“With this renewed agreement, Eni has made a strong commitment to international labour standards and has agreed on providing a platform to negotiate with unions worldwide on the impacts of energy transition. We will be able use this global framework agreement to improve the rights and interests of our members at Eni operations across the globe.”
To support parenting, and in the frame of ILO Convention 183 on maternity protection, Eni grants 10 working days with 100 per cent of the annual salary to all the working fathers and mothers in the company. Maternity protection is essential to safeguard the health and safety of mother and child and for the equality of all women in the workforce.
Marcellino Tufo, from FILCTEM-CGIL and coordinator of the GFA said:
“We are convinced that the innovations introduced in the GFA can improve the conditions of workers and support the communities in which Eni operates. From today our task, together with IndustriALL, will be to transform what's written in the GFA into reality.”
For the first time, a list of indicators has been added to the annex of the agreement to monitor the implementation of the agreement, as well as a dispute resolution mechanism to solve possible conflicts related to the GFA.
Patrizia Pitronaci, Head of the Uiltec-Uil international office, said:
“The ENI global agreement confirms the Italian multinational's willingness to respect standards established by the ILO. Great strides have been made and many improvements added.”
IndustriALL trade union affiliates at Eni at the GFA signing
Nora Garofalo, General Secretary of FEMCA-CISL summised:
"The renewed agreement is a model for everyone and is the result of constant dialogue between unions and the company based on shared values and principles in the field of human and labour rights.”
Eni is an integrated Italian energy company with 31,000 employees in approximately 67 countries worldwide. It is a key player in the exploration, refining and sale of petroleum products; the development and extraction of oil and natural gas; and the procurement, supply, trading and transport of natural gas, LNG, electric power, fuels and chemical products.