Communication approach and strategy

Freedom of Association (FOA), the right to form trade unions and collectively bargain (CB), receives much less exposure and is at times subject to active opposition than other rights. As outlined in STEP 1 (Review & refine policy) and 2 (Identifying risk to workers) core labour standards are universal in nature but are transposed into national regulation in different, and often complex, ways.

Independently elected worker representatives are a tangible result of and intrinsically linked to FOA - with trade unions representing the ideal model for worker representation and mature industrial relations.

Communicating your commitment and requirements clearly with your suppliers on the business and moral case to protect workers’ rights is central to progressing FOA, CB and worker representation. This is especially the case where FOA is restricted and where unions are restricted through either regulation or resources.

Setting the vision

Prepare a compelling narrative to share with decision-makers, suppliers, factory owners, highlighting your vision to raise standards and outlining the business case for improvement. This could also be helpful in terms of responding constructively to instances of audit non-compliance on workers’ rights, freedoms and protection. It could also extend to communicating in disputes or grievances, where for example:

• Workers are denied the right to freely associate or organise collectively
• There is interference in establishing a workplace trade union
• Trade union or elected representatives are threatened or intimidated
• There is a breach or undermining of a collective bargaining agreement

We therefore recommend strengthening your communications efforts by researching the cultural context of both the sourcing country and supplier. There is also the case to establish a basis for public communication if challenged in the media.

Transparency also plays an important role in all communications efforts. For example, the Danish Institute for Human Rights’ report “Doing Business in High-Risk Human Rights Environments” suggests that when brands and retailers are transparent about the risk to workers in their supply chains and their policies and procedures for protecting workers’ rights, this can help to reduce the risk of legitimising oppressive governments.

Preparing your communication strategy

Build a strong understanding of the political, social and economic context of your sourcing country, drawing on:

• Policy commitments and statements

• Due diligence mapping to identify risks to workers

• Non-compliance reports

• Grievance mechanisms or help line data, and

• Mapping of worker representatives

In particular, understanding the culture of dialogue of a country and gaining an insight into the worker - employer dynamic will help you to frame your communication strategy around the level of progress required to help workers access their rights and protections.

Ensure that your current human rights/ethical trade policy incorporates a worker engagement strategy that is clear on your position on FOA, CB and worker representation. It is also important to state how you will implement and support the policy, for example, through materials, training, supplier inductions or sector-level improvement programmes.

In particular, understanding the culture of dialogue of a country and gaining an insight into the worker - employer dynamic will help you to frame your communication strategy around the level of progress required to help workers access their rights and protections.

Ensure that your current human rights/ethical trade policy incorporates a worker engagement strategy that is clear on your position on FOA, CB and worker representation. It is also important to state how you will implement and support the policy, for example, through materials, training, supplier inductions or sector-level improvement programmes.

Grow your own evidence base

As part of your efforts to continuously raise standards and improve suppliers’ performance, gather information on the benefits of a trade union worker representation or in high-performing workplaces

Share examples and case studies with your supply base, supported by any data linking constructive workplace dialogue with improved productivity and profit. Request that direct suppliers share these examples with their suppliers, and so on.

Identifying opportunities

Take every opportunity to express your company’s vision and commitment towards upholding worker rights and protections - appropriate opportunities might include:

• Pre-qualification of suppliers
  • For example, is there a platform for workers to express their views, or how are workers consulted on pay or terms and conditions of employment?
  • Formal questions on trade union recognition, collective bargaining agreements or free and democratic worker representative elections should also be built into self-assessment questionnaires.           
• Changes to country employment regulations
  • Suggest to suppliers how this could be communicated to workers and identify how you could help, by providing education materials, for example.
• Supplier restructuring or increasing levels of automation
  • Understand the implications for workers and ask how workers are involved in any consultation, decision-making or solution-finding processes.
• Safety, health and wellbeing concerns
  • This can range from initiatives to support workers’ basic needs (e.g. safe water, hygiene, food) to more advanced programmes to promote health and safety (e.g. training on ergonomics or chemical safety). This is an important way to introduce worker consultation, training and education into a workplace. It also establishes a firm foundation for collective undertakings through committee work.
• High staff turnover
  • This is an indicator that workers are not happy and creates an opportunity to engage in discussions about options such as worker surveys, consultation and social dialogue approaches as positive ways for workers and managers to engage in finding solutions that meet workers’ needs and reduce staff turnover rates.
• Non-compliance reports
  • Using the audit process non-compliance reports can be a useful source of information if collated and analysed internally.
  • Tracking of non-compliance on a site provides an additional benefit of identifying systematic or a culture of denying workers access to rights and protections.
  • However, experience tells us that typical social audits are not good at identifying workplaces where FOA is being blocked or denied. It does however present distinct challenges as ETI members have shared that the relevant box may ticked or signed off as “all in order”, but the reality may be quite different.

Communication approaches

Central to communicating effectively is being able to express a mutually beneficial agenda, through multiple dimensions, including both the business and moral case for action. It is important to help suppliers understand that mature industrial relations where workers can collectively raise concerns important to them without fear or intimidation goes hand in hand with boosting productivity, retaining skilled staff, and ultimately, making a profit.

Rights-based rationale

Freedom of association and collective bargaining are fundamental human rights in the workplace. The international ILO conventions (C087 & C098) and associated policy provide a universal platform for core labour standards.

Development, sustainability and the moral case

Empowering workers to achieve equal pay in safe, dignified conditions of work is a key tenet of Sustainable Development Goal 8 on sustainable, inclusive economic growth and decent work. It is also central to poverty alleviation and economic prosperity. Encourage suppliers to treat workers with the respect every human deserves, highlighting that improvements in employee wellbeing are linked to improved productivity.

Building the business case – unlocking potential

While we recommend keeping the focus on empowering workers to access their human rights in the workplace and respecting core labour standards, suppliers are likely to respond well to a robust business case for change. You could develop this around change management, health and safety, reducing staff turnover and absenteeism, price planning, reducing disruption and dispute resolution.

For example, FOA is often described as an enabling right. It can also be described as a means to unlock potential throughout the supply chain, paving the way to constructive workplace dialogue and mature industrial relations, promoting innovation, and building a mutually beneficial agenda.

In developing the business case, consider the priorities and challenges facing your target audience, and gather evidence to shift attitudes and change business practices, according to their particular circumstance.

Change management

Highlight that partnering with workers through any process of change helps to support a more effective transition and reduces the risk of industrial conflict and worker unrest. It allows workers to understand what is at stake and how it will affect them at an earlier stage. Workers and managers may also develop a better understanding of each other’s perspectives and a shared sense of responsibility.

An enterprise or sectoral collective bargaining agreement provides:

• A clear, formal and recognised channel for workers to contribute their expertise and experience to inform change.
• A means of reducing short-term unemployment by negotiation adjustments to wages and working time, in order to avoid redundancies thereby retaining needed skills and experience.

Improving employee health, safety and wellbeing delivers proven benefits for both workers and employers, with issues such as mental health rising up the global business agenda - a Warwick University study reveals a 12% increase in productivity among contented employees. At a basic level, adhering to acknowledged health and safety standards is about saving and protecting life, ensuring supply chain stability and reducing operational, financial and reputational risk.

The TUC’s Union Effect research report reveals that there are 50% fewer accidents in unionised workplaces. In the UK, union safety representatives have helped to reduce the time lost to occupational injuries and work-related illnesses by up to 616,000 days per year, while in turn reduces suppliers’ costs.

Staff turnover and absenteeism

At a global level, 60% of businesses report a link between improving employee wellbeing and increasing staff retention. Additionally, companies with satisfied, engaged workers experience up to 65% lower employee turnover. Within the supply chain, recruiting and training new employees increases suppliers’ costs, reducing profit margins, which are often already slim in competitive markets. There are 8,000-16,000 fewer dismissals every year in the UK thanks to elected union representatives. Unionised workers are also significantly less likely to resign, as they have access to dedicated grievance mechanisms.

In a group of 50 garment factories in Bangladesh, having worker representatives in place has reduced labour turnover, and reduced unauthorised absenteeism by 8%. An unexpected result with direct cost benefit, was improved re-work rates, from 4.5% to 0.9%.

As an employer, one of the advantages of dealing with a trade union is that it simplifies the negotiation process and the employer can be assured that they are talking with someone who represents the workforce.  Establishing labour contracts enables suppliers to predict future operation costs more accurately for a fixed period, allowing them to manage costs, develop more effective product pricing strategies, plan for expansion and invest in new product development.

Dispute resolution

Investing in skills for elected trade union or worker representatives and managers and creating formal channels of communication with workers helps to achieve more structured, constructive workplace dialogue. ETI members’ experience suggest that involving trained, elected worker representatives in early “on the spot” resolutions reduces the need to escalate disputes to formal grievances or even industrial action.

Since 2000, the OECD complaints mechanism has registered more than 400 cases concerning workplace issues in over 100 countries, with the majority (54%) concerning employment and industrial relations. Social dialogue has played a crucial role in resolving these cases, including the 25% of cases filed by trade unions.

Recommended actions

1. Review policy statements for setting the vision, expectations and requirements. This is also important:
   1. for public communication if challenged in the media, or
   2. in the event of an industrial dispute in the supply chains
2. Grow your own supply chains evidence base by gathering information on the benefits of worker representatives or a trade union in high-performing workplaces. This can be internal knowledge or through collaborative research or information sharing initiatives
3. Identify opportunities to open dialogue or communication with agents, suppliers and producers
4. Develop a communication approach and strategy based on:
   1. the benefits of FOA, CB and worker representation
   2. identifying risk to workers
   3. non-compliance indicators
   4. grievance mechanisms, and
   5. mapping worker representation