Progressing worker representation

Independently elected worker representatives are the measure of how freely workers can express and contribute to their industry or workplace through formal structures such as collective bargaining.

Effective worker representation and the journey to mature industrial relations is therefore underpinned by freedom of association and group efforts to influence change through collective bargaining. Workers should have the freedom to choose how they come together to improve or address workplace concerns and be able to do this without undue influence from their employer or fear of reprisal (in the form of intimidation, harassment or dismissal, for example).

Worker representatives can also play a significant role in audit processes and verification of results, and potentially reduce costs.

Investing in worker representatives

There is an expectation that businesses and employers have a positive and supportive attitude towards investing in worker representation as enshrined in universal conventions.  

The ETI base code maps the responsibility of members to ensure that the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining are respected. This means having an open attitude to trade unions and to work with their suppliers to find constructive solutions where this is not the case.

Entry points for mapping and strategy 

There are three key entry points to enable mapping of working representation in supply chains, supported by suggested activities to progress independent and effective worker representation.  

1. Workers cannot voice their concerns freely and there is no worker representation

2. Workers have some recourse to negotiating with employers, e.g. through worker committees

3. Workers’ needs are represented by trade unions or democratically elected representatives.

Taking into consideration your due diligence information on where workers are most at risk of not being able to access their rights and protections, and based on relationships (long-term, if possible), choose two or three factories and seek to understand the level of worker engagement.  

Select factories: 

• Where there is no voice or conduit between workers and management. This includes suggestion boxes and apps (one-way forms of communication). 

• Where there is some form of worker engagement or dialogue on a regular basis – for example, safety groups, welfare groups, worker surveys, audit or site visit interviews with workers. This could also include production discussions or even types of training on offer. Consider whether the dialogue is formal (notes of meetings, regular discussion) or informal.  

• Where there is a platform or committee with greater dialogue and/or an actual process of exchange and feedback – a determining factor is whether workers can raise an issue or whether the meeting agendas are set by managers (or a combination of both). 

Contact the factories in writing or perhaps with a questionnaire, framed in a way that is relevant to the factory, e.g. focused on new local regulations, management standards (ISO etc), audit requirements or the business case.

Model for progressing worker representation

1: Workers cannot voice their concerns freely and there is no worker representation

Action: Initiate, promote and communicate

We recommend initiating conversations with suppliers, promoting the value of worker representation and communicating your requirements, vision and intent. Through your continuous improvement activities, this could include reviewing onboarding processes and codes of conduct, particularly as regards the communication of expectations on valuing workers and worker representation. Requesting specific information on worker representation, as evidence of freedom of association, could be included in self-assessment questionnaires, third-party audits and factory visits.

2. Workers have some recourse to negotiating with employers, e.g. through worker committees 

Action: Evaluate, scale and skill up

Evaluate the scope and depth of engagement between workers and managers and make recommendations regarding how to overcome managers’ resistance to full worker representation or the effectiveness of the worker representative, build trust and begin dialogue.  

1. To scale up and share with other sites in your supply chain, capture site evidence of the positive contributions of workers to the business, including improvements in and to the business (reduced absenteeism, increased production and/or reduced health and safety incidents and accidents). 

2. Where there are existing forums or committees such as healthy and safety, anti-sexual harassment, welfare or participation committees, this is an excellent opening to invest in worker skills development such as social dialogue techniques, presentation and consultation skills or election processes. 

3. Where there are active trade unions a) and b) could be developed in conjunction with them. 

3. Workers’ needs are represented by trade unions or democratically elected representatives.

Action: Manage, stengthen and mature

We recommend developing an understanding of the site’s consultation or negotiating processes, including when wage negotiations take place, the length and scope of collective bargaining agreements, or how workplace disputes are raised and addressed. Strengthening and maturing the formal worker and employer relationship could include, for example, investing in skills development, building relationships with sector trade unions, national federations and global union federations. For larger multinational companies where there is a global framework agreement (GFA), invest in educating and promoting the agreement among more sites or countries.

Trade union membership 

Trade unions represent the ideal model and structure for worker representation; independent unions have legal protection, access to resources and the support of wider trade union networks and are free from employers’ influence. They are also the only genuine and measurable expression of the human right of freedom of association.   

Where freedom of association is restricted and where trade unions are restricted through law or resources, the best available form of independent worker representation should be pursued. However, the longer term aim should be to help promote the conditions that will allow for normal union activity.  

Companies should be aware that any alternative to trade unions requires a greater commitment to compensate for the lack of union status – for example, greater use of leverage to offset: 

• Lack of legal protection 
• Greater provision of capacity building support, such as access to information and training  
• The lack of union networks and strict requirements for the employer to respect the rights of representatives to speak and act freely and equally in representing the workforce.

The role of social dialogue 

For ETI, social dialogue in the workplace is about establishing formal or informal processes that enable workers and employers to negotiate or consult collectively on issues concerning their rights and responsibilities and resolve conflicts peacefully and effectively. It enables workers and managers to “skill up” to be able to overcome barriers of communication and skills required to enable effective mature industrial relations. 

Social dialogue is enshrined in the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144)1, and is defined by the ILO to “include all types of negotiation, consultation or simply exchange of information between, or among, representatives of governments, employers and workers, on issues of common interest relating to economic and social policy. It can exist as a tripartite process, with the government as an official party to the dialogue or it may consist of bipartite relations only between labour and management (or trade unions and employers' organisations), with or without indirect government involvement.

Social dialogue processes can be informal or institutionalised, and often it is a combination of the two. It can take place at the national, regional or at enterprise level. It can be inter-professional, sectoral or a combination of these.

The main goal of social dialogue itself is to promote consensus-building and democratic involvement among key stakeholders in the world of work. As ETI’s work in Bangladesh, South Africa and Turkey demonstrates, it provides a positive and constructive pathway to resolve workplace issues, or bring together diverse parties to commence dialogue and find solutions to challenges.

Recommended actions

1. Review policy to assess if it reflects the importance and value of worker representatives

2. Assess your due diligence mapping outcomes to determine country risks to workers’ rights
3. Select sites to map:
   1. How workers raise concerns
   2. The level of engagement of managers with trade unions or collective worker bodies
   3. Whether the arrangement between workers and managers is formal or informal
4. Use the findings to determine improvement or progression