Decent Work in Global Supply Chains

Unions have actively participated in the drafting of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, which are recommendations addressed by governments to multinational enterprises operating in or from adhering countries. They provide non-binding principles and standards for responsible business conduct in a global context consistent with applicable laws and internationally recognised standards. The Guidelines are the only multilaterally agreed and comprehensive code of responsible business conduct that governments have committed to promoting.

In addition, Union can file complaints at the National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD. Although it is more common to find NGOs and other CSO accessing this mechanism, Unions have also made use of the NCPs either on its own or in a joint complaint.

Unions are also part of the Tripartite Committee on Decent work in global supply chains. During last years 105th International Labour Conference, the Committee adopted a resolution and set of action-oriented conclusions. As a result, a tripartite meeting is to be called to assess the failures that lead to decent work deficits in global supply chains, identify salient challenges of governance, and consider what programmes, measures, initiatives or standards are needed to promote decent work in global supply chains.

Furthermore, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) chair the Child Labour Platform (CLP), a thematic membership-based workstream of the UN Global Compact Labour Working Group (LWG). The CLP aims to identify the obstacles to the implementation of the ILO Conventions in supply chains and surrounding communities, identify practical ways of overcoming these obstacles, and catalyse collective action.