Global Supply Chains: International Labour Standards needed to implement Decent Work

The ratification and implementation of ILO core Conventions is a key element for credible policy on Global Supply Chains (GSC), according to an International Symposium  organized by the ILO’s Bureau for Workers Activities (ACTRAV). The symposium was held in Geneva on 15-17 December 2015.

Some 100 trade union representatives, senior ILO officials and experts from Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and the Arab regions, called for strengthening of Trade Unions and improvement of collective bargaining in GSC.

PSI General Secretary Rosa Pavanelli addressed the meeting on 15 December:

"The Decent Work deficit is a dramatic reality not only in production-based Global Supply Chains but also in service-based ones, as it happens through worker migration in social care, health and waste management services."

"Global Framework Agreements are good, yet they are not enough to address the overall social impact of MNEs on national governments, societies and their democratic development. As trade unions we need to look beyond the workplace and address the human rights harm that MNEs are causing to entire countries when they subtract public resources for education, social security, and other essential services through tax evasion and tax dodging. This is not only a labour issue, but a systemic issue. It is about power."

Video of Rosa Pavanelli's speech

Read more (ILO ACTRAV)