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4 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 19/2000
Agreements are urgently needed at the global level between major corporations and industrial union internationals.
That is the call from Fred Higgs, General Secretary of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), in an interview broadcast today by the BBC World Service.
Global agreements are vital to the defence both of workers' rights and of health, safety and the environment, Higgs told the BBC. "We've lived too long with a position where you have companies, for instance in Europe, that apply very high standards primarily because the legislation requires it, but then go to other parts of the world and apply totally different standards, and try to justify that as being part of the local traditions of the country."
The ICEM already has a global agreement with oil multinational Statoil. Higgs said that the chemical companies and the ICEM are moving forward on an agreement to ensure best health, safety and environmental standards worldwide.
Global agreements are also in the companies' own best interests, he emphasised. They are under growing pressure both from shareholders and from campaigning organisations to apply uniformly high standards worldwide. Companies spend a great deal of money on their corporate image, Higgs pointed out. They therefore have a "vested interest" in ensuring that their image is not tarnished.
That is the call from Fred Higgs, General Secretary of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), in an interview broadcast today by the BBC World Service.
Global agreements are vital to the defence both of workers' rights and of health, safety and the environment, Higgs told the BBC. "We've lived too long with a position where you have companies, for instance in Europe, that apply very high standards primarily because the legislation requires it, but then go to other parts of the world and apply totally different standards, and try to justify that as being part of the local traditions of the country."
The ICEM already has a global agreement with oil multinational Statoil. Higgs said that the chemical companies and the ICEM are moving forward on an agreement to ensure best health, safety and environmental standards worldwide.
Global agreements are also in the companies' own best interests, he emphasised. They are under growing pressure both from shareholders and from campaigning organisations to apply uniformly high standards worldwide. Companies spend a great deal of money on their corporate image, Higgs pointed out. They therefore have a "vested interest" in ensuring that their image is not tarnished.