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1 October, 2012Global chemical social dialogue discusses sustainability
IndustriALL Global Union and International Chemical Employers’ Labour Relations Committee (LRC) met in the second round of global social dialogue in the chemical industry on 19 October in Wiesbaden, Germany.
The initiative began with a first meeting organized in Geneva on the occasion of the International Year of Chemistry in 2011.
Attended by around forty representatives of both sides from Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Lithuania, Spain and Sweden, the meeting was co-chaired by Wolfgang Goos, President of LRC, and Tomas Nieber, Chairman of the Chemical Industries Section of IndustriALL Global Union.
Both organizations confirmed their commitment for the social dialogue process in the chemical industry following LRC’s annual meeting in Philadelphia, USA and IndustriALL Global Union’s Founding Congress in Copenhagen in June this year.
The meeting reviewed the joint work done at International Labour Organization (ILO) platforms and praised the successful conclusions of the ILO Tripartite Meeting on Promoting Social Dialogue on Restructuring and its Effects on Employment in the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries held in Geneva on 24-28 October 2011.
Participants also agreed on preparations for the upcoming ILO Global Dialogue Forum on initiatives to promote decent and productive work in the chemical industry, which is scheduled in Geneva from 26-28 November 2013. IndustriALL and LRC agreed to consider ILO platforms and meetings as important instruments for developing social dialogue.
The meeting specifically discussed sustainable development in the chemical industry. The parties agreed that sustainability addresses three broad areas of needs that cannot be separated from each other: economic, environmental and especially social. The LRC and IndustriALL Global Union jointly believe the chemical, pharmaceutical and related industries can lead the way to a sustainable future with a focus on resource and energy efficiency, pollution prevention, green chemistry, skills development and the creation of decent work across the globe.
Following discussions a joint statement entitled “Towards a Sustainable Global Chemical Industry” has been signed and announced by the general secretaries, Lutz Mühl for LRC and Jyrki Raina for IndustriALL Global Union. According to the statement, in the coming months there will be a joint work to describe joint understanding of a sustainable development on global level with the aim to agree on a memorandum of understanding.
In conclusion the meeting decided to hold the third meeting in autumn 2013.
IndustriALL Global Union’s Assistant General Secretary Kemal Özkan, who is also in charge of chemical sector, commented, “Our global level chemical social dialogue has started to handle important issues affecting employment and working conditions of workers in the sector. I believe this work is a good model on how industrial relations at the global scale can play such an important role.”