31 October, 2013Unions from TATA Steel’s operations in Asia recently met in Bangkok, Thailand. The participants used the opportunity to discuss strategy, challenges and opportunities in the region, as well as the next steps for the global network.
Tata has an internal Code of Conduct, which sets out its vision and values for the company at all its global operations. This Code acts as a corporate standard, and is welcomed by the network. However, during the meeting it became clear that in some cases the code has not been fully implemented. For example local management in Thailand appear to have little knowledge or concern of its content. The network has an important role to play in improving this situation, and has committed to raise the issue with Senior Management and ensure implementation in all operations of the company.
Michael Leahy, President, Base Metals Section of IndustriALL says
“TATA prides itself as the world’s most ethical company, the Code of Conduct is a central pillar in that philosophy. I want to see the same level of commitment we have in Europe and India in places like Thailand. Our priority is to work with the company and unions to make that a reality”.
Despite the fact that Senior Management did not attend the meeting and deal with the concerns directly, the network has developed an action plan to support the local unions. The network will also approach senior management to host a global network meeting in India in 2014. In addition to implementation of the Code of Conduct, the unions would also like to develop a joint approach on issues such as health and safety standards in the company.