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Marc Blais – Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) – Québec
Marc Blais has been a professor, explorer, filmmaker, producer, and television presenter. The Government of Canada bestowed upon him the Astrolabe Medal of Canadian explorers in 1988 for collaborating to bring Canadians closer to their regions. He has worked at MEC for four years as Director of Francophone Communications and Business Development.
CONFERENCE: What is a Code of Responsible Conduct? Testimony of a Canadian company with foreign activities.
The history of the sustainable development program and its implementation at the MEC. Is it possible to respect an RPP while doing business with China? Presentation of the MEC responsible provision policy and the ensuing observations. Factory audits: infractions, problems, context and results. To correct problems, we must build relationships of trust, because responsible consumption is the way of the future!
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Carole Crabbé – Clean Clothes (CCC) – Belgium
Since 1996, Carole Crabbé has coordinated the Clean Clothes campaign in Belgium. An agricultural engineer by training, she decided to focus her work on informing the public on issues relating to international development and solidarity. Originally carried out by Oxfam, today the Clean Clothes campaign is coordinated by an autonomous organization at the service of 40 franco-belgian organizations.
CONFERENCE 1: Delocalisation towards Asia: observations and alternatives
Delocalisation, sub-contracting and increased financiarisation of the economy, together make an explosive mixture capable of dissolving the fundamental rights of workers in the South and the social institutions of workers in the North. The application and control of international labour standards, the work of volunteer organizations to promote social responsibility, voluntary codes of conduct and coalition work will produce long-term results. What is the role of public institutions regarding responsible purchasing? And public will? Some examples taken from Belgium within the European Union.
CONFERENCE 2: Making suppliers responsible: the example of a pilot project involving Belgian labour activists
In April 2005, the Spectrum factory in Bangladesh collapsed overnight. 64 workers were killed and 74 were injured. Three days later, the two largest trade unions in Belgium decided to relay the call of the Clean Clothes campaign towards the management of Carrefour in Belgium. This marks the beginning of a lobbying effort and a constant follow-up with the company more than 2 years after the accident.
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Corinne Gendron – Research Chair (UQAM) – Québec
Corinne Gendron is a member of the bar, bearer of an MBA with a specialization in financial marketing and a doctorate in sociology. After a post-doctorate in social ethics at the National Institute of Scientific Research, the department of Organization and Human Resources Management at the UQAM school of Management, where she still teaches, hired her. At the turn of the century she presided the Environmental Sociology and Sustainable Development research committee of the International Association of French-language Sociologists. In 2004, she became Chair of Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development at UQAM where she heads several research programs on sustainable development, the social responsibility of industry, globalization, socio-economic movements and fair trade.
CONFERENCE: Demystifying responsible purchasing: typology of a growing sector
With a proliferation of labels and certificates, responsible purchasing can resemble a puzzle for the consumer. Responsible purchasing must be practiced in an enlightened fashion. Beyond being conscious of the influence wielded by consumers, it is important to make judicious choices using tools available to us all. For each certification, a responsible consumer must consider who its promoter is and whether it accounts for all of their concerns. But the first responsibility of the consumers is also to ask themselves whether the consumption in question is necessary; all responsible consumption begins with voluntary simplicity.
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Scott Nova – Workers’ Rights Consortium (WRC) – United States
Scott Nova is the Executive Director of the Workers’ Rights Consortium (WRC), a non-profit organization whose principal task is to audit factories in the garment industry for the respect of workers’ rights and working standards. The WRC works in cooperation with civil society organization and doesn’t accept any financing from industry, and is one of the only independent auditors working across the globe. Scott Nova, an expert on international trade, labour policies and standards, has over twenty years of experience leading non-profit organizations working in the public’s interest.
CONFERENCE 1: The social audit: how are verifications conducted in southern factories?
Presentation of the history of audit-conducting organizations and the dark past of the textile and clothing industry. The pressure for low production costs and short-term contracts has corroded working conditions. How do large manufacturers discipline their suppliers? Is probating suppliers that don’t respect codes of conduct an effective measure? The alternatives for responsible production: how to achieve the respect of fundamental standards in the production chain and how to reward responsible producers.
CONFERENCE 2: Developing a list of responsible suppliers: who is responsible?
Should we favour responsible suppliers or the creation of conditions in the supply-chain that allow for a greater responsibility? How can we help responsible suppliers survive? The WRC and United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) have developed a program that aims to reorient current practices in the supply-chain of large manufacturers to render them viable and responsible. Overview of the program and discussion of the “raison d’être’ and functioning of such a program.
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Jean McNeil – University of Montreal – Québec
Jean McNeil is a retired tenured professor of the Urban Institute of the University of Montreal and Chair of the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Purchases and Investments of the University of Montreal since November 2003.
CONFERENCE: The Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Purchases and Investments of the University of Montreal: origin, mandate, achievements, and projects.
The committee has a mandate to promote the values of social responsibility both internally and externally and to advise the University and its managers on the taking into account of these values with respect to their supply and investment decisions. Presentation of the committee and its projects.
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Renato Pambid – Workers Assistance Center (WAC) – Philippines
The Filipino lawyer Renato Pambid has been active in the struggles of his country’s working class. After his studies, he became an associate in the firm of Tanada, Vivo and Tan, and legal counsel in charge of the Diliman legal office at the University of the Philippines. As of 2005, he has held the position of assistant to the District Attorney for the city of Makati. On top of his work, Ranato Pambid is involved in several causes. Notably, he is legal counsel for WAC, an NGO that, since 1996, has assisted workers wishing to unionize. He is also a consultant and secretary of the managing committee of WAC.
CONFERENCE 1: Responsible purchasing policies and codes of responsible conduct: positive impacts in the South.
The positive aspects of RPP’s are difficult to notice in the South, since there exists a large difference between the concept of an RPP and its application on the ground. The experience of the WAC demonstrates that codes of conducts have several shortcomings which sub-contractors exploit to attain higher quotas. Recently, an initial positive experience in the application of Wal-Mart’s code of conduct provides hope that these efforts are not done in vain and that these codes can be efficient, properly enforced and produce positive results for workers.
CONFERENCE 2: The power and limitations of international campaigns: the example of a campaign targeting Wal-Mart
Last Fall, Wal-Mart discovered some serious abuses of its Code of Conduct. Its Korean sub-contractor producing in the Philippines, Chong Won Fashion, refused to recognize the freedom of association and to negotiate with the factory’s union. Wal-Mart therefore decided to interrupt production so that an independent audit could be conducted and a solution proposed. This case lead to the creation of an international campaign. The workers, persecuted and without any revenue for several months, are awaiting results. Positive and negative aspects of the campaign will be covered.
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Patrick Rondeau – Union of office workers (SEPB – Québec) – Montréal
Patrick Rondeau is the vice-president of SEPB local 574 and SEPB-Quebec international affairs representative to the Quebec Federation of Labour. He is responsible for his local’s political representation, social and environmental files and all those relating to education, mental health as well as the development of a network of social delegates. He also created a social and political action committee that has become a permanent body with SEPB-Quebec. Rondeau is a member of the coordination committee of the CQCAM and the board of governors of the CISO.
CONFERENCE: Putting in place a RPP within a union: a case study of SEPB Quebec.
The labour community is more and more aware of the positive aspects of implementing an RPP. Before beginning the process of adopting an RPP, it is important to reflect upon the context within your organization. Why an RPP? Are there alternatives? Does a union RPP need content specific to the union’s situation? What must the RPP contain? What clauses can be negotiated into a collective agreement? Once adopted, how is the RPP respected?
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Anne-Marie Saulnier – Interuniversity research centre on globalization and labour (CRIMT)
Anne-Marie Saulnier has a M.Sc. in Industrial Relations. She collaborates with the CRIMT with an interest in issues of social responsibility. She has over 15 years of experience in Quebec and abroad, working on social development, social dialogue and community relations. She has worked in Latin America and Africa, including almost four years in Guatemala, where she worked as an auditor on the labour aspects of the Peace Accords. Today she is a consultant for the firm Optim Resources Canada.
CONFERENCE: Codes of conduct: can they reinforce the power and abilities of organized labour in the applicable countries?
Our research conducted in Guatemala allowed us to verify whether or not codes of conduct influenced the workplaces where they applied. Our results suggest that the approval of these codes by the workers, their allies and workplace management is unavoidable if they are to be applied effectively. The efforts and resources given to the Codes of Conduct approach are useless to the Guatemalan labour movement unless they serve to reinforce their national labour institutions.
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Kevin Thomas – Maquila Solidarity Network (MSN) – Toronto
Kevin Thomas is an advisor for the MSN in Toronto, a Canadian network aiming to improve working conditions and assure the respect of labour rights, in Canada and abroad, via civil protest, corporate commitments, lobbying and political initiatives. It regularly advises businesses governments, universities and other public institutions in the development and application of regulations aiming to improve the working conditions in the production chain. It is also involved in the campaigns of the Ethical Trading Action Group (ETAG), a national coalition aiming to improve working conditions in the clothing industry.
CONFERENCE 1: Responsible Purchasing Policies
An introduction to the development and implementation of an RPP. What was the experience of those universities, schools and municipalities in Canada that have adopted an RPP? What tendencies are emerging in the implementation of these policies? How are citizens and institutions in Canada and Quebec involved in the movement?
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Guylaine Vallée, School of Industrial Relations, University of Montreal and a member of the Interuniversity research centre on globalization and labour (CRIMT)
Guylaine Vallée est professeure titulaire en droit du travail à l’École de relations industrielles de l’Université de Montréal. Ses recherches portent principalement sur le travail atypique, l’incidence des nouveaux modes d’organisation des entreprises et de l’État sur le droit du travail, la régulation du travail dans l’entreprise mondialisée et l’effet des droits de la personne sur le droit du travail.
CONFÉRENCE : Les codes de conduite des entreprises canadiennes et les politiques publiques : des ressources pour l’action collective internationale?
Les initiatives actuelles visant à inciter les entreprises à adopter des pratiques de responsabilité sociale sont souvent perçues comme des instruments de privatisation des normes internationales du travail ou comme des manifestations de «droit mou» sur lesquelles l’État a peu d’emprise. Pourtant, les politiques publiques ne sont pas sans effets sur ces expériences. Nous tenterons de voir les opportunités qu’elles créent et les limites qu’elles imposent aux acteurs, en particulier aux syndicats, qui veulent intervenir sur les comportements des entreprises multinationales.
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