Ewa Staworzynska Archives

At UN Human Rights Forum, Groups May Seek to Ramp Up Pressure on Companies

Published on September 20, 2012

step on globeThe UN’s Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises will hold a Forum on Business and Human Rights on December 4 and 5 in Geneva.

The forum could have important ramifications for business, especially since trade unions and NGOs are demanding far-reaching measures for the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Such measures could take the form of extraterritorial jurisdiction, the linking of compliance with the UN Principles to access to export credits and public procurement, mandatory reporting on due-diligence outcomes, and the establishment of a European complaints mechanism for alleged violations.

In view of this, USCIB is seeking to facilitate a broad industry turnout at the forum, including from small and medium-sized enterprises. Representation will take place through the International Organization of Employers (IOE), part of USCIB’s global network.

The IOE has been able to negotiate the availability of a “public space” at the forum venue, where companies can present information and materials on their human rights activities during two-day forum. Please contact us for additional information.

Staff contact: Ariel Meyerstein

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SEC Issues Rules on Conflict Minerals

Published on August 30, 2012

Gold Rush Fuels DR Congo CrisisEarlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted final rules to implement Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank law requiring companies to publicly disclose whether they source four metals – tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold – from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) or an adjoining country, and whether doing so benefited armed groups in the DRC.

The eastern portion of the DRC has been affected by civil and military conflict for decades, leading to numerous UN and other international efforts to stem the violence.  Section 1502 was included in Dodd-Frank to respond to concerns that armed groups in the DRC are using mining and minerals trade to help finance the conflict.

“While the SEC rules included some limited changes sought by business, they still contain many overly prescriptive and burdensome provisions, and are likely to ensure the continued de-facto embargo of minerals from the DRC as companies seek to avoid having to report under the rules,” said Adam Greene, USCIB’s vice president of labor affairs and corporate responsibility.

Additionally, Greene noted that the SEC failed to conduct an adequate cost-benefit analysis of the new rules:  even though the SEC increased their cost estimate from $71 million to $3-4 billion, the new figure still falls well below other estimates that range from $8 to16 billion, and no effort was made to quantify the benefits of the new rule.  As a result, it is nearly certain that one or more U.S. business groups will sue the SEC to block the adoption of the Final Rules.

Independent from the SEC rulemaking process, the OECD has developed due diligence guidance for sourcing minerals from areas of conflict  minerals and is currently coordinating a multi-stakeholder process to help companies and trade associations implement the guidance.  The SEC rules explicitly recognize the importance of OECD guidance as the only meaningful international benchmark to which corporate due diligence measures must conform.

Given the important role of the OECD guidance in these or any SEC rules, USCIB has participated directly in the OECD’s work, in order to ensure that the guidance is practical, reasonable and risk-based.  USCIB will continue to play this role going forward and has taken on a leadership role in the governance of the process, which will help us to ensure that it remains effective and well balanced.

Staff contact: Ariel Meyerstein

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Burmese Nobel Laureate Meets with Global Employers

Published on June 15, 2012
Aung San Suu Kyi address the International Organization of Employers, flanked by IOE Secretary General Brent Wilton (Left) and IOE Executive Vice President Daniel Funes de Rioja.
Aung San Suu Kyi address the International Organization of Employers, flanked by IOE Secretary General Brent Wilton (Left) and IOE Executive Vice President Daniel Funes de Rioja.

In a special session of the International Labor Organization’s annual conference in Geneva yesterday, the Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was warmly welcomed on behalf of the International Organization of Employers (IOE) by IOE Executive Vice President Daniel Funes de Rioja of Argentina.  USCIB is the IOE’s American affiliate and serves as the voice of American business in the ILO.

Before inviting Suu Kyi to take the floor, Funes de Rioja reaffirmed the employers’ commitment to the tripartite values of the International Labor Organization including the fundamental principles and rights at work laid out in the 1998 ILO Declaration.

Suu Kyi noted that good employer-worker relations would be essential in bringing harmonious prosperity to Burma, and that business should, in considering investing in the country, consider such an endeavor to be a cooperative effort between employers, workers and government. “Investment in Burma should be democracy-friendly and human rights-friendly,” she said.  “this would help us to build Burma.”

In response, Funes de Rioja gave the assurance of the employers that they would work to build solid relationships with workers in Burma, with the respect of fundamental principles and rights at work forming the essence of such a relationship.

Words of support were offered to Ms. Suu Kyi from the IOE’s regional vice president for Asia, Kamran Rahman, as well as from employers’ spokespersons in Brazil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

As the employer spokesperson on the case involving Myanmar in the ILO over many years, Ed Potter, director of global workplace rights with The Coca-Cola Company and chair of USCIB’s Labor and Employment Policy Committee, welcomed Suu Kyi’s emphasis on democracy and human rights-led growth.  This, he said, provided a solid base for companies to enter Burma and paved the way for investment. He particularly thanked Suu Kyi for “defining how businesses enter your country …. very much in a human rights, workplace rights- focused environment.”

Staff contact: Ariel Meyerstein

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ILO-World Bank Report Details Countries’ Response to Jobs Crisis

Published on April 23, 2012

On April 20 in Washington, USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg took part in the launch of a joint report from the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the World Bank detailing how countries reacted to the recent financial and economic crisis – and its dramatic effects on employment.  The two groups also unveiled a new online data tool with the first comprehensive stocktaking of countries’ jobs-related policy responses to the crisis.

Delivering on a request by the G20 leaders at their 2009 Pittsburgh summit, the report, “Inventory of Policy Responses to the Financial and Economic Crisis,” demonstrates how governments across the globe and of all income levels used labor market interventions to limit the economic and social impacts of the crisis and spur employment, household income, and economic growth, and reduce poverty. This new online data tool (available at www.ilo.org/crisis-inventory) provides a detailed track record of policies enacted during the height of the financial crisis, and implications for the design of policies to address future economic downturns.

The report reveals that in most of the 55 low-income and middle-income and 22 high-income countries surveyed, unlike previous crises, there was considerable government intervention to mitigate the impact of the downturn. Not only did a majority of affected countries use expansionary fiscal and monetary policies to stimulate the economy, they also directly intervened to protect or create employment, preserve skills and facilitate the matching between job-seekers and employers, and protect the incomes of the unemployed and vulnerable groups. In many cases, social dialogue helped guide the policy response. This was critical, for instance, when implementing work-sharing arrangements.

Staff contact: Ariel Meyerstein

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Supreme Court Weighs Corporate Liability in Controversial Human Rights Cases

Published on March 5, 2012

4264_image001On February 28, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, a landmark case and the culmination of a long line of litigation under a 200 year-old U.S. statute, with potentially major consequences for U.S. multinationals doing business abroad.

The statute in question is the Alien Tort Statute of 1789 (ATS), which was enacted in the early days after the adoption of the Constitution so as to offer non-U.S. citizens the opportunity to be heard in federal court for claims involving very specific crimes against the “Laws of Nations,” as international law was then known. At the time, it was understood that these crimes would concern either acts of piracy or violations of the rights of diplomats and government officials on state business.

This previously dormant statute has taken on new life in recent years as an umbrella vehicle for securing redress across borders and crimes. In light of this, USCIB has actively filed amicus briefs over the years to limit its reach and scope as was intended by its drafters. Accordingly, USCIB filed a brief in the Supreme Court in Kiobel in support of USCIB member Shell Petroleum, Inc., the respondents in this litigation.

In Kiobel, Nigerian nationals who were subjected to human rights violations by the Nigerian government sued Shell Petroleum and others in U.S. court, arguing that these companies “aided and abetted” the human rights abuses committed by the Nigerian government pursuant to the ATS. The Second Circuit ruled that corporations cannot be held liable under the ATS as could individuals, and that there was no precedent for such corporate liability in international law. The issue of corporate liability was appealed to the Supreme Court.

The last time the Court decided an ATS case was in 2004 in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, but that case did not squarely address the issue of corporate liability, leaving many unanswered questions and a trail of litigation in its wake. Specifically, the Supreme Court concluded in Sosa that the scope of the ATS should be limited, but then went on to note that federal courts “may recognize” private tort claims for violations of international law. This allowance for judicial discretion in this area of the law “opened the door” to a flood of litigation in recent years, and USCIB has filed in many of these cases along with similarly interested trade associations and affiliates.

The USCIB brief in Kiobel attempts to gain clarity for our members doing business in foreign markets and often unstable political situations. While those who commit human rights violations around the globe should be held accountable for their actions, USCIB’s brief argues, as does Shell, that there is no precedent in international law for holding corporate entities liable as an individual wrongdoer. Furthermore, the USCIB brief elaborates on the “aiding and abetting” aspect of the ATS, agreeing with Justice Leval in the Second Circuit that the standard should be “purpose” rather than “knowledge.” There is, sadly, much unrest in the world and American companies and courts should not be looked to as a solution for redress for the crimes of others simply because they happen to be “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” USCIB does not seek to encourage “forum shopping.” As Justice Stephen Breyer noted during oral arguments, “There is no U.S. Supreme Court of the world.”

It is difficult to anticipate the outcome of the case, as the oral arguments were sprinkled with earnest questions and concerns and commentary from both sides of the issue and from most all of the Justices. Regardless, it is USCIB’s hope that this decision will afford companies that do business abroad in the most tenuous of environments some certainty as to where they might have to confront court actions and by whom, thereby informing future business decisions.

Note: The Justices were expected to issue their ruling before the conclusion of the Court’s current session in June. But in an unusual move, on March 5 they put the case over to the next term, and invited lawyers for both sides to present additional arguments related to whether the ATS permits suits for violations of international law occurring outside the United States. USCIB is considering filing a new amicus brief and will relay additional information to members shortly.

Forum Examines How to Purge Supply Chains of Human Trafficking

Published on February 21, 2012
L-R: Ronnie Goldberg (USCIB), Christine Bader (Kennan Institute), David Arkless (ManpowerGroup), Letty Ashworth (Delta Airlines), Dirk Vande Beek (Travelport)
L-R: Ronnie Goldberg (USCIB), Christine Bader (Kennan Institute), David Arkless (ManpowerGroup), Letty Ashworth (Delta Airlines), Dirk Vande Beek (Travelport)

An estimated 27 million people worldwide are victims of human trafficking, which can take many forms – affecting men, women and children – and is making its presence felt in global supply chains.  To help companies understand the scope of the problem and take appropriate steps to address it, USCIB joined with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the International Organization of Employers, part of our global network, to organize a February 14 forum, “Engaging Business: Addressing Human Trafficking in Labor Sourcing,” at the Atlanta headquarters of The Coca-Cola Company.

Common forms of human trafficking include bonded labor, debt bondage, fraud, coercion, and other forms of modern slavery. Often it involves migration of legal workers – within a country and across borders – who have been misled by recruiters into assuming coercive debt and loss of their travel papers.  This forum focused on trafficking in the workplace, mainly via labor sourcing.

Human trafficking is increasing being targeted in policy and regulatory efforts.  In 2000, the United Nations adopted the Palermo Protocol to the UN Organized Crime Convention, and the United States enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.  Three-quarters of the world’s nations have ratified the treaty, and two-thirds have passed laws against trafficking.  Since the beginning of this year, the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 requires California manufacturers and retailers with over $100 million in annual worldwide gross receipts to disclose their efforts to eliminate slavery and human trafficking from their direct supply chains.

Kevin Bales, president of the NGO Free the Slaves
Kevin Bales, president of the NGO Free the Slaves

The prohibition of human trafficking is a human right that requires immediate due diligence of supply chains by business, and mitigating action where it exists.  The one-day program focused on potential business impacts, national and international legal trends, networks, strategies and best practices for eliminating human trafficking in labor sourcing.  Attendees gained a better understanding of the various forms of human trafficking in labor sourcing, the scope of legal and stakeholder expectations, and how to identify and address instances of human trafficking in labor sourcing.

Also at the forum, USCIB member ManpowerGroup and the NGO Verite launched a new guide to help companies prevent trafficking in their labor sourcing, “An Ethical Framework for Cross-Border Labor Recruitment,” a detailed framework for combating human trafficking and forced labor.

“Today’s environment requires businesses to be global and talent to be mobile, therefore ManpowerGroup has made it a priority to be at the forefront of ensuring that global recruitment markets operate transparently and ethically,” said David Arkless, ManpowerGroup’s president of global corporate and government affairs.  “Leading firms already commit to high ethical standards, but too many other operators exploit workers through recruitment debt, fraudulent contract substitution, and other forms of abuse.  And even well-intentioned businesses face reputational risk from unwittingly becoming entangled with unethical partners.”

Click here for more information on the ManpowerGroup-Verite initiative.

It was clear from the presentations and discussion at the forum that this is a highly complex issue, but that there are steps that companies can and should take to minimize the risk of trafficking in activities linked to their operations.

Staff contact: Adam Greene

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USCIB’s Greene Named to State Department Advisory Body

Published on February 16, 2012
Adam Greene
Adam Greene

Adam Greene, USCIB’s vice president for labor and corporate responsibility, has been named to a State Department advisory body on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.  Joining Greene on the panel is Clifford Henry, associate director of corporate sustainable development with Procter & Gamble and chair of USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee.

Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Jose W. Fernandez announced the new multi-stakeholder advisory panel in January.  The OECD Guidelines are voluntary recommendations from governments to multinational enterprises on responsible conduct in such areas as human rights, labor, environment, and corruption. They are the only multilateral, comprehensive code of conduct, endorsed by 43 national governments.

The new panel will advise the U.S. National Contact Point, a State Department official who leads the United States work under the Guidelines. For more information, please visit www.state.gov/usncp.

Through our affiliation with BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, USCIB members provided extensive input to the recent revision of the OECD Guidelines.

Staff contact: Adam Greene

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Business Calls for Fresh G20 Commitment on Jobs Especially for the Young

Published on September 27, 2011

Employment

Working through two of USCIB’s affiliates – the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC) – global business called on the G20 to make a fresh commitment to maintaining and creating jobs, following forecasts of renewed economic uncertainty and slow global growth.

At this week’s G20 labor ministerial in Paris, IOE Executive Vice President Daniel Funes de Rioja of Argentina stressed the need for strong, sustainable and balanced growth, underpinned by measures that will restore business confidence to take risks, invest and generate job opportunities.

American business representatives at the ministerial included BIAC Chairman Charles Heeter, principal with Deloitte LLP and a member of USCIB’s board, and USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg, who serves as a regional vice president of the IOE and chairs BIAC’s Employment, Labor and Social Affairs Committee.

Advocating concrete measures to address the worsening global jobs outlook, employers recommended improving the quality of business regulation, and a closer focus on labor markets, in the context of reduced government capacity for direct stimulatory expenditure.

Mr. Funes de Rioja particularly highlighted the need for youth employment, employability, skills and education to be recognized as top priorities for the G20, along with economic and financial reforms.  Read more on the IOE website.

BIAC called for strong action by G20 governments to avoid the devastating effects a “double-dip” global recession would have on employment.

“Without decisive action, we risk prolonging record levels of long-term unemployment and having millions more young people enter adulthood without the prospect of meaningful work,” stated Mr. Heeter. “This would be tragic for the individuals involved, their families and our societies.”

BIAC urged governments to prioritize action to restore investor and consumer confidence by delivering clear and pragmatic national, regional and global strategies for growth and job creation. “The way out of the crisis will come from the private sector growth. Governments must focus on creating a better business environment to restore investor confidence,” Mr. Heeter said.  Read more on BIAC’s website.

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USCIB’s Ronnie Goldberg Reelected to ILO Governing Body

Published on June 21, 2011
At the International Labor Conference, L-R: John Kloosterman (Littler Mendelson), Kristin Lipke (U.S. Department of Labor), USCIB’s Ronnie Goldberg and John Oswalt (Procter and Gamble).
At the International Labor Conference, L-R: John Kloosterman (Littler Mendelson), Kristin Lipke (U.S. Department of Labor), USCIB’s Ronnie Goldberg and John Oswalt (Procter and Gamble).

USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg was re-elected to the Governing Body of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in a vote  conducted in Geneva last week . The Governing Body is the executive council of the ILO and meets three times annually in Geneva. It takes decisions on policy and establishes the program and budget of the 183 member states of the ILO.

The ILO is a tripartite United Nations agency where representatives of government, business and labor work jointly to promote greater respect for labor rights around the world.  USCIB represents the interests of American business in the ILO through its role as the U.S. affiliate of the International Organization of Employers (IOE).  Ms. Goldberg also serves as the IOE’s regional vice chair for North America.

In a related development, Adam Greene, USCIB’s vice president for labor and corporate responsibility, was recently named by Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis to the National Advisory Committee for the Labor Provisions of U.S. Trade Agreements, which provides advice on the implementation of labor chapters of U.S. free trade agreements as well as the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation.

The ILO Governing Body election took place during the annual International Labor Conference, at which a new international labor standard aimed at improving conditions for domestic workers was adopted. The U.S. employers’ delegation to this year’s ILO conference was headed by Edward E. Potter, director of global workplace rights with The Coca-Cola Company and chair of USCIB’s Labor and Employment Policy Committee.  In addition to Ms. Goldberg and Mr. Greene, the delegation included John Kloosterman (Littler Mendelson), Kent McVay (Coca-Cola), John Oswalt (Procter and Gamble) and Kevin Sullivan (IBM).

Other outcomes of this year’s conference included guidance on labor inspection and a decision to negotiate an ILO recommendation on social security.  Heads of state and government addressing the delegates included German ChancellorAngela Merkel and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Staff contact: Adam Greene

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ILO website

Global Business Welcomes UN Special Representatives Human Rights Report

Published on June 10, 2011

The three main pillars of USCIB’s global business network – the International Organization of Employers, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD – have joined together in welcoming the final report of Professor John Ruggie, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s special representative on business and human rights.  On May 30, after six years of study and consultation, Professor Ruggie released his final report, entitled “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework.”

In their joint statement to the UN Human Rights Council, the IOE, ICC and BIAC thanked Professor Ruggie for “his dedication and tireless effort over the past six years to develop open communication and consensus among all stakeholders, which has been a significant part of his contribution to the way in which these issues are addressed.”

They continued “Our organizations have actively engaged with [Professor Ruggie] throughout his mandate by participating directly in numerous consultations, submitting joint comments or statements on various reports produced by the mandate, and engaging in ongoing communication with [him] and his team during the entire mandate.”

The groups endorsed the report’s “Protect, Respect, Remedy” framework, which clearly distinguishes the roles of national governments and third parties, including business enterprises, in upholding human rights.

The joint statement said: “Business is committed to meeting its responsibility to respect human rights and we fully expect that states and other stakeholders will do the same within their respective duties and responsibilities. Our organizations also remain committed to working with the UN Human Rights Council and other stakeholders during the implementation phase to advance the framework and the Guiding Principles in a way that creates a sense of ownership of the issues among our members, which we see as a key success factor in dissemination and adoption of the Principles.

Staff contact: Adam Greene

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