USCIB represented American employers at the 103^rd Session of the International Labor Conference in Geneva from May 28 to June 12. The International Labor Conference is the highest decision-making body of the International Labor Organization (ILO), which brings together government delegates from the organization’s 185 member states, representatives from workers’ organizations and employers’ organizations such as the International Organization of Employers (IOE). USCIB is the American affiliate of the IOE.

USCIB’s Senior Council Ronnie Goldberg and Vice President of Labor Affairs, Corporate Responsibility and Governance Ariel Meyerstein were among those representing U.S. employers at the ILO Conference.

“Historic Opportunity for the Global Business Community to Put Its Stamp on Human Rights”

On June 9, the ILO Forced Labor Committee successfully completed a new recommendation and protocol, which will supplement the 1930 Forced Labor Convention. The new protocol will address gaps on human trafficking.

Speaking on Wednesday during the Forced Labor Committee discussions, Employer Spokesperson Ed Potter (Coca-Cola) told attendees that the committee’s work is a “historic opportunity for the business community to put its stamp on human rights.”

Read Potter’s statement.

Goldberg Re-elected to ILO GB with Highest Number of Votes Among Standing Candidates

At the ILO Conference, USCIB’s Goldberg represented the IOE Management Board and stood for re-election to the Governing Body of the ILO and reappointment as an IOE regional vice president. She also participated in the International Labor Conference Committee on Employment, which focused on setting ILO employment priorities. Goldberg was re-elected to the governing body with the highest number of votes among all candidates standing. A full list of recently elected ILO Governing Body members can be found on the IOE website. They will serve from 2014 to 2017.

ILO Workers’ Representatives Block Conclusions in the Committee on Application of Standards

In a disappointing move over the weekend, the Workers’ Group announced it would block draft conclusions in the Committee on the Application of Standards. It blocked proceedings because the Workers’ Group refused to accept any language that indicates disagreement over including the right to strike in this convention.

The IOE website reports: “Employers find it very difficult to understand why the Workers refuse to have acknowledged in the conclusions perfectly legitimate differing points of view – a normal practice in any tripartite discussion.”

ILO Director General Guy Ryder Gives “Honest Appraisal” of Employers’ Group Reform

At a June 4 meeting of the ILO Employers’ Group, Guy Ryder, the director general of the ILO, announced he would deliver an “honest appraisal” of the ILO reform to the group. He noted positive developments, with the ILO “beginning to work in new, different and better ways.” He also acknowledged Employers’ Group’s role in bringing beneficial reform to the ILO Governing Body.

– Read more on the IOE website

USCIB Weighs In on Transition to Formal Economy

During the ILO Conference, USCIB’s Meyerstein participated in the Committee on the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy. The committee serves as a two-year standard setting process that will lead to a recommendation from the ILO to member states on how to manage this transition, which affects a huge proportion of the global economy in both developed and developing countries.

In consultation with a global group of national employer representatives, USCIB is advocating for a general framework that recognizes the diversity of national experiences and recommends gradual and progressive transition strategies that are built upon establishing legal relationships between employers, employees and the state.  Establishing these legal relationships is the necessary precursor to expanding national capacity to implement and enforce ILO labor standards and social protections.

Meyerstein noted that transition strategies should remove barriers to entry into the formal economy presented by over-burdensome regulatory frameworks, present appropriate support and incentives to make transition easy for enterprises and continue to provide them an enabling environment for sustainable growth.

Staff contacts: Ronnie Goldberg and Ariel Meyerstein

More on USCIB’s Labor & Employment Committee

The new president of the International Organization of Employers (IOE), Daniel Funes de Rioja, began his three-year mandate last Tuesday following his unanimous election at last year’s IOE General Council. USCIB is the American affiliate of the IOE.

Prior to his election, Funes de Rioja, from Argentina, served as IOE’s executive vice president under outgoing President Tan Sri Dato’ Azman of Malaysia. Speaking to the IOE General Council upon his election, Funes de Rioja thanked his predecessor for “firmly establishing the IOE as the global voice of business on the international stage.”  As the new president, Funes de Rioja will also assume the presidency of the 2014 International Labor Conference in Geneva from May 28 to June 12.

As Tan Sri Dato’Azman gave his farewell remarks last Tuesday, he said the IOE had established itself as the representative body for the private sector across the UN and other multilateral organizations. He felt proud of the IOE’s consolidated position, and as he handed the presidency over to Funes de Rioja, he said he was confident the IOE could meet future challenges.

IOE Secretary General Brent Wilton congratulated Funes de Rioja and said the incoming president “brings to the presidency of the IOE decades of experience representing employers across the range of international forums affecting business.”

Staff contacts: Ronnie Goldberg and Ariel Meyerstein

More on USCIB’s Labor & Employment Committee

Over half the world’s migrants are active in the labor force, and demographic challenges coupled with globalization will continue to drive labor mobility in the future. Workers in the developing world are expected to grow faster than the jobs created for them in their home countries, while demand for migrant labor in the developed world is surging. Many employers now seek migrant workers to fill gaps in all sectors and skill levels, and there is a need to protect these workers’ rights to ensure the full potential of labor mobility.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) launched a series of briefings in New York City to discuss contemporary labor migration issues. USCIB’s Senior Counsel Ronnie Goldberg represented the voice of business at an IOM briefing about the ethical recruitment of migrant workers on May 22, 2014 at the UN headquarters in New York City.

She reiterated the International Organization of Employer’s (IOE) commitment to fair recruitment practices and to fight forced labor and trafficking. She also announced a joint imitative between the IOM and IOE, the International Recruitment and Integrity System (IRIS), designed to protect migrant workers’ rights.

Goldberg noted that employers, who create jobs and stimulate development, have an essential role to play in the migration debate. Private sector knowledge of markets and staffing trends, along with employers’ practical workings of immigration laws and procedures, can provide vital information to governments to clarify and improve regulatory regimes.

“It is in the interest of all responsible employers, wherever they do business, to have clear, transparent, and efficient national immigration laws and policies that permit the movement of employees when and where they are needed,” Goldberg said.

She also called for the harmonization of national immigration laws across borders to facilitate cross-country labor migration. Improved regulatory regimes would also lower the costs businesses incur as they hire and transfer employees across borders, she said.

Unskilled migrant laborers are one of the most vulnerable segments of the population.  The IOM and the IOE have announced a partnership initiative, IRIS, to protect workers’ rights.

“Specifically, IOE and IOM have agreed to partner in a voluntary certification process for international recruiters to help protect migrant workers and their employers from abusive practices,” Goldberg said. “For the IOE, it will be a demonstration that employers adhere to fair recruitment practices and are fully committed to fight forced labour and trafficking.”

Read Goldberg’s remarks.

Staff contacts: Ronnie Goldberg and Ariel Meyerstein

More on USCIB’s Labor & Employment Committee

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

USCIB Senior Advisor Ronnie Goldberg, who serves as the North American regional vice president of the International Organization of Employers (IOE), took part in a March 12 panel discussion of equal pay at the 58th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York.

The panel, organized by the International Labor Organization and the government of Finland, facilitated the sharing of experiences and challenges, across countries and regions, of promoting equal pay for women and men, and informed the discussions during the session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

Articulating the global voice of employers, Goldberg stated: “Employers support, not just the human rights case, but the compelling business and economic case for unleashing women’s skills and talents and empowering them to enjoy equal access to job opportunities and career development.”

In her remarks, Goldberg presented a menu of recommendations to enhance efforts by companies and governments to support and promote women’s advancement and gender equality in the workplace.

The toolkit of best practices presented for companies included measures and policies around the following themes:

• Top management leadership and commitment to gender equality
• Making gender core to the business strategy, which requires measurement and accountability
• Providing an enabling framework through human resource and operational policies, including opportunities for flexible schedules and part-time work.
• Providing a robust and relevant support system for women executives through education and training
• Changing mind-sets and corporate culture
• Addressing the broader social context.

At the same time, Goldberg underlined that businesses looked to governments to adopt the following general approaches:

• Recognize gender equality as a key lever in economic development and competitiveness
• Champion for women’s economic empowerment with government officials at the highest level
• Act as positive role models, promoting ambitious gender diversity targets for their own administrations as well as the state enterprises under their control
• Engage in dialogue with business.

Goldberg called for governments and the business community to work together to come up with data- and fact-based strategies with realistic goals, and urged the OECD, ILO, other international organizations and the international financial institutions to continue to work together to come up with data- and fact-based strategies with realistic goals. She further urged these bodies to continue to work collaboratively to raise awareness of the economic dividend of gender equality.

Staff contact: Ronnie Goldberg

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee

Earlier this month, in a welcome contrast to a needlessly stringent U.S. approach to conflict minerals from Central Africa, the European Commission put forward a draft regulation to set up a system of supply chain due diligence self-certification of importers of minerals to the EU. The regulation would encourage industry self-certification of responsible imports of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold from conflict-affected and high-risk areas.

The proposal is based on the OECD’s Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, the credible international corporate due diligence benchmark. The EU self-certification system calls for the adherence to the five steps of the OECD due diligence guidance through monitoring and overseeing of purchases.

USCIB has played a key role coordinating business contributions to the OECD due diligence guidance, and we have advocated for the EU regulation on conflict minerals, working actively with BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD to encourage responsible sourcing and to offset the disincentives created by Section 1502 of the U.S. Dodd-Frank law, which many observers believe encourages a de facto embargo of minerals exports from the Democratic Republic of Congo and other affected regions.

The OECD due diligence guidance was developed in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, both of which aim to advance supply chain due diligence practices and avoid the inadvertent consequences of Dodd-Frank.

Staff contact: Ronnie Goldberg

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee