Corporate Responsibility and Labor Affairs Archives

Business and Human Rights Forum a Step Backward

Published on December 6, 2013

USCIB and two of the global business groups with which we are affiliated – the International Organization of Employers(IOE) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) – represented business at the second annual United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, December 2-4 in Geneva. A number of USCIB member companies also attended, including BP, Chevron, GE, Google, Hess, Microsoft, Nestlé and Procter & Gamble.

The annual UN forum is designed to bring business, government, civil society and other stakeholders together to discuss the status, opportunities and challenges of implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

According to Adam Greene, USCIB’s vice president for labor affairs and corporate responsibility, this year’s discussion was much more negative and critical towards business. The consensus developed by John Ruggie, the former UN special representative for business and human rights, during his mandate is fraying and may collapse if left unaddressed.

In addition, the obligation of governments, under the UN Guiding Principles, to protect human rights continues to be minimized, with nearly all of the attention focused on companies’ concomitant responsibility to respect human rights.

The forum concluded with a number of statements that the UN Guiding Principles have not worked and that the UN should develop a legally binding treaty on multinational enterprises. The government of Ecuador plans to organize a meeting to push this proposal forward at the next meeting of the UN Human Rights Council.

Read more in the IOE news release on the forum.

Staff contact: Adam Greene

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

OECD Holds Conflict Minerals Forum in Central Africa

Published on November 19, 2013
Panelists at the forum in Kigalai, Rwanda. “The biggest challenge continues to be the de facto embargo caused by Dodd-Frank," said USCIB's Adam Greene (far left).
Panelists at the forum in Kigalai, Rwanda. “The biggest challenge continues to be the de facto embargo caused by Dodd-Frank,” said USCIB’s Adam Greene (far left).

For the first time ever, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) brought its leading multi-stakeholder initiative on conflict minerals to the affected region in Central Africa.

The 6th OECD Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains, held jointly with the UN Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region, met November 13-15 in Kigali, Rwanda to review how responsible sourcing is working in practice in the region. Adam Greene, USCIB’s vice president for labor and corporate responsibility, played an active role at the forum.

The OECD initiative has become the key international process on conflict minerals – bringing together all the relevant players, including the OECD member governments, all the governments of Central Africa, local and international civil society groups and business representatives from the entire mineral supply chain from mining straight through to end producer or retailer. Additionally, the OECD initiative has produced the only internationally recognized due diligence guidance on conflict minerals, as well as two more detailed guides: one on tin, tantalum and tungsten (3T), and another on gold.

Unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank law

Reflecting the influence of the OECD process on this issue, the European Commission has indicated that proposed EU legislation on conflict minerals will be based entirely on the OECD Due Diligence Guidance, in an effort to avoid the unintended consequences of Section 1502 of the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act.

“The OECD forum meeting in Kigali was an important opportunity to assess how the due diligence guidance was working in practice in the region, strengthen regional programs and review ongoing challenges,” Greene said. “The biggest challenge continues to be the de facto embargo caused by Dodd-Frank, which created enormous disincentives for any sourcing from the region.”

Rwanda, for example, has implemented a country-wide chain of custody program that fully conforms with the OECD due diligence guidance, yet producers in the country still cannot find buyers in European or North American markets, because Dodd-Frank imposes the same burden on all sourcing from the region, regardless of whether it is responsible sourcing or not.

USCIB is working actively with the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD and business groups from Central Africa to promote responsible sourcing of minerals and to create incentives for sourcing that could potentially off-set the disincentives created by Dodd-Frank.

A range of companies – including Boeing, Ford, GE, HP, Intel, Lockheed, Motorola Solutions, Northrop, Siemens, Texas Instruments and UTC – and numerous industry associations are participating in the OECD initiative. USCIB has played a key role in helping to coordinate business participation in the process, and Greene has been elected vice-chair of the initiative’s Multi-Stakeholder Steering Group.

Materials from the meeting in Kigali will be posted on the OECD due diligence guidance homepage (click here). The next OECD forum will be held in May 2014 at OECD headquarters in Paris.

Staff contacts: Adam Greene

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

Employers Urge ILO to Support Migration Policies in Light of Labor Market Needs

Published on November 15, 2013

Immigration

Employer delegates attending an International Labor Organization meeting in Geneva last week on labor migration called on the ILO to support a broad-based approach to migration that takes into account labor market needs.

The meeting was attended by experts from each of the ILO’s tripartite constituencies – governments, employers’ organizations and trade unions – who were joined by observers from UN agencies and international bodies including the International Organization for Migration. Employer representation in the ILO is organized via the International Organization of Employers.

Among the issues on the agenda was follow-up to last month’s UN High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development and ongoing work on a Post-2015 Development Agenda, in particular challenges and opportunities for the ILO. The meeting also addressed the effective protection of migrant workers, sound labor market needs assessment and skills recognition, and cooperation and social dialogue for well-governed labor migration and mobility.

“Demographic realities and business needs increase the need for greater labor mobility,” said Ellen Yost, a migration attorney with Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, told the meeting. “However, government policies around the world increasingly have the effect of restricting mobility. The employers’ group urges governments to recognize the importance of international labor mobility for economic growth, competitiveness and development and to adopt clearer, simpler and more consistent rules and procedures for easier cross-border movement of skills.”

Read more on the IOE website.

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Policy Committee

USCIB Applauds Better Work Plan on Bangladesh

Published on October 22, 2013

4621_image002New York, N.Y., October 22, 2013 – The United States Council for International Business (USCIB), which represents American employers in the International Labor Organization (ILO), welcomed the extension of the Better Work program, a joint initiative of the ILO and the International Finance Corporation, to Bangladesh in an effort to improve workplace conditions in the country’s garment industry. (Click here for the ILO announcement.)

“This is a very welcome development,” said USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson. “It signals a strong commitment by governments, in concert with global employers and trade unions, as well as their counterparts in Bangladesh, to improve working conditions in the country.”

Operational since 2009, the Better Work program brings together governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, global brands and supplier factories to improve both productivity and working conditions those factories.  The program assesses compliance with labor laws, posts reports online and provides targeted capacity building training to improve compliance with labor standards as well as the competitiveness of the factory.

Robinson said USCIB has worked to line up U.S. corporate support for the Better Work program, including financial support. Through its participation in the Better Work program’s advisory committee, USCIB actively supported a recommendation to launch the Bangladesh country program, he noted.

“Better Work is a stellar example of public-private collaboration with measurable benefits,” Robinson stated. “By bringing all stakeholders together in a collaborative framework, it helps bring about sustainable improvements in workplace conditions.”

USCIB represents American business interests internationally, including in the ILO where it is the U.S. employer constituent, serves on the ILO Governing Body, and leads the U.S. employer delegation to the ILO’s annual International Labor Conference.

USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence. Its members include top U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of our economy, with operations in every region of the world. With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment. More information is available at www.uscib.org.

Contacts:

Adam Greene, VP labor & corporate responsibility, USCIB
+1 212.703.5056, agreene@uscib.org

Jonathan Huneke, VP communications, USCIB
+1 212.703.5043, jhuneke@uscib.org

BIAC Survey on Business and Gender Diversity

Published on October 10, 2013

USCIB would appreciate your input for the BIAC Survey on Business and Gender Diversity, which should take just a few minutes to complete.

BIAC (the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD) and Deloitte are partnering on this survey to gauge the extent of change in advancing women into more senior positions that may have occurred within companies and within markets. They also wish to assess the development and impact of government and regulatory support to these efforts over the last few years.

The survey comes in follow-up to a 2012 BIAC report, produced in conjunction with the American Chamber of Commerce in France, entitled Putting All Our Minds to Work: Harnessing the Gender Dividend, which presented a business case for promoting female talent, with examples of how businesses in OECD member countries are advancing women’s empowerment.

The BIAC survey will remain open until October 31.

Staff contact: Justine Badimon

At ILO Employers Urge Steps to Reduce Informal Economy

Published on September 24, 2013
USCIB’s Adam Greene (left) at the ILO meeting
USCIB’s Adam Greene (left) at the ILO meeting

At an International Labor Organization meeting earlier this month in Geneva, business representatives from around the world joined government and trade union officials in contributing perspectives on ways to reduce participation in the untaxed, unregulated “informal” economy.

Under the banner of the International Organization of Employers (IOE), part of USCIB’s global network, the business delegation stressed that a key factor contributing to the prevalence of informality is the cost of doing business in a country. Adam Greene, USCIB’s vice president for labor and corporate responsibility, took part and helped prepare the employers’ closing statement.

“Entrepreneurs and enterprises in the informal economy struggle to do business in a situation of legal uncertainty and insecurity, and are faced with numerous economic constraints,” stated Michael Chiam of the Malaysian Employers’ Federation. “They need the tools to buy and sell their products legally, to own property and commercial use of property, to enter into legal contracts, to establish a business identity, to raise capital, to sell shares, to legally export. In essence, to have the official recognition of their property and business ownership.”

According to Greene, the discussion is part of an effort expected to lead to an ILO recommendation on informality in 2015 that will serve as one of the key UN instruments on the issue. “It will, we hope, help push the UN’s effort to develop new Sustainable Development Goals in the right direction,” he said. “Informality can reflect a fundamental lack of effective governance, and good national governance will be critical to assure the success of the SDGs.”

Greene said that, from the employers’ perspective, the ILO has a key role to play in addressing the issue of informality, because promoting employment and sustainable enterprises, as well as fundamental principles and rights at work, are at the very heart of the ILO’s mission.

At the Geneva session, business representatives criticized the narrow focus of an ILO questionnaire on labor markets, which they said had led to unhelpful proposals for formalizing workers and upgrading workers’ rights, but not addressing issues surrounding business formation and entrepreneurship. A focus solely on labor rights, they argued, would actually serve as a disincentive to formalization. They said a wider range of measures should be taken into consideration, including promoting effective national institutions and administration, implementing judicial reform, and easing business registration and licensing.

Staff contact: Adam Greene

More on USCIB’s Labor and Employment Policy Committee

UN and Business Must Make Common Cause in Post-2015 Agenda UN Official Declares

Published on September 19, 2013
UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson
UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson

The business community and the United Nations must rediscover their sense of shared purpose and “reconnect in building a world where international peace and prosperity reinforce each other,” according to UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson.

Eliasson spoke at last night’s USCIB’s International Leadership Award Dinner. His remarks came as USCIB and its allied business groups seek to provide business input into the development of the UN’s post-2015 development agenda, which aims to expand upon the Millennium Development Goals agreed in 2000.

The gala dinner, held at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, honored Fred Smith, chairman and CEO of FedEx Corp., who received USCIB’s top award before an audience of several hundred USCIB members, diplomats and business representatives from around the world.

“There is more than just an overlap between United Nations development goals and private sector interests,” Eliasson stated. “We share common ground. If we can get, during the next two years, an acceleration of reaching these goals, then we will create the political momentum to move ahead and address sustainability, poverty and the rule of law.”

USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw (president, chairman and CEO of McGraw Hill Financial) urged business and the UN to work together to map out an ambitious – and achievable – post-2015 development agenda. “This represents a historic opportunity to forge a global consensus in support of public-private activities to lead growth and create a more robust, inclusive world economy,” he said.

McGraw said business will seek to promote several fundamental objectives in the context of the post-2015 agenda. These include setting goals that are achievable in every country, putting a focus on improving national governance, implementing sound macro-economic and fiscal policies, establishing effective national institutions, and providing adequate incentives for business to contribute.

L-R: The UN’s Eliasson, FedEx CEO Fred Smith, USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson
L-R: The UN’s Eliasson, FedEx CEO Fred Smith, USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson

Well deserved accolades for FedEx’s Smith

FedEx’s Smith accepted USCIB’s International Leadership Award on behalf of his company’s employees around the world. “Let me commend USCIB for the important work you are doing,” he said. “I think all of us in this room believe in the power of access, of connecting people, of ideas. Improving people’s lives through global growth has been an important and valuable mission. We are shoulder-to-shoulder with you in this important work.”

Smith is the 32nd individual to receive the USCIB award, which was presented most recently to Andrew Liveris of Dow Chemical. The award recognizes efforts to expand world trade and investment, and to improve the competitive environment for American business globally.

Smith founded FedEx Corp. in 1973, and it has grown into a $44-billion global transportation, business services and logistics company. McGraw praised him for his vision and leadership. “Fred Smith has been an active proponent of regulatory reform, free trade and open skies agreements for aviation around the world,” said McGraw. “Most recently, he has advocated for vehicle energy-efficiency standards and a national energy policy. FedEx is consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers and inspires its employees to remain absolutely, positively focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities.”

USCIB’s global network turns out

Among those attending this year’s event were members of the executive board of the International Chamber of Commerce, the world business organization for which USCIB serves as the American national committee, as well as the heads of ICC chapters from around the world. The secretaries general of each of USCIB’s affiliated global business groups – ICC, the International Organization of Employers, and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD – also attended the gala.

The dinner marked a starting point for a series of events organized by USCIB, ICC and other business-related groups to focus industry attention on the development of the UN’s post-2015 development agenda. Among the highlights will be USCIB-organized “door-knock” consultations on October 26 for USCIB members with key government delegations and the UN secretariat.

That same day, USCIB will convene a Green Economies Dialogue luncheon roundtable on economic and green growth considerations of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Speakers at the roundtable will include representatives from academia, important governments and the UN to consider policy options that work within the global marketplace.

Staff contact: Jonathan Huneke

More on USCIB’s International Leadership Award Dinner

Fedex website

US Business to Meet With Government and UN Representatives in New York

Published on August 27, 2013

USCIB will hold “UN Door Knock” consultations on September 26 for USCIB members to meet with important government delegations and highlight key business recommendations on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Post-2015 Development Agenda and Green Growth. As the global community looks to set a new blue print for development, building on the MDGs and Rio outcomes, business is making a strong case to bring forward policies that drive economic growth, environmental stewardship and social development.

USCIB’s UN Door Knock consultations will signal the strong interest of U.S. business in a well-designed UN gameplan for development that involves and incents business. The meetings will also make the case for enhanced business engagement in the UN.

The Door Knock will be hosted by Pfizer and will begin with an orientation breakfast for USCIB Members. The day will consist of a series of consultations with representatives of the UN, the United States, Japan, and the European Union.

USCIB will also convene an International Business Green Economies Dialogue (GED) Luncheon Roundtable. This event will discuss the ways in which the SDGs can contribute to enabling frameworks for development, poverty eradication andgreener economic activity through innovation, investment and partnership
at national and international levels. It will highlight practicality for and the contribution from U.S. companies doing business in globalized marke

The GED luncheon roundtable will feature panel sessions on:

  • SDGs and Enabling Frameworks at the National
    Level—Job Creation and Infrastructure
  • SDGs and Enabling Frameworks at the International Level—Finance, Investment and Technology Deployment

The Roundtable will include invited speakers from government (Brazil, U.S., Kenya, Colombia), academia (Resources for the Future, MIT, UC San Diego) and the private sector (International Organization of Employers, USCIB).

To register for this event, please email Kira Yevtukhova (kyevtukhova@uscib.org). Please note that participation in this event is restricted to USCIB members and invited guests.

Staff contact: Norine Kennedy

Analysis UN Secretary General Report on the Millennium Development Goals and the Post2015 Development Agenda

Published on August 26, 2013

In preparation for next month’s UN General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Post-2015 Development Agenda, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has released a report, A Life of Dignity for All, containing his updates on the MDGs and vision for the road ahead. The Secretary General’s report, which will form the foundation for post-2015 discussions, highlights critical elements that have driven success in the achievement of the MDGs and which can contribute to the success of a post-2015 development agenda.

  • Emphasizing inclusive growth, decent employment and social protection;
  • Allocating more resources for essential services and ensuring access for all;
  • Strengthening political will and improving the international policy environment;
  • Harnessing the power of multi-stakeholder partnerships.

At its August 22, 2013 meeting, the USCIB SDGs Working Group noted many themes in the SG reports which USCIB has also drawn attention to in its advocacy, such as conducive business environments, the importance of rule of law and well-functioning institutions and the importance of job creation. Julie Kim, ECOSOC Counsellor, US Mission to the United Nations described U.S. perspectives and expectations on the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda and SDGs, indicating that countries are still discussing how formal SDG negotiations will commence in February. USCIB’s SDG Working Group, co-chaired by Tam Nguyen, Chevron, and Brian Lowry, Monsanto, is defining USCIB recommendations and priorities on the SDGs. For more information on USCIB’s SDG Working Group and ongoing involvement in the Post-2015 Development Agenda, click here. Contact Adam Greene (agreene@uscib.org) or Norine Kennedy (nkennedy@uscib.org) to join the working group or for further details.

Secretary General Ban’s report highlights sustainable development — enabled by the integration of economic growth, social justice and environmental stewardship — as a global guiding principle and operational standard. According to Ban Ki-Moon, this universal agenda requires profound economic transformations and a new global partnership. It also requires the international community, including the UN, to embrace a more coherent and effective response to support the agenda.

The report calls for a new, broader set of targets beyond 2015 that reflect new global realities and challenges. The goals should be measurable, adaptable to both global and local settings and apply to all countries.

Secretary General Ban believes that a universal development agenda beyond 2015 will require:

  • A robust framework for sustainable development finance including both private and public funding
  • A broadening of the tax base and an improvement of tax administration
  • A commitment by the public and private scientific and research communities to develop new and transformative technologies

On September 25, the General Assembly will convene a special event to review current efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and rally political support for their acceleration. The event will reflect on the broad contours of the development agenda beyond 2015.  The General Assembly could launch the final phase of the intergovernmental consultations on a post-2015 development agenda at its sixty-ninth session [September 2014].

Conclusion/Calls to Action

Secretary General Ban concludes his report by making a series of calls on:

  • Member States and the entire international community to take every step possible to achieve the Millennium Development Goals;
  • Member States to adopt a universal post-2015 development agenda, with sustainable development at its core, and provide clarity on the road map to 2015;
  • The international system to embrace a more coherent and effective response to support this agenda.

Elements of a Post-2015 Agenda

A life of dignity for all: accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and advancing the UN development agenda beyond 2015

The UN SG’s report calls for transformative and mutually reinforcing actions that will apply to all countries. These include:

  • Eradicating poverty in all its forms
  • Tackling exclusion and inequality
  • Empowering women and girls
  • Providing quality education and lifelong learning
  • Improving health
  • Addressing climate change
  • Addressing environmental challenges
  • Promoting inclusive and sustainable growth and decent employment
  • Ending hunger and malnutrition
  • Addressing demographic challenges
  • Enhancing the positive contribution of migrants
  • Meeting the challenges of urbanization
  •  Building peace and effective governance based on the rule of law and sound institutions
  • Fostering a renewed global partnership
  • Strengthening the international development cooperation network

A USCIB comparative matrix of the reports on the SDGs by the UN Secretary General, the Post-2015 High-level Panel, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the UN Global Compact is available here.

Staff contact: Norine Kennedy

Comparative Matrix Expert Group Reports Proposals for Sustainable Development Goals

Published on July 24, 2013

USCIB has updated its comparative matrix of the proposed goals and targets in the reports by the Post-2015 High-level Panel, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), and the UN Global Compact to include Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s report, which will serve as the basis for post-2015 discussions. The first three reports reviewed in this matrix were alldelivered to the Secretary General and served as input to his report, A life of dignity for all: accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and advancing the UN development agenda beyond 2015,  to the September 2013 General Assembly Special Event on the MDGs and the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

While USCIB sees useful elements in some of the proposals, it does not endorse any of the suggested goals and is developing business recommendations to the UN for consideration as the SDGs are elaborated.

Common thematic elements in the reports include:

  • a continued focus and effort on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (i.e. the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, education, and empowering women)
  • a focus on governance and enabling frameworks (i.e. transparency, accountability, access to information and participation)
  • goals specifically referencing common environmental issues (i.e. water, natural resources, biodiversity and sanitation)
  • a major focus on curbing climate change and ensuring sustainable energy
  • an emphasis on economic growth through modernizing infrastructure and technology

Click here to download the updated comparative matrix.

Staff contacts: Norine Kennedy and Adam Greene