CAMPAIGNS

During 2000 the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development revised its guidelines for multinational corporations. Below is Sphre's submission to that process.

Comments on "The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises Draft Text and Commentary"

We would like to make a few recommendations on the proposed guidelines with respect to Employment and Industrial Relations.

The initial phrase under this section states that "Enterprises should, within the framework of applicable law, regulations and prevailing labour relations and employment practices:

1. a) Respect the right of their employees to be represented by trade unions..., etc."

We suggest that the qualifying clause "within the framework of applicable law, regulations and prevailing labour relations and employment practices" be dropped. Principles elicited in that clause have been used by some corporations to avoid their responsibilities to recognize and bargain with employee representatives. For example, the law of the United States permits employers to make negative comments about unionization and collective bargaining with a view towards discouraging employees from exercising their human right to participate in the establishment of conditions of employment so long as that expression does not amount to intimidation or promise of benefit in the view of the courts. Moreover, according to "prevailing labour relations and employment practices" it is common for employers to engage in such behaviour.

In establishing the practical meaning of intimidation or promise of benefit, U.S. courts have weighed freedom of speech more heavily than the right to bargain collectively and, consequentially, have been expansive with respect to permissible language. One result is that less than 10% of employees in the private sector have effective representation even though the great majority of employees, according to surveys, would like to be represented so long as the establishment of representation mechanisms does not offend the employer. In short, fear of affronting the employer, and the consequences thereof, appears to be the central cause for the low level of collective bargaining. The spirit of the proposed guidelines is that corporations should not engage in behaviour intended to elicit such fear and the language of the guidelines should not permit, either explicitly or implicitly, that behaviour.

Since the right to bargain collectively is a fundamental human right, affirmed as such by organizations across the political spectrum, it is by definition not subject to statutory restriction or enablement. Thus, the qualifying clause is neither needed nor appropriate.

To emphasize employer responsibilities not to engage in tactics designed to discourage exercise of the right to negotiate we propose that a new clause be added after a) b) "Not to engage in activities intended to discourage employees from exercising their right to bargain collectively."

In the multinational corporation many of the conditions of employment are collective in nature and thus are not amenable to negotiations or consultations between representatives of the corporation and individual employees. Among those conditions are policies with respect to issues explicitly mentioned in the Guidelines including the implementation of employment equity and occupational health and safety standards. Thus we recommend that under 2.c) the wording be changed to state

"Promote consultation and co-operation between employers and employees [and their representatives] on matters of mutual concern."

Thank you for your consideration of these points.

Roy J. Adams
Chair, Society for the Promotion of Human Rights in Employment Steering Committee
SPHRE Box 332
McMaster University
Hamilton, Canada L8S 1C0
Fax: (905) 521-8995 Tel: (905) 525-9140, ext. 24695