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Transport workers are often the hidden workforce in global supply chains. They experience serious abuses of their rights and working conditions, yet everyone depends on them for the movement of every bit of cargo along the chain.
Delivering the workers’ statement to the committee on decent work in global supply chains at the ILC in Geneva, the FNV's Catelene Passchier said the debate was about ‘taking up, sharing, and executing responsibility. Not only for everything under your direct control, but for everything that you can influence, because it is linked to your activities…In global supply chains everyone is connected but no-one is responsible… Power relations have clearly changed, a very questionable business model has emerged.’
ITF representatives at the ILC blamed this business model for labour abuses and modern slavery in the fisheries supply chain and social dumping in Europe, where, for example, lorry drivers working under collective agreements are replaced by non-domiciled workers without agreements.
ITF general secretary Steve Cotton and other global unions at the ILC are supporting lobbying by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) for an ILO (International Labour Organization) convention on decent work in global supply chains, to form the backbone of a new approach to labour regulation and international enforcement.
They believe this can be achieved by identifying governance gaps and building on existing instruments. They point to the ILO’s historic Maritime Labour Convention 2006 as inspiration, which includes global provisions for labour inspection, recruitment and the setting of minimum wages for seafarers.
Steve Cotton said: “We wish to emphasise throughout this debate the two concepts the ITF is promoting to drive accountability, responsibility and governance in global supply chains. The ‘economic employer’ – the lead firm in the chain, which applies pressure on transport workers through pricing, delivery times and intense competition. And the ‘chain of responsibility’, which will help to identify governance gaps along the chain and develop standards across jurisdictions.”
The ILC is from 30 May to 10 June – follow progress on the ITUC website and the ILO website.
Download the ITUC report ‘Scandal: Inside the global supply chains of 50 top companies’.
Discover the findings of the ITUC Global Public Opinion Poll on global supply chains.