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Core labour standards in Southeast Asia
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Strengthening local capacity
Core labour standards in Southeast Asia
By Lydia Jebauer-Nirschl
The introduction of core labour standards is a controversial issue in many developing countries. For employers, trade unions and other civil society groupings in the Philippines, there is now a new platform helping to spread social standards: InWEnt's SEAL Desk Asia.
The implementation of core labour standards in private enterprise and public?sector employment still encounters resistance in many developing countries. Behind the attempts to introduce social standards, people there see an industrialised world trying to erect more non-tariff trade barriers and get around developing countries' comparative advantages. Core labour standards are based on International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and range from freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining through equal pay and freedom from discrimination at work to the prohibition of forced and child labour. Many countries have signed up to the ILO conventions but they don't always put them into practice. In the meantime, however, word has spread that observing core labour standards has economic advantages.
Hence the resolution of Vietnamese textile entrepreneur Ninh Thi Ty, who announces: "My company is going for SA 8000 certification ". SA (Social Accountability) 8000 is a system for assessing and certifying conformity to core labour standards (see "What is SA 8000?" box). As Ninh Thi Ty manufactures for a number of European clients, the standards her company observes are already in line with the codes of conduct of various international importers. She knows that an external auditing system will further enhance her competitive strength. Ninh Thi Ty speaks for many entrepreneurs who would like to see SA 8000 emblazoned on their corporate banner. So far, however, only around 30 companies worldwide have achieved that objective – so InWEnt is helping employers in the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam to get the certification.
InWEnt's activities in this area are focused under the acronym SEAL, which stands for "Social Standards Exchange of Experience in South East Asia and Practical Learning". The platform provides an opportunity for trade unions, NGOs, business associations, public authorities and government agencies to compare notes. Partners include Philippine management consulting firm Environmental Compliance Consultants International (ECCI) as well as a number of government export agencies and training organisations in the region. Mistrust is still widespread. The prevailing view is often: "Yet another international standard which we need to meet and which puts us at a disadvantage in world trade". So introducing social standards calls for a participatory approach, which is why InWEnt works through SEAL with no one but local partners.
Many companies fear that meeting social standards will entail high costs and exposure to mounting trade union influence. That is one of the concerns revealed by a SEAL study conducted in the Philippine textile sector. At present, trade union representation exists in only 20 percent of the 45 respondent companies. Relations between employees and employers are a sensitive issue. SEAL does not confine its activities to introducing SA 8000-based Social Management Systems; it also provides training in supervisory techniques and conflict management.
"The aim of SEAL is to show companies that better working conditions also impact on quality and productivity", says ECCI chief executive Narayanan Sreenivas. The SA 8000 information and sensitisation events which InWEnt conducted in the Philippines and Vietnam in 2002 met with a great deal of interest. "Companies need assistance all along the way", says Ronaldo Limbago, who supports the InWEnt project at the Philippine Trade and Training Center.
Lydia Jebauer-Nirschl is a senior project manager in the Sustainable Market Economy Division of InWEnt's Sustainable Economy Department lydia.jebauer-nirschl@inwent.org
What is SA 8000?
SA (Social Accountability) 8000 is a standard for the assessment of working conditions. It was developed in the late 1990s by the New York Council on Economics Priorities Accreditation Agency in cooperation with NGOs, employers, consultants and certification companies. An auditing procedure is to be established.
SA 8000 encompasses the fundamental rights of labour defined by the ILO as well as the following guidelines for employers:
- guarantee of safe and healthy working conditions;
- no corporal punishment or mental or physical coercion;
- observance of statutory or collectively agreed rules on working hours;
- compensation which does not fall below a minimum standard (sufficient to meet basic needs);
- compliance with national laws
- continuous improvement of working conditions and documentation of action taken
What is SEAL?
SEAL offers:
- one-day sensitisation workshops
- a seven-month social management training programme based on SA 8000
- manuals and follow-up computer training programmes in the relevant local languages
- free assistance for associations to train max. two employees as trainers
- integration of various interest groups in core labour standards
- capacity-building for small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) (for 15 employers per country)
- a forum for collaboration : www.seal-asia.org
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