ILO’s Global Campaign for Ratification of Violence and Harassment

The International Labour Organization Convention 190 on violence and harassment in the world of work held a convention on June 25th, 2021. Many global unions will be launching a toolkit to support the Convention 190 (C190) and its Recommendation 206 (R206). This manual will provide many unions worldwide with tools to eradicate violence and harassment in the world of work. Millions of workers are affected by physical assault, bullying, sexual harassment, online abuse, economic violence, and abusive work practices globally. These are some of the most widespread forms of violence in the workforce. 

The COVID-19 pandemic deepened pre-existing inequalities and exposed vulnerabilities in social, political, and economic systems. A report by the UN shows that violence against women has intensified in the past year. Many women and girls felt economic impacts, and the global gender pay gap is stuck at 16%, with women paid up to 35% less than men in some countries. 

The toolkit will aim to provide unions with tools to develop workplace solutions that tackle violence and harassment with a special focus on gender-based violence and harassment and ensure that violence is not considered “part of the job.” 

Christy Hoffman, UNI Global Union General Secretary, said:

“Unions fought relentlessly to win this Convention. Now that it has come into force, we must make sure more countries ratify it and that it is properly implemented. There is still a long road ahead and this toolkit is another step for unions to gain the necessary knowhow that will enable them to put the ILO Convention 190 and Recommendation 206 into practice so that workers live in a world free from violence and harassment.”

The toolkit consists of a facilitators’ guide and an activities workbook. It aims to:

• Encourage discussion about violence and harassment and gender-based violence in the world of work.

• Raise awareness about Convention 190, its accompanying Recommendation R206, and its significance for workers – particularly women workers.

• Encourage unions across the world to campaign for the ratification of Convention 190 and its effective implementation in line with Recommendation 206.

• Encourage unions to use these instruments to integrate Convention 190 into the union bargaining agenda.

• Build stronger unions to enable workers to assert their rights to a world of work free from violence and harassment.

Canadian Public Health Experts Discuss Pros and Cons of Disclosing COVID Outbreaks at Businesses

An article by the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) discussed the ethics and concerns of disclosing the names of businesses where COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred. When an outbreak of infection at a workplace is identified, standard public health practice is to publicly reveal the name of the workplace only if all contacts cannot be traced and a risk to the public is identified. 

In Canada, many larger cities such as Toronto and Hamilton have a reporting policy. In contrast, Ontario has no approach to reporting since the decision is left up to administrators of local health units. The authors of the article talk about the pros and cons of providing information to the public that could be seen as essential in letting a person make an informed decision on whether they want to visit a particular business. 

However, there are also many reasons that businesses may not publicly state that their workplace had an outbreak, the most prominent being people’s right to privacy. The article believes that it is vital to protect workers from stigma, public shaming, and harassment that could be associated with COVID-19. "Moreover, businesses that are outed as having an outbreak of infectious disease may face serious consequences that in turn may lead to loss of employment for workers and downstream effects for local economies," said the article.

An argument for letting employers know about outbreaks is that people are more likely to cooperate with efforts of the public health agencies to control an outbreak by allowing rapid access and intervention to protect workers. Ontario’s stay-at-home order expired on June 2nd, but existing restrictions on gathering, businesses, services, and activities will remain in effect for the time being. This includes limiting outdoor gatherings to up to five people, limiting essential retail capacity to 25%, restricting non-essential retail to do curbside pick-up and delivery, and prohibiting indoor gatherings. 

In the US, there are 28 OSHA-approved State Plans that set standards and enforcement programs and must be at least as effective as OSHA in protecting workers and in preventing work-related injuries, illnesses, and death. 

In conclusion, the article in the CMAJ states that more collaboration is needed between public health agencies and workplaces to ensure that such things as paid sick leave and better infection controls come into play. 

UN Leaders Urging Companies to Take Measures to Protect Seafarers’ Rights

The United Nations has issued a list of human rights to business enterprises that are engaged in the maritime industry to protect seafarers that may be stranded on ships due to new COVID-19 variants and government-imposed travel restrictions. The Human Rights Due Diligence Tool is a joint initiative by the UN Global Compact, UN Human Rights Office, International Labour Organization (ILO), and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The tool provides guidance and a checklist for cargo owners, charterers, and logistics providers to conduct human rights due diligence across their supply chains to identify, prevent, mitigate and address adverse human rights impacts for seafarers. 

Amid concerns about the number of crew stranded working beyond their contacts at sea due to COVID-19 restrictions, UN agencies hope the new guidance will help ensure that the working conditions are respected and comply with international standards. The guidance aims to ensure that seafarers have rights safeguarded, such as physical and mental health, and access to family life, and freedom of movement. 

Although the maritime industry contributes more than 80% of global trade goods, there have been reports that seafarers are working way beyond the 11-month maximum limit of service on board. An estimated 200,000 crew are stuck on commercial vessels globally amid recent attempts to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Unilever and other big retail brands are among consumer giants adopting a toolkit to audit their shipping supply chains to help bring seafarers stuck on commercial vessels back home and eliminate human rights risks. 

Any company that puts any cargo on ships will be encouraged to use the checklist, which includes asking ship owners and those who charter space on vessels to support crew changes and ensure clauses aren’t being added to contracts that prevent crew relief.

Global Companies Are Taking Action Towards Ensuring Living Wages

The IDH (The Sustainable Trade Initiative) has allied with ten global companies to ensure workers’ living wages throughout their supply chains. The participating companies include Aldi Nord, Aldi Sud, Eosta, Fyffes, Fairphone, L’Oreal, Schijvens, Superunie, Taylors of Harrogate, and Unilever, as stated on IDH’s Call to Action: Better Business through Better Wages. The call to action also mentions that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how vulnerable our societies are, and now is an opportunity to change the way business models operate to benefit a broader range of those in the community, interrupting the cycle of poverty and strengthening the foundations of the global economy. 

“To eradicate poverty, a living wage is the first step,” says Daan Wensing, CEO of IDH. “Helping workers achieve a living wage is a shared responsibility across the entire supply chain, but the business community must be a driving force. We are proud that 10 companies already will work together towards living wages and encourage other businesses to join the call to action and do the same.” Paying a living wage to workers will provide a good standard of living for them and their families and have been shown to reduce worker turnover and improve motivation and morale.

Unilever has also made a statement to commit to building a more inclusive society. Unilever’s main commitments include:

• Ensuring that everyone who directly provides goods and services to the company earns at least a living wage or income by 2030

• Spending €2 billion annually with suppliers owned and managed by people from under-represented groups, by 2025

• Pioneering new employment models for our employees and equipping 10m young people with essential skills to prepare them for job opportunities by 2030

Alan Jope, Unilever CEO, explained, “The two biggest threats that the world currently faces are climate change and social inequality. The past year has undoubtedly widened the social divide, and decisive and collective action is needed to build a society that helps to improve livelihoods, embraces diversity, nurtures talent, and offers opportunities for everyone.”

The IDH Roadmap on Living Wages develops and scales solutions for workers in the global supply chain for a living wage. The companies that joined the Call to Action will work with the Roadmap to develop and scale solutions for workers in global supply chains with the ultimate goal of achieving a living wage. The ten action steps on the roadmap include:

1. Identifying living wage gaps in their operations and supply chains.

2. Establishing shared frameworks with supply chain partners to close the gap.

3. Join multi-stakeholder partnerships that target areas with significant living wage gaps.

4. Building awareness and understanding among consumers of how they contribute to better livelihoods. 

5. Implementing practical solutions to remove barriers and close living wage gaps, and share costs in an equitable way. 

6. Support freedom of association with robust social dialogue and wage-setting mechanisms.

7. Adopt sustainable procurement and trading practices. 

8. Ensuring that value created reaches workers. 

9. Transparently reporting on progress towards a living wage. 

10. Sharing learnings, challenges, and solutions to inform and elevate all efforts as they find new pathways for reaching living wages.

COVID-19 Widens Existing Gender Inequalities in Vietnam

Women in Vietnam have been facing multiple inequalities in the labor market, even with the remarkably high labor market participation rate. A research brief by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Vietnam shows that 70.9% of Vietnam’s working-age women are in the labor force, while the global level is 47.2%. 

The research also indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities and created new gender gaps. Valentina Barucci, the Labor Economist for ILO Vietnam, says that before the COVID-19 pandemic, both women and men had relatively easy access to jobs. Still, the quality was, on average lower among women than men. Female workers are overrepresented in vulnerable employment, particularly in contributing to family work. Women earned 13.7% less than men and are underrepresented in decision-making jobs; they accounted for nearly half of the labor force but less than ¼ of overall management roles. The gap women face in job quality, and career development stems from the double burden they carry. They spent an average of 20.2 hours per week cleaning the house, washing clothes, and shopping for the family, whereas men spent only 10.7 hours. 

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, total working hours dropped significantly in the second quarter of 2020. Overall working hours did recover through the second half of the year, but women’s working hours recovered faster than men’s. “The women who worked long hours in the second half of 2020 possibly wanted to make up for the income losses in the second quarter,” says Barcucci. “Such additional hours made the double burden heavier to carry, as the time spent by women on household chores remained disproportionately high.

The research brief states that work equality in Vietnam can only be built on a shift in approach, from protecting women to providing equal opportunity to all workers, irrespective of their sex. A Labour Code that came into effect on the 1st January of 2021 opens opportunities to close gender gaps in employment. The Code introduces a reduction in the retirement age gap, which will gradually be implemented. In addition, female workers will no longer be excluded by law from certain occupations considered harmful for child-bearing and parenting functions. Rather, they will have a right to choose whether or not to engage in such occupations after being fully informed of the risks involved. Vietnam’s Socio-Economic Development Strategy for 2021-30 is expected to call for gender gaps to be reduced across several areas of citizens’ political, economic, and social lives.