Agreement on corporate social responsibility signed in banking

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In June 2004, the social partners in the Italian banking sector concluded an agreement that lays down principles aimed at achieving the 'socially sustainable and compatible development' of the industry. The accord, which deals with a range of corporate social responsibility issues, will be used as a reference point in a forthcoming new national sectoral collective agreement for banking.

An agreement on corporate social responsibility (CSR) was signed on 16 June 2004 by the Italian Banking Association (Associazione Bancaria Italiana, Abi) employers' organisation and by Fiba, Fisac and Uilca- the sectoral trade union organisations affiliated to the three main union confederations, the General Confederation of Italian Workers (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro, Cgil), the Italian Confederation of Workers' Unions (Confederazione Italiana Sindacato Lavoratori, Cisl) and the Union of Italian Workers (Unione Italiana del Lavoro, Uil) respectively - plus the Independent Federation of Italian Credit and Savings Workers (Federazione Autonoma Lavoratori del Credito e del Risparmio Italiani, Falcri). The agreement lays down principles aimed at achieving the 'socially sustainable and compatible development' of the Italian banking industry, and represents a significant contribution to the sector's new national collective agreement, which is currently being negotiated.

The CSR agreement is divided into two sections. The first part aims to provide a form of 'governance tool' for the banking sector and lays down the principles and the values shared by the signatory parties. The second part provides for companies, on a voluntary basis, to adopt 'socially responsible' behaviour as defined at European level - the March 2000 Lisbon European Council meeting (EU0004241F) called on companies to promote a sense of responsibility, and subsequently the European Commission issued a green paper on CSR in in July 2001 (EU0107228F), followed in July 2002 by a Communication outlining a CSR strategy.

The main principles contained in the first part of the banking sector CSR agreement will be implemented through a 'participative' industrial relations approach, based on the principles established by the national tripartite agreement of 23 July 1993 (IT9709212F). The main objective of the partners' activities will be to enhance human resources through equal opportunities policies, continuing training and employment mobility. The forthcoming sectoral collective agreement will define 'rules able to guarantee reconciliation between company’s objectives and workers’ expectations'. Within this framework, the current performance-related pay mechanism will be reviewed and transparent and objective performance evaluation systems will be introduced. Any disputes on this issue will be resolved through a conciliation mechanism to be set up by Abi.

In the agreement, banking employers make a commitment to informing appropriately workers who operate in banks' sales networks. These workers must receive clear information and rules as to their behaviour, and must provide clients with complete information on the financial products being sold and on their risks.

Companies are obliged by the agreement to respect workers’ fundamental rights and pursue ethical values that address the social and environmental impacts of their activity, including in their operations outside Italy.

Attention is also drawn to current restructuring and reorganisation among credit companies located in Southern Italy. With regard to this process, the signatories have agreed to assess 'very carefully the possibility of a targeted and selective use of the resources of the sector's solidarity training fund'. (IT9803321F).

The second part of the agreement concerns those companies that adopt on a voluntary basis socially responsible behaviour. A national joint observatory will be set up to analyse good practices in CSR and to promote and disseminate them in the Italian banking sector. It will also examine important issues such as industrial relations, health and safety at the workplace, equal opportunities, inclusion of workers with disabilities, positive action to combat harassment and harassing behaviour, and internal communications. Joint meetings on these issues will be also organised by the social partners.

All the parties have welcomed the agreement. According to Fiba-Cisl, the agreement 'represents a further consolidation of the concertation method within the banking sector'.