Textile multinational signs social responsibility agreement

The INDITEX Group, one of the largest clothing distributors in the world, has signed an important framework agreement on corporate social responsibility with the international trade union federation in the sector, namely the International Textiles, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation. The agreement shows the company’s commitment to respect fundamental rights at work across its entire chain and the procedure for monitoring the agreement’s application.

On 8 October 2007, an International Framework Agreement on corporate social responsibility was reached between representatives of the INDITEX Group – one of the largest fashion distributors worldwide – and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (Federación Internacional de Trabajadores del Textil, Vestuario y Cuero, ITGLWF). ITGLWF’s locally-represented organisations include the Spanish Federation of Textiles, Leather, Chemical and Allied Industries, affiliated to the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (Federación de Industrias Textil, Piel, Químicas y Afines- Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras, FITEQA-CC.OO), and the Federation of Allied Industries, affiliated to the General Workers’ Confederation (Federación de Industrias Afines-Unión General de Trabajadores, FIA-UGT).

The framework agreement includes the ‘Code of conduct of manufacturers and external workshops’, which INDITEX has been applying since 2001. Moreover, the agreement expresses the company’s commitment to respect fundamental rights at work throughout their entire production chain and the procedure for monitoring the application of the agreement.

Content of agreement

The agreement presents several main points, including those listed below.

• It recognises the fundamental role of the rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining, laid down in Conventions No. 87 and No. 98 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) as a necessary mechanism for defending fundamental rights at work.

• It establishes a joint commission to monitor compliance with the agreement. To this end, the parties agree to exchange the necessary information on the effective introduction of the rights of association and collective bargaining within INDITEX’s worldwide production and distribution network.

• The external workshops, suppliers and contractors that are directly or indirectly involved in INDITEX’s production chain are responsible for applying the code of conduct and are obliged to make it known to all of their workers, including workplaces in which ITGLWF has no representation. Furthermore, all of these workplaces will authorise inspections and audits to check their individual compliance with the code.

• The parties agree to jointly develop training programmes for the workers and management of the affected workplaces in order to progress in the application of the agreement throughout INDITEX’s entire value chain.

Commentary

This framework agreement is the first one signed by ITGLWF and is the culmination of a process of collaboration between the INDITEX Group and the trade unions in relation to the application of the fundamental labour standards among the company’s worldwide network of suppliers. This cooperation has involved the participation of trade union representatives in INDITEX management meetings with its main international suppliers in China, Morocco, Portugal and Turkey. It has also involved visits to the production centres and interviews with the workers’ representatives in an effort to assess the application of the code of conduct.

According to the assessment made by FITEQA-CC.OO, among companies in the sector, INDITEX has made the most progress in meeting its social responsibility commitments. For example, the auditing system is credible. In 2006, the INDITEX Group suspended its commercial relations with 300 external suppliers of the almost 1,700 companies that make up its global network. The company aims to reduce the number of suppliers despite the planned increase in global production, concentrating the orders in those companies that obtain the best results in audit procedures. Furthermore, ITGLWF will monitor in particular the intervention of the multinational company in disputes that have taken place with Turkish suppliers, where the national legislation places obstacles in the way of trade union activity. The trade union federation will also observe the company’s reaction to reports of child labour at suppliers in northern Portugal (PT0207105F). In the opinion of the trade union, all of these measures provide an added value to the agreement which goes beyond what is stated in the text.

Juan Arasanz Díaz, QUIT, University Autònoma of Barcelona (UAB)