A world of difference A contribution to the Millennium Development Goals
Bargaining for International Development a Prospect project funded by DFID Development Awareness Fund
November 2011 Published by Prospect ISBN 978-0-9564399-4-9 Photos: John Birdsall, British Geological Survey, Stefano Cagnoni, Jonathan Eeles, Oxfam, War on Want Design: editionperiodicals.co.uk Printed by College Hill Press on recycled paper
2  Bargaining for International Development
A world of difference Bargaining for International Development – a Prospect project
Bargaining for International Development  3
CONTENTS
FOREWORD Paul Noon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
CASE STUDIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Lee Parris, EDF Energy Powerlink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
TRADE UNIONS AND DEVELOPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . 7
EFRA branch: Corporate finance for international development 17
How Prospect got involved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
THE BARGAINING FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT 2008-11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 HEADLINE RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 DIMENSIONS OF CHANGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 WHAT HAS CHANGED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
THE SHARED AGENDA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Poverty and occupational health and safety statistics . . . . . 11 Poverty and lack of occupational health . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Poverty – occupational health and child labour . . . . . . . . 12 INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EQUALITIES . . . . . . . 12 Poverty and discrimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Poverty and disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Poverty and indigenous peoples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Clive Davey, Scottish Agricultural College . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 EFRA branch: Opening doors for the international agenda . . . 18 Clare Mumford and Martin Banham, Natural England . . . . . 19 Martin Budd, Mark Chamber, Alan Barnham and Leopold Ngoma, Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency . . . . . . 19 Rebecca Korda, Beshlie Pool and Katie Hall, Marine Management Organisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Satnam Ner, Babcock International, Marine Division . . . . . . 22 Stephanie Lambeth, Big Lottery Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Clare Hawkes and Gaynor Guthrie, Health and Safety Executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Forensic Science Service branch activity . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Prison Service branch activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Roger Key, British Geological Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Gary Biggin, Wales Audit Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Gerald J. La Touche, Advantage West Midlands Regional Development Agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Poverty and women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
GRASSROOTS PROJECTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Poverty and climate change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Say it with flowers: War on Want and Cactus – Colombian flower workers . . . . . 28
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE ENVIRONMENT . . . 13 Putting the ‘social’ back into sustainable development . . . . 13
Oxfam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Climate change and employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Freedom from slavery: Anti Slavery International field trip to brick kilns in rural India . 29
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND DECENT WORK . . . . . 14
Climate adaptation and skills capacity building with Kenya Electrical Trades and Allied Workers’ Union . . . . . . 30
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND UNION LEARNING . . . . 14 Migrant labour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Prospect guidance for reps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4 Bargaining for International Development
FOREWORD union for professionals
Whether you work in the private or public sector, there’s a lot you can do to help to make your employer and colleagues more ethically and socially responsible. See www.prospect.org.uk/ international
international development: make it start in your workplace – to get involved email beverley.hall@prospect.org.uk
Posters and leaflets were produced to support the campaign and encourage members to get involved CSR_A4_poster.indd 1
9/5/08 11:56:26
by Paul Noon, Prospect General Secretary Prospect exists first and foremost as a trade union to protect the individual and collective interests of members at work and in retirement. This is the main focus of our work, to recruit and organise professionals, managers and specialists across all sectors of the economy and to engage with employers to represent their interests. But we know that we do not exist in isolation from the wider world. We have long been active participants in the relevant global union federations and we have strong bilateral relations with unions representing the same sort of members as Prospect in Europe and more widely. In recent years, however, we have added to this a strong commitment to international development work and this has been helped by funding from UK Aid. The results are set out in this booklet, which describes an impressive and effective record of work with members, representatives and branches. We have effectively tapped into their expertise to fight poverty and discrimination, improve – or introduce – occupational health and safety standards, and to protect trade union and human rights. My thanks go to everyone involved, both in Prospect and also our partners in the UK and abroad, for your enthusiasm, dedication and commitment. It really has made a world of difference!
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The UN’s Millennium Development Goals 66 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 66 Achieve universal primary education 66 Promote gender equality and empower women 66 Reduce child mortality 66 Improve maternal health 66 Combat HIV/ AIDS, malaria and other diseases 66 Ensure environmental sustainability
INTRODUCTION Prospect’s international work has evolved over many years through relationships with the Trades Union Congress, non-governmental organisations and global union federations. These have provided a solid foundation for developing the international agenda as a core body of work within the union. The professional knowledge of the union’s diverse membership, coupled with their commitment to contributing to local and global society, has underpinned the growth and themes of this agenda. International development means different things to different people. Prospect’s Bargaining for International Development project, funded by the Department for International Development’s UK Aid Development Awareness Fund, has provided the means to harness member aspirations to make the world a better place by engaging with business practices and charitable work. General secretary Paul Noon has said: “This work is core to our union because it springs from the values of fairness and equality that underpin everything we do. I am proud that Prospect members choose to contribute to civic society in this way.”
Without compromising the union’s belief in the role of employment as a key strategy to fight poverty, Prospect’s approach has been a mix of humanitarian and disaster relief, community development, human rights solidarity, climate change adaptation initiatives and trade union capacity building. Central has been the drive by reps and members to encourage their organisations to link the eight millennium development goals to business practices. The goals were agreed at the United Nations Summit in New York in 2000. The Millennium Declaration promised to free all men, women, and children from the abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty. It was adopted by 189 nations and signed by 147 heads of state, and sets out the commitments, goals, values and principles needed to achieve freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature and shared responsibility. Countries and development institutions have signed up to achieve the goals by a target deadline of 2015. They are not based on any ideology, political persuasion, religion or culture but reflect the problems in the world that need to be addressed.
66 Develop a global partnership for development
Prospect development advocates with full-time staff at the union’s international development seminar, ‘Advocating positive change’, in March 2009 6 Bargaining for International Development
TRADE UNIONS AND DEVELOPMENT co-ordinated the Make Poverty History campaign. Then it opened up various streams of funding, some of which Prospect received from 2006. This supported Prospect’s successful bid for Department for International Development funding, enabling the union to embark on the three-year Bargaining for International Development project. Prospect has been privileged to support trade unionists from developing countries studying at Ruskin College. It has hosted activists from Ghana, Thailand, Kenya, Guatemala, Colombia, South Africa, Zambia, Swaziland, Mauritius, Bangladesh and the Caribbean.
Funding received by Prospect BID project
FUNDING £
The trade union movement is built on the vision and principles of social justice and eradicating gross inequalities, and international development work is a key part of this. Union members are employees, investors, consumers and stakeholders in their communities and social networks. With technology and ease of modern communication, the global village is shrinking, with greater evidence of global interconnectedness, from our supermarket shelves to the reach of organisations in both operations and supply chains. The ‘world of work’ is the global common denominator for international development for Prospect. Unions have an important part to play, together with governments 100,0000 and NGOs, in helping to achieve fairness and justice for 80,000 those who want to work their 60,000 way out of poverty. Trade unions both in the 40,000 UK and the developing world 20,000 have organised networks and core education programmes 0 2006 and are uniquely placed TUC to reach large numbers of workers in all sectors of the world to raise awareness of global issues such as climate change, gender equality, all forms of discrimination, and health issues such as occupational diseases, HIV/Aids and malaria.
How Prospect got involved
Prospect’s formal involvement in the international development agenda began when the TUC scaled up its own work in this area, including offering financial support to affiliated unions for their own project work. The TUC had been conducting policy work and
KETAWU project
2007 TUC
2008 DFID
2009 DFID
2010 DFID
2011 DFID & TUC
YEAR
A separate TUC-DFID partnership fund enabled Prospect to run a Kenya climate change and adaptation project with a sister energy union, Kenya Electrical and Allied Workers Union (KETAWU). The project set out to build KETAWU’s capacity to adapt and grow to meet the impact of climate change in the energy sector in East Africa (see page 29). External funding has enabled Prospect to host international visitors, conduct research, develop pilot training and produce resources such as a
Day-to-day international work, allied to the BID project, has evolved into five key areas, now grounded in Prospect conference policy. They are: 66 policy development and co-ordination 66 networking (advocacy and lobbying) 66 training and mentoring 66 branch and workplace engagement 66 campaign initiatives and project development
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Negotiator’s Guide to Corporate Social Responsibility and Members’ Guide to the Millennium Development Goals. Equally, funding has allowed Prospect to break new ground as the only UK union to pilot specialist workplace activists – development advocates – who are empowered and enabled to engage with employers on CSR, environmental and ethical sustainability and procurement. As this work evolved, support from the TUC has ranged from formal training, enabling unions to share learning, and one-to-one mentoring. The scope of trade union international work is vast and often demanding. It has been a challenge to keep pace with the radical changes taking place globally over the last few years. The TUC has helped guide Prospect through the labyrinth of issues that this agenda encompasses. Alongside the BID project, Prospect has also: 66supported TUC Aid on disaster appeals 66sought solidarity for oppressed trade unionists 66been the labour voice at many events and conferences 66met and hosted trade unionists from around the globe 66met developing country politicians visiting the UK 66developed the relationship with Oxfam.
Prospect’s Negotiator’s Guide to Corporate Social Responsibility calls for workplaces to link the millennium development goals to business practices 8 Bargaining for International Development
THE BARGAINING FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT 2008–2011 The BID project was funded by DFID’s UK Aid Development Awareness Fund. Its purpose was to influence employers’ policies relating to corporate social responsibility and procurement to include development in operations in the developing world. It aimed to integrate this with bargaining agendas, so that Prospect branches and members could identify and achieve their own practical outcomes. It was in line with the DFID fund objectives to: 66build knowledge and understanding of the major challenges and prospects for development, in particular reducing poverty 66build understanding of global interdependence, and awareness that failure to reduce poverty levels has serious consequences for all of us 66generate understanding of and support for international efforts to reduce poverty and promote development, including the millennium development goals 66build understanding of the role that individuals can play; enabling them to make informed choices with the knowledge of how their actions impact on the world around them.
HEADLINE RESULTS
(31 March, 2011) 6645 development advocates trained and 201 members signed up to Prospect’s international network 6633 active development advocates in 23 workplaces 66speakers at 60 branch annual conferences and other external events to address members about the millennium development goals and
Prospect’s international work 6612 branches involved at various stages in initiatives such as supporting NGOs, investigating projects in the developing world, second-hand spectacle collection, ethical sourcing of workwear etc 66seven branches engaged with CSR, procurement and supply chain discussions with employers 66Kenya electricity workers’ project on climate adaptation 66union comments submitted to three consultations – on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development guidelines for multinationals; human rights at work; and the all-party parliamentary group enquiry on agriculture and food development 66six resolutions at Prospect’s 2010 biennial delegate conference 66seven resolutions at 2011 sector conferences 66motions to the TUC women’s conferences in 2009 and 2010.
91% of development advocates felt that the project gave them a voice in their employers’ CSR reporting processes
DIMENSIONS OF CHANGE
Throughout the three-year project Prospect kept track of the targets and expected outcomes by selfmonitoring and evaluation, with external input, and official reports, via the democratic process, to the union’s national executive committee. It became evident early on that the impact of the work was wider than envisaged. Retrospectively, three dimensions were identified as the drivers behind the change the project sought to bring about. Those involved with the project confirmed in Bargaining for International Development 9
Dimensions of change 66 Enabling a framework for formal engagement through the democratic trade union process to enable members to access opportunities to contribute to the development agenda and the MDGs
Prospect international development officer Beverley Hall, who led the BID project for the union
66 Perceptions Bring about positive change in perceptions to both Prospect staff and members 66 Behavioural change to both corporate and individual behaviour concerning contribution to global poverty reduction.
a survey at the end that the international agenda has brought about change in varying degrees, on a collective and individual level.
WHAT HAS CHANGED?
There were 67 responses to the survey, 46 from members and 21 from staff. The ratio of public to private sector was three to one, with a similar breakdown for development advocates. The BID project successfully encouraged respondents into a range of activities. The most popular in ascending order were: 66signed a petition – 83% 66informally discussed development issues (i.e. child labour etc) with family, friends and work colleagues (76%) 66formally discussed the millennium development goals, international briefings etc with respondent’s branch (69%) 66contributed to emergency relief appeals (65.5%) 66discussed BID issues with their employer (52%) or initiated an activity in the workplace (52%). Respondents who are not currently development 10 Bargaining for International Development
advocates reported activity, indicating the potential for the development advocate network to grow. The project has increased awareness of the importance of global interdependence and active engagement among 45% of Prospect members, 42% of respondents’ social networks, 39% of Prospect branch committees and 37.5% of family and friends. But even where there was no active engagement, understanding has increased for 55% of respondents’ work colleagues. Only a few respondents found that there had been no evident change among all these groups, with just two development advocates identifying no change with Prospect members or their branch committee. Respondents’ views of the Bargaining for International Development project’s achievements were positive: 6668% felt the project had raised awareness 6677% felt training and briefing materials enabled respondents to engage with employers and colleagues 6667% felt that there was branch engagement 6670% felt empowered to support initiatives 6686% felt the project demonstrated that trade unions have a role to play in contributing to international development.
THE SHARED AGENDA Recognising a ‘shared agenda’ is the key outcome and area of learning for long-term sustainability of the BID project – throughout the three years it showed how the international agenda cuts across all aspects of trade union activity and traditional roles. It became clear that traditional roles have an international dimension and that established roles within employer negotiating structures can contribute to reducing global poverty. Winning arguments with employers and union-led targeted interventions – particularly in organisations’ corporate social responsibility and procurement practices – can impact on the lives of people in the developing world. Health and safety reps, environment reps, equality and diversity reps and union learning reps can support the international agenda by engaging with employers to establish whether the standards we expect in our workplaces here in the UK are applied to suppliers, contractors and operations along the supply chains both locally and in the developing world.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Health and safety is rarely mentioned in the same breath as international development, but OHS is increasingly recognised as a basic requirement to all forms of work and underpins decent wealth creation and human development. Occupational injury or the death of a key waged household member is likely to plunge a family into deep poverty. Poor health and safety is bad for workers, employers and governments. Global poverty and inadequate OHS are interrelated and unions are clear that global poverty and inadequate OHS are interrelated and unions are well placed to make a contribution to poverty reduction.
Poverty and health and safety statistics Each day an average of 6,000 people die as a result of work-related accidents or diseases, totalling more than 2.2 million work-related deaths a year. Of these, about 350,000 deaths are from workplace accidents and more than 1.7 million are from work-related diseases. In addition, commuting accidents increase the burden with another 158,000 fatal accidents. Each year workers fall victim to some 160 million incidences of work-related disease. Hazardous substances kill about 438,000 workers annually, and 10% of all skin cancers are estimated to be attributable to workplace exposure to hazardous substances. Younger workers are more at risk from serious non-fatal accidents than their older colleagues, due to general lack of work experience and understanding of workplace hazards, as well as a lack of safety and health training and general lack of physical and emotional maturity.
There are more than 2.2 million work-related deaths a year. Of these, about 350,000 deaths are from workplace accidents and more than 1.7 million from workplace diseases
Poverty and lack of occupational health According to the International Labour Organisation, twice as many people die because of their work as die in a war and conflict. Four per cent of global gross domestic product is lost as a result of work-related accidents and disease – equivalent to 20 times the value of all public assistance provided to the developing world. The link between poverty and inadequate OHS is clear. Employment and social benefits such as sick pay, pensions and basic health care in many developing countries are nonexistent. In others they are inadequate, difficult to access or barely affordable, adding to family and community poverty. Bargaining for International Development 11
66 A child who is forced to work misses out on primary education.
the world’s poorest people are somehow united by their shared poverty and sense of exploitation, or that it is less consequential compared to their other problems.
66 A child who is educated is more able to escape from poverty.
Poverty and discrimination
Poverty – occupational health and child labour
66 A child who dies or is maimed or ill does not become economically productive. The International Labour Organisation estimates that there are 215 million child labourers in the world today. Of these, 115 million are engaged in hazardous work. About 53 per cent of children (68 million) engaged in hazardous work are in agriculture, most of them in developing countries. Pesticides are among the most severe hazards children and adults are exposed to in agriculture. It is easy to see why mitigating risks, promoting safer and healthier workplaces, safer technology and progressively reducing pesticide use will improve decent work for adults and the wellbeing of children. Studies from both industrialised and developing countries indicate that every minute of every day, a child labourer somewhere in the world suffers a work-related accident, illness or psychological trauma.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EQUALITIES
Discrimination is a barrier to decent work for all, and there is a crucial link between poverty eradication, employment and equality. Trade unions have been instrumental in the gains made in developing countries to eradicate discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, disability, religion, marital status and sexual orientation. It may be tempting to think that discrimination is not a problem in developing countries – that 12 Bargaining for International Development
The International Labour Organisation says: “Discrimination in employment and occupation means treating people differently and less favourably because of characteristics that are not related to their merit or the requirements of the job. These characteristics include race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction and social origin.” Other kinds of discrimination that the ILO and its constituents are concerned with include age, disability, HIV/AIDS, religion and sexual orientation. Anti-union discrimination is also persistent and widespread. The elimination of discrimination is a key aim, contained in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
Poverty and disability Disability is both a cause of and a consequence of poverty. Seventy-five per cent of the world’s disabled people live in developing countries and they are the poorest of the poor, with extremely limited access to education and employment. Fifty per cent of disability in developing countries is either preventable or treatable, and it is estimated that only 2% of disabled people in developing countries have access to basic services.
Poverty and indigenous peoples There are 370 million indigenous peoples in the world, made up of 5,000 distinct peoples in over 70 countries. They represent 5% of the world’s population but 15% of the world’s poor. Indigenous peoples experience extreme discrimination in terms of accessing employment
FUNDED BY
union for professionals
and access to or use of ancestral lands and natural resources.
rising sea levels, yet they are the least equipped to deal with them.
Poverty and women
Poverty and climate change
For many development practitioners, eliminating discrimination against women and empowering them is considered a pillar to development. A cluster of millennium development goals relates to the wellbeing of women and children. These include removing gender discrimination, improving maternal health, ensuring universal access to primary education, and reducing child mortality.
Climate change is already affecting the world’s poorest countries – from increased frequency and severity of flooding in Bangladesh to changing rainfall patterns across Africa, bringing drought Bargaining for and crop failures to countries like Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan. As well as being hit first, the poorest are also hit hardest because they are less equipped to cope with the effects of climate change. People living in developing countries often depend heavily on their natural environment, and will be disproportionately hit by the effects of climate change. A two-degree increase in temperature would mean: 66increased weather variability, more frequent and intense extreme events, and greater exposure to coastal storm surges, leading to a much higher risk of catastrophic and irreversible devastation 66between 100-400 million more people could be at risk of hunger 661-2 billion more people would face water shortages 66a permanent 4-5% of gross domestic product would be lost in Africa and South Asia 66rising temperatures will lengthen the transmission seasons of vector-borne diseases such as malaria.
66Women make up 70% of the world’s poor. 66Violence against women accounts for more death and disability than cancer, malaria, traffic injuries and war put together. 66Women spend shorter hours in paid work than men, but more hours in overall work than men. Women’s paid employment is concentrated in the highly unregulated ‘anything goes’ informal economy and they will typically earn 17% less than men for like work. 66Women face considerable discrimination in terms of accessing land, jobs, credit and capital. 66Maternal mortality is the least-improved MDG. In Sierra Leone, for instance, a woman has a one in eight chance of dying during pregnancy or childbirth, compared to a risk of one in 8,000 in the industrialised world.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Environmental problems, including climate change, and issues associated with global poverty are described as a ‘perfect storm’. Developing countries will bear three-quarters of the negative impact of changing weather patterns, water shortages and
international development in your workplace
A leaflet outlining the aims of the project for use by reps within Prospect
Putting the ‘social’ back into sustainable development Efforts to address environmental issues can only succeed if the human agenda is made part of the Bargaining for International Development 13
Prospect members at the Big Lottery Fund listen to a guest speaker from Ghana during a union learning event
human displacement on a massive level, causing major disruption to communities and employment. Rising temperatures and variable precipitation damages crops, leading to vulnerable food supplies, hunger and high unemployment in the harvesting and crop-processing sectors. Workers and enterprises alike will find it difficult to cope with migration, mortality, acute staff turnover and the loss of qualified workers. Work patterns, practices and types of employment will begin to change as we adapt to climate change through new technologies. picture. All too often, the word sustainability is used to focus only on environmental issues. The original concept of sustainable development embraced environmental concerns as well as social, economic and political ones. The UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs states: “Sustainable development is about making sure that people throughout the world can satisfy their basic needs now, while making sure that future generations can also look forward to the same quality of life. Sustainable development recognises that the three ‘pillars’ – the economy, society and the environment – are interconnected.” There is little doubt that environmental concerns now dominate many organisations’ understanding and reporting of ‘sustainability’. Some Prospect branches have piloted joint working in their workplaces, with development advocates, environmental reps and management working together, not only to meet carbon reduction targets but also to investigate ways of aligning their work and procurement to the millennium development goals. See case studies for the Marine Management Organisation (page 20) and Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (page 19).
Climate change and employment Over 50% of the world’s population lives within 60km of the sea. Rising sea levels will therefore necessitate 14 Bargaining for International Development
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND UNION LEARNING
Union learning reps are well placed to disseminate information in workplaces and signpost specialist members to donate their skills and knowledge to non-governmental organisations and charities. They can also arrange learning events that have international themes. See the Big Lottery Fund case study on page 22.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND DECENT WORK
Around 1.4 billion people, including over 50% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa, live on less than $1.25 a day – the World Bank’s measure of poverty. The financial crisis has heightened awareness of the working poor, with the International Labour Organisation stating that “in 2009, as many as 215 million workers were at risk of falling into poverty. In 2008, 633 million workers and their families were living on less than US $1.25 per day.” Being paid a fair wage with secure employment is fundamental to human dignity. The creation of decent jobs, with social protection and safe and healthy working conditions, can be at the centre of all the strategies for reducing poverty. The concept of decent work was introduced and promoted by the ILO in 1999 and encapsulates the
Quinton Dlameni, a Swaziland trade unionist and malaria specialist, at Prospect headquarters during a visit to the UK in 2008
principles of productive work for men and women in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. The agenda is based on four pillars 66Employment 66Rights 66Social protection 66Dialogue.
Migrant labour It is also important to recognise the domestic agenda on migrant labour. Money earned here in the UK is often sent back home via international remittances,
which make up significant foreign currency flows into the home country. Depriving migrant labourers of a decent wage and a safe environment in which to work has a direct impact on families and communities in the developing world.
Prospect guidance for reps Prospect has produced a range of briefings for reps which go into more practical detail about how they can include their particular role in international work. Please see the international area of the union’s website at www.prospect.org.uk/international Bargaining for International Development  15
CASE STUDIES
Lee Parris – EDF Energy Powerlink KEY THEMES: Corporate accountability and auditing, technical expertise to the KETAWU project Lee Parris is a health and environment engineer with Powerlink, which is responsible for managing, operating and maintaining the electrical power network for London Underground. Until 2010 it was part of EDF Energy, and Lee was a union representative on the EDF Energy European Works Council.
Lee Parris met doctors caring for displaced people in Laos
Lee’s passion for local social action grew to incorporate a global dimension, with a particular interest in CSR accountability and verification. The training provided by the BID project allowed Lee to help develop Prospect’s strategy on how CSR policies and forums could be harnessed to encourage organisations to view their operational and philanthropic work and align it to the millennium development goals. Working with Prospect negotiator Azim Hajee, the EDF European Works Council contributed to
16 Bargaining for International Development
Lee Parris (right) in a workshop at a Prospect seminar on CSR
a second and more robust level of accountability through a new global agreement. As a result, Lee was selected, in his trade union capacity, to conduct a CSR verification audit on the Nam Theun 2 hydropower dam in Laos, South East Asia, where EDF is a principal contractor. While there he built a relationship with a group of doctors responsible for the health care of displaced indigenous people. Lee has participated in discussions with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand and EGAT LU, the Thai energy trade union. He also contributed to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s consultation on revised guidance for multinational corporations. He has addressed a TUC fringe meeting on corporate accountability and the millennium development goals, and assisted with the Prospect project in Kenya by sharing health and safety expertise with visiting project partners. EDF Energy’s former networks business and the Powerlink business are now owned by UK Power Networks, following the 2010 acquisition by CKG, a global infrastructure company within transportation, energy and water infrastructurerelated businesses. Lee now hopes to participate in the sustainability programme of the new company and its owners, transferring his knowledge to encourage the new owners down the CSR route.
Clive Davey – Scottish Agricultural College KEY THEMES: Corporate social responsibility, contribution to the millennium development goals and grassroots project Clive Davey, branch secretary of SAC, became aware of human rights abuses, and specifically trade union persecution, when watching a DVD about the murder of trade unionists in Guatemala. He was inspired to raise this aspect of the “other world at work” at his annual branch conference in January 2008. Clive took part in the BID project’s pilot training programme, and has applied what he learnt to several actions in his workplace. The range of successes within SAC includes: 66implementing an ethical procurement policy for the IT department 66all refreshment dispensing machines on SAC’s three campuses are now Fairtrade 66contributing to the consultation on the college’s new CSR policy, with an agreement stating that Prospect is an official stakeholder in the CSR process 66leading arguments against cutting funding for crop research 66holding training for management and branch
members on CSR and procurement in relation to the MDGs 66hosting a joint management and Prospect event to celebrate SAC’s contribution to the development agenda. Clive and others also became involved in supporting a grassroots project, signing a formal memorandum of understanding with Bunda College of Agriculture in Malawi. Clive initiated an application to the Department for International Development and the Economic and Social Research Council growth programme for a project to enable and support behavioural change towards sustainable resource use. The proposal has been developed to engage with the millennium development goals. It seeks to develop a partnership to strengthen education and knowledge exchange related to key MDG themes, particularly, though not exclusively, goal 1 (poverty and hunger); goal 3 (promote gender equality and empower women), goal 7 (environmental sustainability) and goal 8 (global partnership). Clive has now been joined by two further development advocates at SAC – Rachel Darling, who has a keen interest in ethical tourism, and Alan Young, a procurement practitioner.
Clive Davey
EFRA – Corporate finance for international development A consistent concern about the efficacy of corporate finance – particularly in relation to the government procurement card service provider – emerged across all the agencies of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Prospect EFRA branch development advocates Martin Banham and Martin Budd led research and campaigning on this issue.
An open letter, dated 11 February 2011, was sent to Andrew Croston, integrated commercial strategy programme director and head of procurement and commercial services. Members employed in core DEFRA and some of its agencies signed the letter, including: Russell Brown (DEFRA); Mark Chambers, Alan Barnham, Bargaining for International Development 17
Martin Budd (Veterinary Laboratories Agency); Amos Adalade (Rural Payments Agency); Rebecca Korda, Beshlie Pool (Marine Management Organisation); David James (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science); Ged Kerrins, Helen Owens (Food and Environment Research Agency); Catherine Donaldson, Leopold Ngoma (Animal Health); Martin Banham, Rebecca Kind (Natural England). As a result, meetings were held with procurement and finance staff in the Food and Environment Research Agency and core DEFRA, where development advocates shared information on the millennium development goals and how ethically sourced finance arrangements can contribute to poverty reduction and good human rights practices. Following a successful resolution to Prospect’s 2011 civil service sector conference, advocacy will continue on this and will be addressed in forums within the Office of Government Commerce and the Cabinet Office Efficiency and Reform Group. The letter stated: “We believe that DEFRA should be setting an example within government in working towards the MDGs and that all of our business processes should take this aim into account… We wish to formally request that all future procurement, with specific reference to the current GPC service contract in the first instance, reflects DEFRA’s ethical commitments to a just and sustainable world with contribution to the MDGs through responsible,
Voting at the 2011 civil service sector conference thus truly sustainable, procurement practices.” Showing the link to the MDGs it pointed out: “… the amount of funds held offshore by individuals is about $11.5 trillion – with a resulting annual loss of tax revenue on the income from these assets of about $250bn. This is five times what the World Bank estimated in 2002 was needed to address the UN millennium development goal of halving world poverty by 2015… We understand that some of DEFRA agencies’ most significant contracts are their Government Procurement Card contracts… it is well documented that some of our existing GPC suppliers are world leaders in tax avoidance – technically legal, but contrary to the intention of UK tax laws and depriving the least developed countries and the UK of tax receipts.”
EFRA – Opening doors to the international agenda
Prospect organiser Sharon Brown
Sharon Brown, Prospect organiser for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs branch, has encouraged members to become involved in the international agenda. She arranged presentations on the millennium development goals at committee meetings, all-staff seminars and recruitment events, and organised
18 Bargaining for International Development
exhibitions and activities aimed at attracting young members, many of whom are motivated by global and environmental concerns. Traditional organising practices, aligned with additional support from the BID project, have attracted younger people to join Prospect. Through mentoring and training they have become active in their workplaces and committees.
Clare Mumford and Martin Banham – Natural England KEY THEMES: Contribution to the millennium development goals via procurement and support of a grassroots project
ethical and pro-poor purchasing practices as well as practical ethical and pro-poor purchasing choices that staff can make 66collaboratively designing a staff survey to Prospect members Clare Mumford and Martin test current knowledge of sustainability and Banham of Natural England (pictured) became poverty reduction. It gathered views on how involved with the Bargaining for International the organisational policies impact on individual Development project from two different directions. choices by staff using the government Clare, a delivery leader at Natural England, is procurement card. The survey was completed an anthropologist who has worked in North and by 861 Natural England staff and a report Central America. Clare persuaded her branch (EFRA) published on the work intranet. The key to support a product-labelling campaign that would findings indicated: benefit Palestinian farmers and shine the spotlight • those who currently try to inject social/ on the companies involved in constructing the wall humanitarian concerns into their purchasing in the West Bank. want to be able to do so more consistently Martin, a land management adviser and and intelligently landscape specialist, previously campaigned • those who currently don’t would like to with student group ‘Speak’, which helped lobby know where to start. and achieve greater corporate responsibility 66Martin, in conjunction with within the Companies Act 2006. Clare and management, arranged training for Martin have engaged with their union 40 Natural England and Environment colleagues in Defra and with their procurement Agency procurement staff on how to managers. harness their purchasing power to Prospect Achievements include: make a global difference to their supply development 66designing and distributing a poster about chains. advocate responsible purchasing practices which Martin 66arranging member meetings to share highlighted the sustainable work Natural Banham best practice. England is committed to. It emphasises
Martin Budd, Mark Chambers, Alan Barnham, Leopold Ngoma – AHVLA KEY THEME: Contribution to the millennium development goals through corporate responsibility and knowledge exchange The Veterinary Laboratories Agency’s mission statement is “To safeguard public and animal health,
protect the economy and enhance food security through world-class veterinary research and surveillance.” Members believed that this provided scope for corporate social responsibility at international levels and for initiatives linking with
Martin Budd, AHVLA
Bargaining for International Development 19
the millennium development goals. Several of VLA’s existing activities apply social responsibility principles, such as scientific tutorials for schools; international research projects; and more recently ‘VLA Global’, which covers various activities with an international dimension. Prospect reps have encouraged CSR for several years, by promoting sustainable development and social concern during Whitley Council meetings. This has led to increased consideration of welfare and environmental issues in decision-making, and extended VLA’s vision internationally of gearing its work to global concerns and contribution to the MDGs. The BID project equipped the development advocates to make informed recommendations to the directorate on CSR. Awareness-raising on these issues has been received positively. A working group was formed with VLA management to take things forward. The achievements of the CSR working group, and work in progress, include: 66a CSR web page that highlights local charity
endeavours, sustainable development and informatively demonstrates the importance of CSR and the MDGs 66comparing the policies and practices of Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency with ISO26000 CSR guidance to help focus efforts 66reviewing options for tracking procurement and supply chains 66presenting a set of VLA projects as case studies that contribute to the MDGs, in particular: control of bovine TB in Ethiopia and control of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in north-east Namibia, where large numbers of cattle had been dying of the disease. By helping to sustain food and income, these projects contribute to the UN’s goal on poverty. In April 2011 the VLA merged with Animal Heath to form a new agency, Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA). CSR remains high on the agenda of the Prospect development advocates and is being actively pursued with the new directorship of AHVLA.
Rebecca Korda, Beshlie Pool and Katie Hall – MMO KEY JOINT THEME: Sustainable development policy and procurement. Individual theme: NGO support Beshlie Pool was one of a youth and student delegation visiting Southern Africa in September 2010, on a trip organised by campaign group Action for Southern Africa. The group gained an understanding of the successes and on-going challenges facing the new South Africa and an insight into the struggle for democracy and rights in Swaziland. They shared ideas with their counterparts in trade unions, students’ unions and youth organisations, gained 20 Bargaining for International Development
an understanding of South Africa’s history and the legacy of apartheid and looked at development in the region. Also in 2010, Rebecca Korda climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with a US-based tour operator. She undertook this sponsored climb not only as an individual but also as a trade union representative, raising £1,000 for the charity Médecins Sans Frontières. Rebecca had researched the tour company to ensure that it was ethically and environmentally sound but was shocked by an experience during
Prospect reps Katie Hall, Rebecca Korda, Beshlie Pool and Jane Lister are working together at MMO the trip. She was surprised at the level of wages paid to the porters, and observed that they lacked appropriate equipment. One porter in the group died on the mountain and the tour operator appeared to have made no provision for medical assistance and/or rescue for staff. Liaising with The Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project, Rachel lodged a complaint with the tour operator. With the KPA she discussed labour conditions, wages, equipment and access to medical assistance. The KPA acted as an intermediary between the deceased porter’s family and the tour operator to ensure they were paid any compensation due to them and the porter’s wages from the trip. The KPA agreed to press the US-based company, Adventures within Reach, to comply with labour standards on pay and conditions, with protection by way of contracts and education for those working for their partners, Eco Tours in Tanzania. Katie Hall raised funds to visit Brazil and support and spend time with a non-governmental organisation, Open Hands. This NGO constructs
homes and re-houses families living in Brazil’s worst slums or ‘favelas’. It has now completed 12 houses for the project in Campo Largo, Southern Brazil. So far 48 people are now out of the slums and living in well-built homes. Brazil’s slums or ‘favelas’ are places of shocking poverty and decay. Many homes are built of little more than trash. Crime and disease are rife – it can be a frightening, hopeless existence. Together the young professionals at the MMO are taking forward the sustainability agenda within the organisation. Under the auspices of the BID project and supported by the section chair, Jeremy Sooben, they aim to engage with management by co-ordinating a sustainable development work group that addresses all three pillars of sustainability – social, environmental and economic factors. Their first notable success has been to secure agreement on the purchase of women’s workwear and protective personal equipment, so that all items have been researched and checked for their ethical sourcing and environmental impact.
Beshlie Pool in S Africa
Bargaining for International Development 21
Satnam Ner – Babcock International, Marine Division
Above, graduates were given the task of researching CSR at Babcock Marine (Rosyth); and, right, branch chair and development advocate Satnam Ner
KEY THEME: Contribution to the millennium development goals via corporate responsibility policy Babcock International is a successful company with a strong background in engineering and facilities management. Satnam Ner, a nuclear health and safety physicist by profession, is chair of the Prospect branch at Rosyth Royal Dockyard. He was aware that work had begun in Babcock International to develop its corporate social responsibility policy at the time Prospect’s Negotiator’s Guide to Corporate Social Responsibility was published. Being a global company with numerous philanthropic initiatives, Babcock gave a group of
graduates the task of researching and recommending a CSR policy for the company. Satnam introduced these graduates to the millennium development goals and the Prospect approach to corporate responsibility. Two hundred Rosyth Royal Dockyard Prospect members heard a presentation about the Bargaining for International Development project at their annual general meeting in December 2008. Representatives then met the senior management team at Rosyth. Two Prospect members from the dockyard then attended the BID pilot training in 2009. Babcock sponsored two graduates to attend a Prospect seminar workshop in 2009 on corporate responsibility and the MDGs. They included lessons they had learned at the seminar and from Prospect’s approach to CSR in the final presentation when they recommended policy to Babcock management. An additional workshop took place in Edinburgh in 2009 for supply chain business development managers, graduates and Prospect members. It investigated the links made to the MDGs via procurement practices.
Stephanie Lambeth, union learning rep – Big Lottery Fund KEY THEME: Learning at work day events and Fairtrade Prospect union learning rep Stephanie Lambeth has used the international development agenda to host some informal learning sessions at her workplace. These were well attended by staff at the Big Lottery Fund’s London office. A session was held during adult learners’ week which focused on women workers in the developing world and was tied in with a presentation and quiz 22 Bargaining for International Development
Prospect’s Beverley Hall with speaker Kwame Ocloo and Big Lottery Fund union learning rep Stephanie Lambeth at the Black History Month event
by Banana Link. Another event linked Black History Month with the London-based Youth Learning Network, which has strong ties with Ghana. Stephanie has also supported the Fairtrade Fortnight. She organised a locally-based event in London, giving away free samples of Fairtrade goods, putting up free posters from the campaign in the office and keeping magazines and postcards on display in shared office areas (eg. reception), even after the event was over. Stephanie says: “Union learning reps promote
learning in its broadest sense at work and so what better than to raise awareness of important issues through some informal events that bring all staff together, regardless of union membership?” She points out that many have been enthused by the sessions, which have helped to raise morale and given Prospect a few new members. “The session on learning at work day even had staff bringing in their old spectacles when they learnt about Prospect’s Sight for Sore Eyes campaign,” adds Stephanie (see page 26).
Clare Hawkes and Gaynor Guthrie – Health and Safety Executive KEY THEMES: Abused and oppressed women, professional expertise for sweatshop workers in Honduras and killer jeans campaign Clare Hawkes, a health and safety inspector from Prospect’s Health and Safety Executive branch, joined a delegation to Honduras to participate in a conference organised by War on Want partner, CODEMUH (the Honduran women’s and feminist campaigning collective). Part of the trip was spent meeting women employed in vast sweatshops who suffer from crippling musculoskeletal disorders as a result of the abysmal working conditions. On her return Clare wanted to improve her grasp of global issues and has been studying for a parttime MSc in Development Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Clare is motivated by a strong belief in collective action to achieve social justice. She has worked as a Voluntary Services Overseas volunteer in Nepal with women infected and affected by HIV and AIDS and survivors of trafficking. This experience spurred her to get involved with Prospect’s project. Clare has raised awareness of conditions
for women in the sweatshops of Latin America, addressing colleagues, Prospect’s national executive committee, an International Women’s Day event and a fringe meeting at the union’s 2010 Biennual Delegate Conference. She has highlighted the contribution of a safe and healthy working environment to alleviating poverty contributing to economic growth and development. Gaynor Guthrie, an HSE medical inspector, has joined Clare in raising awareness of working conditions in the developing world that lead to ill health and premature death. Gaynor became interested in the international agenda when she realised that workers, including children, from developing countries are exploited to produce cheap, throwaway clothes for the UK market. Production processes banned in the UK are still used in the developing world to produce designer jeans. For example sandblasting, where
Clare Hawkes, second left, with women from CODEMUH during her visit to their conference in Honduras
Bargaining for International Development 23
workers fire sand under high pressure at jeans to produce a faded effect, places them at risk of developing silicosis (www.killerjeans.org). Gaynor has circulated campaign information relating to
sandblasting, which has been banned in the UK for many years because it causes rapid fibrosis of the lungs, with long-term health effects for survivors and early death for the majority.
Forensic Science Service – branch activity KEY THEME: Child labour and access to education and health care In October 2008 Prospect hosted a meeting with War on Want and a partner organisation, Asociacion Conrado de La Cruz from Guatemala, which works towards eliminating the worst forms of child labour. In Guatemala child labour is often invisible, even though it is estimated that there are nearly 1.2 million child workers, with an estimated 400,000 children not receiving any form of basic education – either because they are street children or child workers. Many work in the informal sectors of agriculture (coffee, sugar and bananas), domestic work, fruit packing and shoe shining. Helen Kenny, Forensic Science Service branch secretary, felt that the branch could best support the work in Guatemala by raising money to support Conrado de La Cruz and raise awareness of child labour. Staff responded with enthusiasm across all seven FSS labs and the branch raised £1,340. The union offered to donate £10 of each new member’s
Helen Kenny (second right) with general secretary Paul Noon (second left) handing over a cheque to support the Guatemala campaign first subscription to War on Want’s Conrado de la Cruz education project for Mayan schoolgirls in Guatemala. “We are really pleased with the response,” said Helen. “The charity link was a big factor and so was the transformation programme hanging over members at FSS.”
Prison Service – branch activity KEY THEME: Colombian human rights and political prisoners In August 2008 Liliany Patricia Obando (right), an academic and women’s rights campaigner, was detained by the Colombian authorities and accused of rebellion. She is a single mother with two small 24 Bargaining for International Development
children. Prospect has long been associated with Justice for Colombia, a campaigning nongovernmental organisation. When Linda Wall, a Prospect organiser, played a JFC video clip on trade union abuses in
Colombia to members of the Prison Service branch, they felt it would be good to support the political prisoner campaign in a practical way. As part of a recruitment campaign the branch raised awareness of the campaign to free Liliany and of the human rights abuses in Colombia. They raised £470 to support her legal battle, donating £10 to JFC for every new member recruited. A second appeal in support of trade unionist Alirio Garcia raised £340. Alirio has
Prospect took part in a vigil outside the Colombian embassy calling for the release of Liliany Obando subsequently been released from detention (as was his wife Rosalba earlier in the year, in June 2011).
Roger Key – British Geological Survey KEY THEME: Corporate social responsibility and natural disaster assistance Most of Roger Key’s career has been spent working in Sub-Sahara Africa, where he has been involved in geological/geochemical mapping projects that have included working with young African geoscientists. Working in Africa made Roger aware of the importance of corporate social responsibility and how his own employing organisation was contributing to the millennium development goals. But he felt that more could be achieved by ensuring that corporate social responsibility and procurement policies are socially responsible. They needed to become the means to reduce the differences in living standards between people trying to make a living in developing countries and those in the UK. He has seen that the wages of people living in most rural communities in Africa have not significantly increased over the last 40 years. These conditions motivated Roger to get involved in Prospect’s international development project. Even though currently managing a World Bankfunded project in Nigeria that involves over 100 geoscientists from the UK, Finland and Nigeria, Roger managed to attend the Bargaining for International Development training courses. His achievements include:
66communicating with Research Councils UK’s shared services on their procurement policy to ensure that there is a proper audit trail for all the equipment bought on behalf of the UK research councils. They provided a copy of their
Roger Key (right) in Nigeria
Bargaining for International Development 25
procurement policy document that includes a section on ‘Sustainable Procurement Policy’. This section highlights the mapping of the supply chain to better understand social and ethical issues
bought through shared services 66encouraging the Natural Environment Research Council branch of Prospect, which as this book went to press was selecting a charity to support in a project to mitigate the effects of natural disasters or improve the conditions of people in developing countries. Many NERC employees are involved in work related directly or indirectly to such projects.
66participating in discussions with various departments in the British Geological Survey on its procurement policies for items not
Gary Biggin – Wales Audit Office KEY THEME: Sight for poor eyes; Together, bringing the world into focus
sigHt
For Poor EYEs
Vision Aid Overseas
Sight_poster_2006.indd
1
Photo: Freddie Brown
26 Bargaining for International Development
(in England) No. 1081695
to g e t h e r ,
is a registered charity
so why not dig out your old pairs of disused spectacles and donate them, through your local branch of Vision express, to Vision Aid overseas. Your donation will help to give sight back to poor people in developing countries For further information please contact Beverley Hall via email at beverley.hall@prosp ect.org.uk or call 020 7902 6633
b r i n g i n g
t h e
wo r l d
i n to
f o c u s 3/11/06 12:04:39 pm
www.prospect.org.uk
Gary Biggin of Prospect’s Wales Audit Office Branch has helped collect many hundreds of pairs of used and old spectacles to be refurbished and sent to poor parts of the world. They were collected by a co-ordinated campaign in Wales Audit Office buildings, and through a campaign run from Llandaff Cathedral, in the diocese which covers south east Wales. Gary wrote articles based on the material on the Prospect website for Refresh, the internal Wales Audit Office staff publication, for Croeso, the Llandaff diocesan newspaper, and the word spread from there. Posters were displayed as widely as possible. Most recently, a small chain of two hundred million people in local opticians joined in and the deVeloping world need deliveries of used spectacles of spec tAcles to liVe all sorts and fashions continue An ordinArY life to arrive. On some occasions, the Prospect office in Cardiff has been filled with carrier bags and holdalls full of used
Development advocate Gary Biggin coordinated the collection of used spectacles and wrote articles about the campaign spectacles. Rosemary Johns and Michaela Underdown, the Cardiff office executive assistants, have spent many lunch hours delivering them. Gary says: “My message is simple. Many people have old spectacles cluttering up their houses. Many are reluctant to just throw them away and are glad of an opportunity to put them to good use. Start collecting now… and give someone the gift of sight.”
Gerald J. La Touche – Advantage West Midlands RDA KEY THEME: Personal development and career progression Gerald J. La Touche, Advantage West Midlands’ regional economic strategy manager and Prospect branch chair, has been studying for a Masters in international relations (globalisation and governance, international law and organisations, international political economy) and is due to graduate in December 2011. Born in the Caribbean, Gerald has a personal and professional interest in international development. He signed up for Bargaining for International Develop ment project training because he saw it as a practical action to complement the theoretical aspect of his MA. He also found it valuable to Gerald J. understand the links between La Touche – practitioners and advocates, their theory and area of expertise/place of work, practice and their projects. The BID project training and working on his MA have now set Gerald on a career-changing path, which he hopes will be in the international arena. Gerald intends to continue his Prospect membership and his role as a development advocate. Gerald’s writing on issues related to human rights and justice is accessible by searching the internet.
Farmers have received help to grow produce on newly irrigated land in the Gutu area, south eastern Zimbabwe, thanks to the Oxfam irrigation project supported by Prospect – see over page
Bargaining for International Development 27
GRASSROOTS PROJECTS Oxfam
KEY THEME: Humanitarian aid Prospect’s relationship with Oxfam began with a conference resolution passed in 1986 which established a charitable trust fund for the relief of poverty and ill health in “third world countries”. A second motion guaranteed an income for the fund of not less than £50,000 for five years. Prospect’s national executive committee decided to concentrate help in the initial two years on the region of Eritrea. The support for this fund has continued over the years with annual donations being given to the overall project pool. In 2007 Prospect’s national executive became actively involved in helping choose projects to which the money is dedicated. Since then Prospect has supported the following projects: CAMBODIA – 2007 (£28,000): Project to minimise the impact of flooding on the lives and livelihoods of people and communities that live along the Mekong and Tonle Sap river systems. KENYA – 2008 (£17,400): Nomad education project
Work on the Oxfam Cambodia project that established and equipped ten new mobile schools for the children of nomadic (pastoralist) families. ZIMBABWE – 2009 (£16,660) and 2010 (£17,040): Food security and irrigation project next to the Ruti dam. This has helped local people construct an irrigation system and grow their own food (photo, page 27). The project is training and building the skills of smallholder farmers. An irrigation management committee comprising local people has been set up. The project has also included awareness activities for local communities on HIV and AIDS, gender equality, health and hygiene.
Say it with flowers: War on Want and Cactus – Colombian flower workers KEY THEME: Improving the health and safety conditions of women flower workers in Colombia Between 2005 and 2007, Prospect linked up with War on Want to financially support Cactus, a Colombian self-help group for flower workers and their children to improve health and safety conditions in the Savannah de Bogota area. Flower cultivation has grown to be one of Colombia’s major export industries and employs around 90,000 workers, of whom 70% are women. Most women are hired on short-term contracts of three 28 Bargaining for International Development
to six months, which are not renewed for those who become pregnant or ill, often with jobrelated illnesses. Health risks are high because the workers are exposed to a toxic cocktail of chemicals used to destroy pests and fungus, and to keep flowers fresh for the export market. According to the Colombian National Institute of Health, women on flower farms experience higher-than-average rates of miscarriages, premature births and congenital malformations. Workers exposed to pesticides also suffer skin
Flower worker and Sintrasplendor president Beatriz Fuentes on a visit to Britain organised by War on Want. While in the UK she visited Prospect HQ lesions, allergies, respiratory problems, fainting spells, headaches, eye problems and chronic asthma. Women are also subjected to a high rate of sexual harassment because of their isolated work areas, and there is often no safe drinking water on the job. Achievements by the project, which Prospect supported, were:
66the creation of a new trade union called Sintrasplendor – the first legally-established independent union at a Dole flower plantation in Colombia 66an annual flower workers’ day initiated by the project, which has now spread, with parallel events in a number of countries including Ecuador, Costa Rica and Bolivia 66the setting up of health and safety committees to directly address workers’ concerns, benefiting 30,000 flower workers 66a postcard campaign to apply international pressure on the Colombian Association of Flower Exporters 66production of a report, “Growing Pains, the human cost of cut flowers in the British supermarkets”, presenting the results of research and consultation with workers in Colombia and Kenya who grow the cut flowers sold by the major supermarkets in the UK. This research reveals the true human cost of the flowers sold to consumers in the UK.
Prospect’s Andy Bye (right) organised a fund-raising bike ride for the flower workers to Prospect’s national conference
Freedom from slavery: Anti-Slavery International field trip to brick kilns in rural India KEY THEME: Bonded labour Extract from a report to Prospect’s national executive committee by international development co-ordinator Beverley Hall, September 2009. On Friday 7 August 2009 I had the privilege of addressing well over 1,000 people at a deeply moving session whereby men and women who had been released from bonded labour came together to form the National Rural Employment Guarantee Workers Union. Notwithstanding scrutiny by armed police, intense heat and humidity, freed men and women crammed into a large auditorium in Jalandhar to share their stories and experiences of bonded labour
in the brick kilns in the Punjab. Two young boys sang of their parents’ plight as bonded labourers – the song declaring that prison was better than being enslaved because at least in prison you get food, medicine, and soap. The visit to a rural kiln was like stepping back in time – the cold kiln a stark backdrop to the conditions workers face when it is fired up and functional. Everything is done manually, with no consideration to any form of human safety – this ranging from no basic ablution/water facilities, to toxic debris as fuel, to barefoot men and children walking on surfaces above the fires. The workers, as in any other unorganised sector, are not registered. Bargaining for International Development 29
Jai Singh, director of Volunteers for Social Justice, with rescued bonded labourers in India; right, children sing about how their parents were freed
There are no records of their employment. Our host is an Anti Slavery International partner group of fiercely committed workers called Volunteers for Social Justice, led by Jai Singh.
Jai, himself from the Dalit caste, has no formal education but has spent his life committed to seeing people freed from slavery and bonded labour. VSJ works to educate labourers on the law and then enables them to access the legal system. The dilemma for freed workers is that abject poverty, illiteracy and no skills often force them to return to the farm or kiln they have been released from and the cycle of bondage starts again – in most instances entire families are enslaved. This was an experience of development in action – witnessing people who have nothing taking ownership of their situation and coming together collectively to explore ways to improve the horrific conditions in which they work and live and thereby ultimately improving their and their children’s lives.
Climate adaptation and skills capacity building with Kenya Electrical Trades and Allied Workers Union (KETAWU) KEY THEME: Capacity building to adapt to climate change
Craig Marshall
The Kenya Electrical Trades and Allied Workers’ Union has about 11,000 members, most of whom are employed in energy generation or electricity supply and distribution via KenGen or the Kenya Power and Lighting Company. Members of Prospect’s energy sector provided technical support to help KETAWU’s national and regional leaders develop an organising plan in support of KETAWU’s strategic objectives. A mixture of training and facilitation was used. Anne Douglas, Prospect national secretary for Scotland, and Craig Marshall, Prospect deputy vicepresident and an employee of EDF Energy, led the project. KETAWU has now designed an organising plan for the coming two to three years, which will see them recruit, retain and organise up to 6,000 additional electricity, energy and allied workers.
30 Bargaining for International Development
The core strategies are to upgrade temporary staff to permanent contracts, and organise in new companies. Key organising themes will be climate change, gender and youth. Prospect’s expertise in the energy sector helped to develop a successful model of engagement, with KETAWU working with the two companies in the energy sector, KenGen and KPLC, on issues like HIV/AIDs, substance abuse and health and safety. The project aimed to demonstrate how a trade union in the developing world can address climate change, empower woman, tackle corruption and achieve decent work for young workers. Project champions representing all nine regions of Kenya, along with KETAWU’s leadership team, attended residential training, where they gained practical skills ranging from public speaking to analysing union themes of climate change, women, corruption and young workers. A needs analysis looked at energy policy in
Prospect national secretary Anne Douglas plants a tree at Ikuu special school government, energy sector and union positioning and energy in rural communities. KETAWU developed policy positions and drew up an action plan. Achievements so far include: CLIMATE CHANGE: discussions and work with the Kenya Climate Change Working Group, which has acknowledged the lack of workers’ voices in its work and lobbying activities (www.kccwg.org). CORRUPTION: discussion took place with the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission on a list of firms involved in corrupt deals that affect service delivery of electricity. WOMEN: KETAWU increased representation of women in leadership, introduced policy changes, brought up the issue of workplace sexual harassment in discussions with management and celebrated international women’s day with a focus on women in science and technology.
KETAWU general secretary Ernest Nakena Nadome addressed Prospect’s 2010 national conference
securing your future
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Bargaining for International Development 31
Kenya Electrical Trades & Allied Workers’ Union Aqua Plaza, Muranga Road, 2nd Floor, Rm 12, P.O. Box 47460-00100, Nairobi 254 20375 2087 admin@ketawu.or.ke
Act (2007)
www.prospect.org.uk/int
Registered under Labour Relationas
KETAWU rep James Sacho (centre) visits Torness power station with Prospect during a visit to the UK in 2011
JOB SECURITY: 1,218 one-day casual workers out of the total 3,935 are being engaged on three-month contract terms. The remaining will be promoted through the annual staff reviews, with an aim of benefiting 600 workers annually. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: In 2010 the union supported Ikuu Special School in the Chuka district. KETAWU members raised funds to buy chairs, food and clothing for the school, which accommodates around 106 mentally disabled children. According to KETAWU’s regional leaders, the impacts of the partnership with Prospect are already being felt. Monica Achieng is a KETAWU branch secretary from the Central Rift region and one of only two women (out of 56) working in KPLC’s operations and maintenance department. She says: “When we met with Prospect for the training in September, we initially did not know how to reach out to our members. “But we used the books and the materials provided and found that reaching new members and selling KETAWU is so simple. Members have a knowhow now and know what KETAWU can do for them. It has made our work for them much easier.” Also part of the programme in Kenya was a needs analysis workshop, which focused on longer-term advocacy opportunities for KETAWU to explore in the areas of climate change. This is already affecting Kenya in a major way because of its dependence on hydro-electricity generation. It also focused on the expansion of the electricity generation and distribution system to meet the needs of the 80 per cent of Kenyans who do not currently have access to electricity, and who instead rely on charcoal and other unsustainable forms of power. Prospect’s energy supply industry sector conference in 2011 passed a resolution pledging the executive to investigate a further long-term project to continue the work.