Recently, several agreements have gone beyond the recognition of ILO core labour standards by ensuring decent wages and working conditions and a safe environment. One example is the renewed agreement signed by Carrefour and UNI Global Union in 2018, building on previous agreements and containing new provisions on violence against women in the workplace. [6] Another example is the IFA concluded by BNP Paribas and UNI Global Union in October 2018, which was “the first in the financial sector to plan paid parental leave and the first with guaranteed health, life and disability insurance”. [7] Codes of Conduct; Collective bargaining; corporate social responsibility; decent work; European collective agreements; European Framework Agreement; Labour standards; social dialogue; transnational company agreement. IFAs are global in scope and are signed by NFGs. The main objective of IFAs is to ensure that international labour standards are met at all sites of the target company. (In contrast, the European Framework Agreements (EFA) have a regional (European) scope.) France Telecom is the latest company to sign an international framework agreement with a global trade union federation. The global agreement signed on 21 December 2006 between the French multinational Union Network International (UNI) and telecommunications unions around the world, which has more than 200,000 workers worldwide, addresses compliance with ILO core standards throughout the group – including the right to join a trade union and bargain collectively, as well as the absence of discrimination and forced labour or child labour. ILO Online spoke with Dominique Michel, Team Leader of the ILO`s Multinational Enterprise Programme, about these global agreements. Dominique Michel: They do not replace direct negotiations between companies and employees at the national level or at the company level, they only provide a framework for these negotiations, which can take place constructively and with a minimum of floor. The ILO notes that the number of international discrimination agreements signed between 2000 and 2016 increased compared to the previous year, reaching 115 agreements in 2016. The European Commission has set up a database of transnational company agreements covering both IFAs and EAs, showing that 10 additional CPAs were concluded in 2017 and another 8 IFAs in 2018.

IFAs generally focus on the metals, construction, chemicals, food and services sectors, and it is widely accepted that such negotiations are initiated by trade unions. Dominique Michel: Most framework agreements contain mechanisms for monitoring trade union participation. These mechanisms include specific measures taken by management and workers` representatives, such as. B the dissemination (and, if necessary, translation) of the agreement at company level or the development of joint training programmes. Some agreements provide for joint missions between the relevant national trade union and the world trade union confederation to monitor the implementation of the agreement on the ground. Most of them also include mechanisms for the global federation of unions to raise a complaint if the company violates the terms of the agreement. The International Framework Agreement is a relatively new tool used by global trade unions to address the impact of globalization on the business activities of global companies. They thus address a problem that (inter)national legislators and regulators are struggling to solve. This article combines information from the existing literature with empirical data derived from interviews with relevant stakeholders and literature searches.

The aim is to analyse the current state of the international framework agreement as an instrument and to draw conclusions on the conditions that an international framework agreement must fulfil in order to achieve its objectives. Although the emergence of international framework agreements is generally seen as a positive development that can improve basic labour standards in global business operations, some comments have been made in the literature, which are confirmed and supported by the empirical evidence presented in this paper. These comments focus on the content of the agreement and highlight the relevance of the implementation and monitoring processes both in the client`s organization and in its supply chain. They underline the relevance of investigating the parties involved in these processes. If the issues identified in the literature and in this paper are properly addressed, the International Framework Agreement can be a compelling tool for global trade unions to pursue their goals. Unfortunately, research shows that not all existing international framework agreements address these issues and that some do not appear to have a direct practical impact at all. Dominique Michel: The content of these agreements varies according to the different requirements and characteristics of the companies and unions concerned, as well as the traditions of industrial relations between the parties. They encompass all four fundamental principles and rights at work and relate specifically to the ILO`s fundamental Conventions. The other provisions, which differ from one agreement to another, concern various issues covered by ILO standards, such as the protection of workers` representatives, wages, occupational safety and health and qualifications. To be effective, it is important to make arrangements for the effective implementation and monitoring of the AFI. The European Trade Union Confederation and BusinessEurope recognise that stakeholders may have difficulties in adopting the agreement at local level. They identify three areas of innovation and experimentation in relation to the implementation of transnational company agreements: Dominique Michel: An international (or global) framework agreement is an instrument negotiated between a multinational and a World Federation of Trade Unions (GTF) to build a lasting relationship between the parties and ensure that the company operates in all the countries in which it operates, adheres to the same standards.

Sectoral unions in the multinational`s home country are also participating in negotiations on the agreement. Although framework agreements are not corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, they are often mentioned in the CSR debate as they are one of the ways in which companies can express their commitment to adhere to certain principles. However, the specific aspect that distinguishes framework agreements from CSR initiatives is that they result from negotiations with international staff representatives. Framework agreements are therefore one of the possible developments in industrial relations in the era of globalisation. International Framework Agreements (IGAs), also known as Global Framework Agreements (CGAs), are agreements between multinational companies and a World Federation of Trade Unions (GUF) with the aim of establishing an ongoing relationship between these parties to ensure that the company adheres to the same standards in all countries in which it operates. These standards relate to trade union rights, health, safety and environmental practices, as well as the principles of quality of work that apply in a company`s global operations. Often, the unions of the home state of the multinational company involved also participate in negotiations on an IFA. .