Living wages on the agenda of agri/food & electronics industries
Tuesday, October 27th, the National Contact Point OECD Guidelines (NCP) brought together a diverse group of participants to discuss the question: how can business and other organizations work on achieving a living wage in international value chains, specifically in the agri/food and electronics industry? The NCP made a call for action to business and other stakeholders to actively work on this topic.
Paying a living wage is an important element of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. That means companies are expected to work on this in their (international) supply chains. Living wage is also a complex topic to tackle as an individual company. In the programming of the conference this meant that a lot of attention was given to topics that play a role, such as certifications and opportunities for value chain collaboration.
The conference received a lot of attention: nearly 150 – Dutch and
international – participants represented the various groups of stakeholders
needed to work on living wages successfully, including business, NGOs, trade
unions and government.
Ambition within the agri/food industry
Within the agri/food industry, living wage has moved up the agenda quickly over
the last few years. The programme discussed questions relevant to companies
within this industry, such as food manufacturers or supermarkets. Industry
associations FNLI and CBL spoke about their ambitions on this topic and their
commitment to work on this as part of their activities on corporate social
responsibility. The results of the day will be used in the development of an
industry-wide CSR covenant. Fairfood International and HIVOS announced their
Living Wage Lab initiative: this offers a platform for co-creation and
experiments in the field of living wages in the agri/food industry.
Living wage in production of electronics
Living wage in the electronics industry is relevant for example in producing
countries in Asia. The discussion between representatives of business, NGOs,
trade unions, financial institutions and government covered this and other
themes relevant to this supply chain. The programme also looked at the role of
responsible purchasing practices of public authorities. Industry associations
and companies in the electronics and technical manufacturing industry were
called on to actively work on supply chain responsibility. The sectoral CSR
covenants being developed in the Netherlands are one way of working on this.
Achieving a living wage in value chains is an issue that has to be solved internationally. The NCP will use the outcome of this conference in its discussions with other NCPs and the OECD on responsible business conduct. The Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently working on the organization of the Asian Living Wage Conference, specifically aimed at the textiles industry, to be held in Pakistan in February 2016.
