Our Rights On Site

Promoting Decent Work Through Procurement

Building and Woodworkers International

Fiona Murie

Outline

• Discuss characteristics of working life in construction – particularly developing countries

• Trade Union rationale for Labour Clauses in Procurement and Contract Documents

• Practical examples and way forward for Decent Work and Rights on Site

• Suggest some areas where further advocacy work is required

working life in construction…..

• Provides employment for 150 million workers.

• 75%in developing countries• Annual investment $5,100 billion = 10% GDP• Around 70% Public Sector clients

• 100,000 fatal site accidents every year – routine work, foreseeable, preventable hazards.

• Rudimentary state of development in the sector in many countries

Global Construction: development and decent work

Two main areas of social benefits of construction:

Product: Infrastructure development

Process: Provision of jobs and Decent Work - optimise employment opportunities and raise standards for working conditions.

• The industry is dominated by micro enterprises

• Extremely fragmented employer base, more than 90% of firms are micro enterprises, with less than ten workers

• Labour Laws largely ignored in the construction industry due to lack of direct employment and chains of subcontracting, low Trade Union density (10%) and CBAs

• Self regulation and privatisation of labour inspectorates

Informality and competition undermine rights

• Contractors win bids by lowering their costs.

• Labour is a major component of these costs.

• “Outsourcing” offers the opportunity to secure significant cost reductions by passing responsibilities to subcontractors, and by avoiding responsibilities for labour legislation, wages, hours, health, safety and welfare regulations and social costs (tax, insurance).

• Therefore the client should ensure that the employment and working conditions are properly handled throughout the chain of contractors on site.

• Upstream measures are needed at design and bidding phase – construction phase is too late.

Labour Clauses in Procurement and

Construction Contracts – the Client• The construction contract is an important

mechanism for the implementation of Labour

and Health and Safety Standards.

• There is a clear need for clauses that relate

specifically to labour and H&S standards to be

included in bidding and contract documents.

• There must be a clear flow of responsibilities

from the client, prime, subcontractors to all

workers on site

Achieving Decent Work through Procurement

• Strategy – Approach the CLIENT to include MANDATORY Labour Clauses in the Construction Contract. Links Labour Laws to the construction project, brings rights on site.

• World Bank Labour Clauses Standard Bidding Documents

• FIDIC General Conditions of Contract for MDB Construction

• CICA BWI Agreement (contractors international)

• ILO Convention 94 Labour Clauses in Public Contracts

• Modernise National Procurement laws and practice to include labour clauses – especially Public Works. Access,

• Industry agreements and Collective Bargaining Agreements

MDB Harmonised Contract

Since 2006

Multilateral Development Banks use the

General Conditions of the MDB

Harmonised Edition of the FIDIC®

Construction Contract

New edition January 2010

MDB Supplement to Contracts

Guide available

Conditions of Contract for Construction MDB Harmonised Edition January 2010• 6.1 Engagement of Staff and Labour

• 6.2 Rates of Wages and Conditions of Labour

• 6.4 Labour Laws

• 6.5 Working Hours

• 6.6 Facilities for Staff and Labour

• 6.7 Health and Safety (and HIV AIDS)

• 6.13 Supply of Foodstuffs

• 6.14 Supply of Water

• 6.20 Prohibition of Forced Labour

• 6.21 Prohibition of Child Labour

• 6.22 Employment Records of Workers

• 6.23 Workers’ Organizations:

• 6.24 Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity

International Finance CorporationIntroduced Performance Standard 2 in April 2006. :

• Freedom of association and collective bargaining

• Non-discrimination and equality of opportunity

• Freedom from child labour

• Freedom from forced labour

• Retrenchment –required to have a retrenchment plan

• Working relations – documentation and communication of conditions

• Working conditions – compliance with collective bargaining and national law on pay, hours, OSH.

• Grievance mechanisms – must be in place for workers

• Human resource policy - the client is also expected to have a human resource policy in place.

• The policy applies to non-employee workers, contract labour, sub contractors and suppliers

Trade Union Organising Strategy

Identify infrastructure projects Recruit workers and organise TU representation Approach client on Labour Standards commitmentsApproach Contractors to negotiate CBASet up tripartite social dialogue meetings with construction industry partners and provide training. How can the unions push for better compliance with Labour Standards and guarantee rights?Wages, working hours, health and safety?Migrant workers, Casual Workers, Equal rights?

Current Employment Policies and Labour Practices – Enabling? Inhibiting?

• Review Labour Laws and their application in practice – compliance and enforcement?

• Standard contracts? mandatory labour clauses? Monitored and enforced?

• Priced by contractor in the Bill of Quantities?

• Sector commitment to labour rights and Collective Bargaining?

• Technical and managerial capacity In the sector?

Bujagali Dam Project• Organizing work began in July 2007, two site visits

were held, one mass meeting was organized in October, all workers (270) joined the Uganda Building Workers Union.

• Safety Reps and shop stewards were elected and trained, the CBA was negotiated with Salini, and the H&S committee and site committee was established.

• Around two thousand new workers come on site in February 2008 for a period of 44 months

Bujagali Dam Project

• The union was able to recruit, organize and retain full membership on site throughout 2008 and 2009, and negotiated their second Collective Bargaining Agreement with improved wages and benefits for all workers on site. improve standards of Collective Bargaining in the sector. Improved institutional relationships with the Ministry of Labour, Labour Inspection, Ministry of Public Works, the Contractors’ Association and the Confederation of Employers.

Next Steps• Step up organising on infrastructure projects

• Capacity building work - national and regional

• Whole of industry approach: Ministries, clients, procurement entities, project management teams, contractors, unions.

• Demonstrate benefits of Labour Clauses approach to Decent Work in the sector

• Preparing Guidance with FIDIC for the Labour Clauses in the General Conditions of Contract

• Pricing and bidding, compliance indicators