On Tuesday 29 May, at the headquarters of the International Labour Organization in Geneva and in the presence of Guy Ryder, ILO Director General, Jean-Bernard Lévy, the EDF Group’s CEO and Chairman along with the General Secretaries of two global union federations, Valter Sanches for IndustriALL Global Union and Rosa Pavanelli for Public Services International (PSI), signed a new global responsibility agreement covering human and labour rights. This agreement extends to all of EDF’s activities in 24 countries, combining compliance with international labour conventions. It is designed to guarantee the development of a shared set of standards for the Group’s 160,000 employees whilst consolidating international social dialogue.
This global agreement has come about thanks to the commitment of all negotiating parties. It is the result of a collaborative negotiation process involving 11 national union federations for companies within the EDF Group and two global union federations, IndustriALL Global Union and PSI. The 13 federations will be signatories to the agreement which encompasses a number of significant commitments which are innovative for an agreement of this kind when it comes to social responsibility. These include: fiscal transparency; protection for whistle blowers; combating corruption and fraud; combating violence and harassment in the workplace; the duty of vigilance when it comes to subcontractors and suppliers; equality between women and men; and combating discrimination related to sexual orientation More generally, this agreement promotes human rights, diversity, health and safety, skills development and social protection for the company’s employees and subcontractors wherever the Group is based as well as the principle of a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies for all.
This new Group agreement replaces a previous agreement on social and environmental responsibility signed by EDF in 2005 and renewed in 2009. At that time, EDF was one of the first multinationals to adopt such an agreement. The purpose of this new text is to incorporate new social requirements for employees and support EDF’s international development in keeping with the company’s public service values. It complements the 6 corporate responsibility targets set by EDF in favour of the energy transition and the Group’s Cap 2030 strategy. Implementation of the agreement will be overseen by an international supervisory committee.
After signing the agreement, Jean-Bernard Lévy announced: “I am sure that our CSR strategy is a key factor in the EDF Group’s sustainable performance, as demonstrated by this agreement. The Group is reiterating its commitment to the balanced development of its activities around the world. Human rights, diversity, health and safety, skills development and social protection for the company’s employees and subcontractors form the foundations of this commitment”.
Valter Sanches, General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union explained: “The negotiation process of the global framework agreement with EDF was done in a frank and transparent manner. The GFA is an achievement where all parties have been involved, resulting in clear commitments on supply chain management, as well as active implementation and monitoring of the global agreement. Now we need to put it into action and ensure that the GFA is beneficial to all parties.”
Rosa Pavanelli, General Secretary of Public Services International, declared: “With this renewed agreement, EDF Group commits itself to uphold a high standard of human and labour rights wherever it operates. The next step is to effectively implement these commitments to the shop floor and secure local management ownership of the agreement, in cooperation with trade union representatives. This renegotiated text also marks one of the first corporate commitments to country-by-country tax reporting. This agreement also includes provisions for trade union involvement in the company’s programmes to ensure the protection of whistleblowers. We will closely and relentlessly scrutinize the effective implementation and follow-up of all commitments in this agreement, working with our global membership and allies.”