Tackling challenges – working together, not going it alone

Set-in-stone structures, informal networks, a lack of understanding of the issues: Tchibo and other large retail companies often find themselves up against the same barriers when it comes to introducing international social responsibility standards in companies that produce goods for them. The background to this is that some of these issues – such as securing living wages or workers’ freedom to join unions and enter into collective bargaining – are closely related to overarching macro-economic and political contexts and interests. In these cases, change needs to be negotiated step by step between all relevant local and international stakeholders. For this reason, we take an active part in multi-stakeholder organisations such as the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) and the German Round Table Codes of Conduct, as well as involvement in stakeholder dialogue in the context of our membership of Social Accountability International (SAI) and our commitment to the UN Global Compact.

Learning from one another means making progress together

If we want to drive change, we and our stakeholders need to learn from each others experiences. We conduct close dialogue with all relevant stakeholders in which we give them a detailed insight into our programmes and critically reflect them jointly. This is a practice that benefits all involved: We find out where there is room for improvement in our programmes. In return, we provide external stakeholders with valuable first-hand insights into the realities in factories and share our methods and experiences with them. In this way, discause on social standards – and consequently their implementation – can continue to develop.

Talking to those affected by our actions, not about them: the WE Stakeholder Conference 2010

One example of our efforts in this area is the WE Stakeholder Conference, which took place from 9 to 10 June 2010 in Berlin. After an implementation and learning phase lasting two and a half years, the purpose of this event was to give all our stakeholders the opportunity to discuss our WE supplier qualification programme and its results. The participants included representatives of companies, trade unions, consulting firms, multi-stakeholder organisations, NGOs and other interest groups.

All the participants discussed the status quo implementation, the WE programme’s prospects for the future, its successes and its limits. Experts from a wide range of fields came together in working groups to seek solutions to specific, reality-based questions and drew up strategies for even more effective implementation of social responsibility standards in the future. A particular feature of the event was that employees and managers from seven supplier companies and WE coaches from Bangladesh, China and Thailand were in attended and gave detailed reports on their own personal experiences with the qualification programme. This form of stakeholder dialogue reflected our principle of not talking about those affected by our actions, but allowing them to talk. The results that emerged from the two-day conference form a valuable basis for the further development of WE and for implementing social standards in general.

Core challenges: securing living wages and enforcing the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining

Ensuring workers their rights to freedom of association, collective bargaining and living wages is an enduring challenge. Our membership in various bodies and initiatives enables us to pool activities and so boost their effectiveness.

For instance, a joint protest note from a number of international retail companies spurred the government of Bangladesh to raise the legal minimum wage for textiles workers after a long period of reluctance. The wage now being paid is still not on living-wage level, measured by the Asia Floorwage level. Nevertheless, the rise in wages represents a definite first step in the right direction.

ETI (Ethical Trading Initiative)

Since March 2010, we have been a foundation stage member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). Companies admitted to the ETI initially receive this entry status, which lasts two years, is reviewed after this period has elapsed with the first annual report and then, if the requirements have been met, changed to full membership status.

The purpose of this organisation, consisting of over 60 companies, trade unions and NGOs, is to elaborate and disseminate examples of good practice in the implementation of codes of conduct. The members work together on tackling issues which individual companies would not be able to handle alone. We have become involved in numerous working groups within the ETI, such as the China Forum, the Good Workplaces Programme and the Living Wage Programme.

German Round Table on Codes of Conduct

We have been involved with the Round Table on Codes of Conduct since 2007. This is a German-based forum with the purpose of promoting implementation of labour and social standards in developing countries. The German Round Table on Codes of Conduct, which is under the auspices of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), encompasses companies, business associations, trade unions, NGOs and federal ministries.

Social Accountability International (SAI)

Social Accountability International (SAI) is a multi-stakeholder initiative which works for better conditions for employees and has developed, to this end, an internationally recognised standard for social management systems – the SA8000. We have been a member of the organisation’s Advisory Board since 2006, and are also part of SAI’s Corporate Involvement Program (CIP); in accordance with its stipulations, our own social responsibility programme undergoes regular monitoring to establish its effectiveness and identify room for improvement.

UN Global Compact

Tchibo joined the Global Compact initiative of the United Nations (UN) on 18 November 2010. The UN Global Compact creates international networks between companies, policymakers, employees' organisations and civil society. These diverse bodies are united by the objective of establishing universal respect for fundamental values in relation to human rights, labour standards, environmental protection and the fight against corruption. Our joining the UN Global Compact represents a declaration of our commitment to its ten principles and to respect for them in our business processes.