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(Brussels, 29 January 2010) The European Commission is organizing a series of hearings on the reporting of environmental, social and governance information by companies. A workshop directed at trade unions was organized 28 January 2010. EPSU Deputy General Secretary presented the Joint Agreement with Eurelectric on Corporate Social Responsibility in which employers recognize that CSR is based on a positive attitude towards trade unions. A good CSR policy is based on active involvement of workers and their unions. The joint statement also endorses the Global reporting initiative standards and its electricity utilities sector supplement, and is one of the first continental wide statements of support. The EPSU representative did underline the importance of checking if a CSR policy is a whitewash or not. “The tests are simple:
- Is there a negotiated agreement between the company and its unions ?
- Is there an active involvement of the European Works Council (in a multinational company) in the reporting, monitoring and verification and does the company recognize the EWC’s information and consultation rights on CSR ?
- Are the unions involved in the internal complaint mechanism of the company ? If none of these tests are fulfilled, you are quite sure the companies CSR policy is window dressing.”
For information on the workshops of the Commission and more information on Commission CSR activities: http://ec.europa.eu
For the electricity joint statement on CSR: http://www.epsu.org
For the work of GRI and its sector supplements. http://www.globalreporting.org
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