FDBusiness.com

Danone and the IUF (International Union of Food and Allied Workers) have announced the signing of a tenth agreement, dedicated specifically to sustainable employment. This agreement applies to all Danone subsidiaries around the world. It aims to promote sustainable employment above and beyond the legal framework of each country where Danone operates. In it, Danone and the IUF jointly commit to reducing precarious employment in any form through clear definitions, processes and methodology.

Danone CEO Emmanuel Faber says: “Regular exchanges between management and labor are an integral part of Danone’s corporate culture and our dual commitment to social progress and business success. Our connection with the IUF goes back many years, and I am very happy to join Ron Oswald, Secretary General of the IUF, in signing this agreement—our tenth. It will allow us to secure and develop our teams’ skills, improve the quality of our products even more, and give our employees better access to their fundamental social rights.”

Signing this agreement will ensure ongoing improvement in working conditions through a constant dialogue between local management teams and workers’ representatives. This dialogue also aims to regulate the use of fixed-term and outsourced employment. Reducing these precarious forms of employment will enhance both Danone’s attractiveness and its employees’ engagement, promoting greater stability and better working conditions—and with them improved business performance.

Danone and the IUF jointly agree that permanent, direct and sustainable employment is the best guarantee of full enjoyment of fundamental rights by employees. To this end, the agreement spells out specific situations that may justify temporary employment: access to a new market, economic crisis, seasonal activity, specific competencies needed, or the acquisition of a company.

The agreement reached by Danone and the IUF sets out clear principles that guarantee the respect of fundamental rights for all Danone’s employees, and thus employees of subcontractors as well. It defines three broad categories:

* Permanent full- and part-time employees directly hired by Danone for an unlimited duration;

* Fixed-term employees hired by Danone either directly or through an agency for a specified duration;

* Outsourced workers employed by a service provider to perform tasks on-site or off-site; independent contractors also come under this category.