Sobre el bienestar de las personas trabajadoras: sugerencias para la industria de la electrónica
Dos días antes de la publicación del estudio del Economic Rights Institute y Electronics Watch sobre la relación entre las condiciones laborales y la tasa de suicidios de trabajadores de la industria de la electrónica en China, la Responsible Business Alliance ha anunciado una nueva iniciativa para mejorar el "bienestar de las personas trabajadoras" en las cadenas de suministro en Asia. Aunque se trata de una inversión en calidad de vida de trabajadores y trabajadoras mucho mayor a las anteriores, el ERI y Electronics Watch instan a la industria a no perder de vista la relación entre estas cuestiones, el riesgo de suicidio y las condiciones laborales.
El estudio del ERI y Electronics Watch se centra especialmente en condiciones de riesgo como las horas extras forzosas y las restricciones al derecho de las personas trabajadoras de dejar el trabajo sin perder parte de sus sueldos. Nuestras sugerencias para ampliar el programa de bienestar de personas trabajadoras de la RBA incluyen:
- Colaborar con la sociedad civil y expertos en sociología, no sólo con expertos en medicina, para garantizar que se trata de manera continuada la relación entre el bienestar de los trabajadores y trabajadoras y las condiciones laborales.
- Aunque la idea del "bienestar" de las personas trabajadoras puede promover una actitud positiva al tiempo que aplica mejoras necesarias en las condiciones laborales, es importante no perder de vista el riesgo de suicidio, el cual representa el riesgo de daños serios para las personas trabajadoras.
- Basarse en el estudio del ERI y Electronics Watch para probar las hipótesis de relación específica entre las condiciones laborales y el bienestar de las personas trabajadoras.
Para la industria, el reto será pasar de los esfuerzos caritativos para promover el bienestar individual de las personas trabajadoras a abordar cuestiones más amplias sobre la responsabilidad de las empresas en las relaciones de producción y laborales. Esperamos que la industria esté preparada para asumir-lo.
Response from the Responsible Business Alliance (12 July, 2019)
Thank you for the input on the upcoming worker survey. As you are aware, the RBA was founded in 2004 with the focus of the original Code of Conduct on the worker. Our vision is: A global industry that creates sustainable value for workers, the environment and business.
The RBA is a leading organization in the areas of forced labor, the workplace environment, employment conditions, etc. as evidenced in our Code of Conduct and the work of our Initiatives. We work tirelessly to address issues in the workplace that may lead to conditions that create stress and impact worker well-being in the workplace. The focus on these issues was not identified or created during the last twelve months but rather over 15 years of committed work in this space.
Thank you for the input on the upcoming worker survey. As you are aware, the RBA was founded in 2004 with the focus of the original Code of Conduct on the worker. Our vision is: A global industry that creates sustainable value for workers, the environment and business.
The RBA is a leading organization in the areas of forced labor, the workplace environment, employment conditions, etc. as evidenced in our Code of Conduct and the work of our Initiatives. We work tirelessly to address issues in the workplace that may lead to conditions that create stress and impact worker well-being in the workplace. The focus on these issues was not identified or created during the last twelve months but rather over 15 years of committed work in this space.
We are very excited about the creation of a worker survey with our trusted, credible, partners Impactt and Ulula. We are confident that it will represent the single most extensive worker survey conducted in the industry. It is designed to identify the challenges that are present in the workplace and will help create a road map to address any systemic issues that are identified in a meaningful and impactful way on behalf of the industry and the RBA. The goal of this new tool will in fact link working conditions to worker well-being.
While the development of the actual worker survey has just begun, we will as you outlined, be seeking input from health experts, researchers and stakeholders both from within and outside the industry. We have not yet identified the list of experts that we will utilizing.
We view the survey as only one input into a broader body of work in the area of workplace wellbeing. The survey is only a tool to identify the challenges workers face. The impactful work of advancing the wellbeing of workers will be developed in response to the survey results which will include external stakeholder consultation. Thank you for your offer to provide input.