Save the Dates for the Freedom of Association Summit 2021
This year, our virtual summit will focus on two of the most important yet least talked about workers' rights: the freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. The summit will take place between November 30—December 3 and be the culmination of a series of activities on this topic that we are organising in 2021.
In the electronics industry, a small minority of production workers are members of independent, democratic trade unions. Fewer still benefit from collective bargaining agreements. Without access to both, it is difficult for workers to defend themselves against workplace abuses, protect their health and safety, and strive for decent working conditions.
Our virtual summit will build on what we have learned with workers, public buyers, monitoring partners and trade unions so far on the fundamental rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining. We will dive deep into the questions of how public buyers can protect these rights, and how trade unions help to ensure social and environmental responsibility in their supply chains.
Save the dates for this exciting event:
November 30—December 3, 10:00–11:30 CET each day.
Further details and online registration to follow in September.
These events will lead us with you to the summit:
- a two-part webinar series on freedom of association in public sector supply chains (watch recording of Part I);
- a workshop for monitoring partners and trade union representatives in November to explore the core challenges to freedom of association that can be addressed through the public procurement process; and
- an affiliates' workshop in November to discuss why and how to support workers' freedom of association in public procurement, including code requirements and criteria developments.