Sustainability at work still waits for innovative solutions

“The old-fashioned approach to labor relations based on the confrontation between capital and labor is no longer valid to meet the new challenges of the current reality, which requires more complex and innovative solutions.” The statement was made by the national secretary of CUT (Unified Workers Confederation), Adeilson Ribeiro Telles, in the panel “Labor Relations for Sustainability”, held at the Ethos Institute 2008 International Conference. It was accepted as true by the other participants of the panel: the Human Resources consultant Cristina Nascimento, director of Espaço Empresarial Gestão de Serviços Ltda., the Human Development director of Banco Real, Maria Cristina Carvalho, and the panel moderator, Anna Maria Medeiros Pelliano, Ipea (Applied Economics Research Institute) social responsibility research coordinator.
According to the CUT representative, under the new circumstances of the country, of democracy and economic stability, the unionist movement has set a new agenda, prioritizing development. “We’re not talking about economic development, but development with quality, one that is sustainable, promotes income distribution and is able to change the unemployment and informality situation we still face in Brazil,” noted Telles.
When addressing the question raised by the panel moderator in her opening speech, the unionist said that, in order to promote decent work, it is necessary to create democratic conditions for discussion and mobilization, such as the organization of workers in the workplace, and, at the same time, develop mechanisms able to avoid distortions and abuse, such as the increase in the requisites for companies to receive public funding. “A company that buys or sells something deriving from forced labor, for example, should not receive money from the BNDES (Brazilian Development Bank), explains Telles.
The new workers’ agenda, he says, prioritizes four major constraints to “development with quality”: inequality and income concentration; unemployment; the government’s ability to create conditions for development; and the implementation of participatory democracy. The Workers’ Development Agenda”, according to the national secretary of CUT, has been set with the participation of all union confederations.
However, if the diagnosis of problems reached some consensus in the panel, the proposals for solution did not. The Human Resources consultant Cristina Nascimento supported outsourcing as an important option for companies that seek to innovate and add value to their products and their brand. While defending outsourcing, a theme that can send shivers down the unionists’ spine, the consultant admitted this practice has been adopted in a harmful way, not only for workers, but also for the companies.
According to Nascimento, companies that outsource only to cut costs run serious risks. Besides being liable to labor suits, which many times result in heavy penalties, these companies risk their reputation when hiring outsourced service providers that do not meet quality requirements. Nascimento advocates strategic outsourcing, through which a company procures “partners that can provide the service with innovation.” She said that a survey carried out in the United States with innovative companies that outsource showed that, for these organizations, the price of services was the last item in the list of priorities demanded from service providers.
Cristina Nascimento believes the biggest problem in Brazil is the lack of regulation of outsourced activities. According to the consultant, even the unionist movement has strongly resisted the creation of more transparent outsourcing laws. Adeilson Telles disagreed by saying that the unions have tried to start a debate on this issue, but the idea did not advance due to little consensus. “There are in the National Congress around thirty different proposals for this issue, each one more absurd than the others, which makes it impossible to reach an agreement,” he says.
The Human Development director of Banco Real, Maria Cristina Carvalho, talked about the bank’s experience in the search for sustainability in the workplace. Explaining that the initiative is part of the company’s strategic vision, the executive noted that the actions aimed at the workforce are part of a broad context in which sustainable results are pursued in all areas.
Banco Real’s program, started in 2002 and aimed at creating an environment that values respect and diversity, seeks to engage its employees in the change process. Internal committees were created to discuss the issues, sensitize people and raise their awareness. The results, according to Carvalho, have been encouraging: “Currently, Banco Real employees about 1,200 people with disabilities; in 2002 there were only 50. There has also been a significant increase in the access of women to leadership or management positions. It is very rewarding to realize that even our suppliers ended up influenced by the measures, and adopted sustainability practices in their companies.”

 

> Home