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"A law of
indiscriminate profit is being globalized, and by its application
all too many corporations contribute to the abuse of human rights in
poor
countries."
This declaration sounds like it came straight off the podium of the
anti-globalization protests that fill the streets upon the occasion of
a
World Trade Organization meeting. Actually, it was a CEO of a major
corporation who shared this opinion with me: Riccardo Bagni, the chief
executive of Coop Italia, one of the biggest commercial enterprises in
all
of Europe.
Coop Italia, with headquarters in Bologna, is made up of a group of
cooperatives operating in the banking, insurance and retail sectors.
The
conglomerate operates around 50 superstores, 1000 supermarkets and 200
discount stores covering the entire country of Italy. Its total sales
turned
the tills for close to $10 billion for 2001.
The cooperative movement was born in Italy more than a 100 years ago to
stimulate fair market conditions for workers who did not have ready
access
to capital. Taking up this legacy, Coop Italia launched in 1947 as an
international buying office for the cooperatives that were still in
business. Phenomenal growth over the years has pushed the company into
constant organizational change. But the original ethos of the
enterprise
stands firm: "Coop Italia is a company comprised of people, not
capital,"
Riccardo tells me.
Coop Italia's standout efforts to improve labor practices around the
globe
give his claim credence. The company purchases food and non-food
products
from nearly 2500 suppliers worldwide. In 2001 it bought nearly $50
million
in goods from Asian countries alone; most of its textiles and rugs, for
example, come from China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The company first began considering a code of conduct for its supplier
network back in the mid-1990s. Riccardo had been appointed
vice-chairman for
the company's non-food products with a direct responsibility for
private
brand management and quality assurance. He made it a priority to set
consistent labor standards wherever Coop Italia conducted business in
the
world. "I wanted to make sure that the respect of workers, especially
for
those belonging to the weaker ends of society, was a prime value at our
company," he says.
Most Italians love soccer, so Riccardo could not think of a better
venue
than the World Football Championship in 1998 for introducing the
concept of
'fair trade.' Coop Italia heavily promoted and stocked on store shelves
the
'Ethics Ball,' made in Pakistan at a higher than normal production
price to
ensure a living wage. Coop Italia also made sure that no child labor
was
involved in the ball's production.
The Ethics Ball campaign never was intended to be a one-off marketing
ploy.
In 1998, the company established a system to oversee all of its
international purchasing. It began working closely with second-party
agencies to monitor and verify compliance. For suppliers found to be
operating in violation of its code of conduct, Coop Italia provides
intensive training on how they can adopt plans that will move them
progressively toward compliance.
One such incident arose with a fruit supplier in Africa. Del Monte
Kenya
provides Coop-brand pineapples. Even though the corporate parent, Del
Monte
Foods Company, had signed off on Coop Italia's code of conduct,
independent
auditors inspecting its plantation in Kenya found major problems. The
violations related especially to safety conditions and the workers'
right to
form a union. Del Monte Kenya at first denied the audit report, then
resisted making changes. Local human rights organizations and the
Kenyan
government backed the workers and turned up the heat on the fruit
producer
to make changes. Coop Italia helped facilitate negotiations among all
the
parties, and Del Monte Kenya made corrective actions.
The globalization of labor is a matter of fierce debate these days. As
happens in many debates, the extremes grab the spotlight - unrestricted
free
contract vs. sweatshop exploitation. Fortunately, a vanguard of
corporations
is showing how positive, long-term partnerships can be built with
workers
and the social sector to mutual advantage.
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