New York, NY, June 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UNITED NATIONS, New York, 9 June 2021 — Today the United Nations Global Compact launched a new digital report, Improving Wages to Advance Decent Work in Supply Chains, aimed at encouraging companies to promote and provide a living wage as an essential aspect of decent work to ensure workers, their families and communities can live in dignity.
The report finds that although it has long been acknowledged that improving wages for the lowest-paid workers in the supply chain is a pressing challenge for responsible multinational businesses, there is now a rapid evolution in both commitment and action. As the responsibility of business to tackle working poverty has become clearer, a range of companies are taking concrete actions to ensure workers are provided with a living wage.
The report identifies practical steps that companies can take as they navigate complex wage issues in their supply chains. By including case examples, the report seeks to inspire other businesses to take steps to ensure living wages for all workers.
Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director of UN Global Compact, commenting on the release of the report said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into stark relief the vulnerability of low-paid workers making the provision of living wages all the more urgent. This report shows that while a great deal of progress has been made to ensure living wages for all workers, more needs to be done to ensure we leave no one behind.”
The report was developed as part of the UN Global Compact Decent Work in Global Supply Chains Action Platform, an alliance of 20+ companies who are committed to respect human rights and labour rights by leveraging their supply chains and have taken action to address decent work deficits.
Chief Executives from some of these companies — L'Oréal, Schneider Electric and Unilever, which are also featured in the report — will join a high-level session at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit 2021 on 15 June (11:45 – 12:15 a.m. ET/5:45 – 6:15 p.m. CET). In a panel discussion moderated by Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). The session — “Ensuring Living Wages: Advancing Decent Work Globally” — will officially launch the report and emphasize the importance of taking action to improve wages in supply chains.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About the UN Global Compact Decent Work in Global Supply Chains Action Platform
The United Nations Global Compact launched the Action Platform on Decent Work in Global Supply Chains in 2017 to build an alliance of companies, Global Compact Local Networks and partner organizations who are committed to respect human rights and labour rights by leveraging supply chains and taking action to address decent work deficits. This platform builds the case for advancing decent work in global supply chains through sustainable procurement practices and engagement with suppliers, and demonstrates how labour rights and human rights are critical for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For more information or a list of participating companies, please visit the Action Platform website.
About the United Nations Global Compact
As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our ambition is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 12,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 69 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative — one Global Compact uniting business for a better world.
For more information, follow @globalcompact on social media and visit our website at unglobalcompact.org.
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