Global Union Research Network – GURN

A new link for you to visit.

The Global Union Research Network, GURN (http://www.gurn.info/index.html), was established in January 2004 as a follow up to the millennium debate of the Global Union Federations (GUFs).  After a request from the international labour movement the initiative to establish the network was taken by the ILO's Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV) in cooperation with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) and the ILO's International Institute for Labour Studies (IILS).  The aim of the research network is to give union organizations better access to research carried out within trade unions and allied institutions, while enabling them to exchange information on matters of joint concern and to develop the capacity to make analyses and take part in debates and policy formulation.

A GURN concern

The issue of the governance and accountability of corporations has recently come to the fore following a wave of high profile corporate scandals and collapses.  Corporate governance is about the accountability mechanisms that govern the relations among shareholders, the board of directors, senior management, the workers and other stakeholders (creditors, suppliers, local communities, etc.).  Enron, WorldCom, Parmalat, to name but a few of the corporate scandals in the US and Europe, all have in common blatant failures in assuring the integrity of those accountability mechanisms.  These crises have revised the international aspect of corporate governance as have the recent waves of cross-border mergers and acquisitions where companies can "choose" which system of national law their governance is regulated by.  However, corporate governance also has to be seen within a wider context than that of the transatlantic capital markets.  The role of the modern corporation (eg public listed corporations) is pivotal to the public debate about globalisation and sustainable development.  Until recently much of that debate has focussed on the external impact of corporate behaviour, for example on labour standards generally, or on the environment.  By contrast insufficient attention has been paid to the internal governance mechanisms of corporations.  Trade unions have a key role to play in the global and national agendas of corporate governance reform.  Within a labour perspective, corporate governance is one aspect, among others which also include, collective bargaining, ensuring corporate compliance with domestic, regional and international laws and agreements, and wider stakeholder dialogue (including Corporate Social Responsibility [CSR]).

Trade unions are campaigning for the implementation of an effective national and international framework of rules and standards to ensure good corporate governance and accountability and wider market integrity, along with regulatory systems to ensure effective implementation and enforcement.  Depending on the national framework that governs corporations, approaches will differ.  Continental European workers have a voice within the internal governance structure of corporations (works councils, board level employee representation).  Others, such as in Anglo-American countries, the labour movement seeks influence over institutional investors, including pension funds, to act as responsible and long term shareholders of the companies they invest workers' retirement funds, or through traditional collective bargaining.

Social accountability is to be part of the theme for OHSEI’s 2004 Theme Conference.

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