OECD-ILO Conference on employment and industrial relations: Promoting responsible business conduct in a globalising economy

| Documentation | Further reading |

23-24 June 2008, OECD Conference Centre, Paris, France

Every year, in conjunction with the Annual Meeting for National Contact Points, the OECD holds a conference on corporate responsibility addressing emerging issues and new developments.

This year’s conference was devoted to a high-level policy dialogue between governments, business, labour and other stakeholders around the theme “Employment and Industrial Relations: Promoting Responsible Business Conduct in a Globalising Economy”. It was jointly organised with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) under the auspices of the OECD Investment Committee and the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee.

The objectives of this year’s conference included:

• Enhancing the links between responsible business conduct practices and better employment conditions and industrial relations;
• Engaging OECD and non-member governments in experience sharing on the pros and cons of different public policies to promote responsible business conduct in the area of employment and industrial relations; and
• Joining forces between the OECD and the ILO to enhance awareness worldwide and performance of their corporate responsibility instruments (the OECD Guidelines and the ILO MNE Declaration) in this area.

Documentation

• Key findings English / French
• Programme English / French
• Biographies of speakers
• News release 17/06/2008: OECD/ILO conference on corporate social responsibility, Paris, 23-24 June 2008
• Background document: Review of NCP performance: Key findings  [ French ], OECD Secretariat
• Background document:The impact of foreign direct investment on wages and working conditions [ French ], OECD Secretariat 
• Background document: Corporate Responsibility Practices in the area of Employment and Industrial Relations, EIRIS
• Background document: Overview of selected initiatives and instruments relevant to corporate social responsibility, OECD Secretariat 
• OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises 
• ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprisesand Social Policy 

Selected presentations

• Opening remarks by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General  
• Opening remarks on behalf of Juan Somavía, ILO Director General
• Statement by Dr. Carlos A.Tomada, Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security of Argentina [ English / Spanish ]
• Keynote speech by Mr. Karl-Josef Wasserhövel, State Secretary for Labour and Social Affairs, Germany [ English / German ]
• Points d'intervention du M. Gilles de Robien, Ambassadeur de la Cohésion sociale, France 
• Points d'intervention du M. Vladimír Špidla, Commissaire européen à l’emploi, aux affaires sociales et à l’égalité des chances 

Organisers

For further information, please contact:

OECD
Ms. Marie-France Houde (marie-france.houde@oecd.org)
Mr. Paul Swaim (paul.swaim@oecd.org)
Ms Andria Dodds (andria.dodds@oecd.org)

ILO
Mr. David Lamotte (lamotte@ilo.org)
Ms Yukiko Arai (arai@ilo.org)

Further reading

• Growth and Responsibility in the World Economy - G8 Summit Declaration, 7 June 2007
• G8 Labour and Employment Ministers provide strong support for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, 7 May 2007
• Annual Reports on the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises 
• Annual meetings for National Contact Points
• OECD work on investment www.oecd.org/investment
• OECD work on employment, labour and social affairs www.oecd.org/els  
• International Labour Organisation (ILO) www.ilo.org