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Page context: Home > Transport International Magazine > Issue 18 January 2005 > The Global Reporting Initiative
What is the GRI?
The Global Reporting Initiative is one of a plethora of corporate social responsibility initiatives which have sprung up in the last few years. There are some things which mark the GRI out, however. One is that it has the stamp of approval of the United Nations, since it was jointly launched in 1997 by the UN Environment Programme and the NGO Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies. It became a permanent independent institution in 2002. Another is that it has a structure which builds in a multi-stakeholder dialogue, including trade unions. The GRI’s reporting standards are now adopted, in whole or in part, by a rapidly growing number of the world’s top companies and by a number of national governments.
Why is the GRI of interest to trade unions?
The GRI encourages companies to produce sustainability reports, which are broader than just being about the environment. They include economic, environmental and social performance. This is sometimes called triple bottom line reporting. Social performance includes a range of issues of interest to trade unions, for example, a company’s impact on human rights. It also includes “social justice at the workplace” and the company’s health and safety performance. The companies are meant to provide information in their company reports, which enables consumers and users to make informed judgements about the company’s behaviour.
How do you make sure the information will be of any practical use?
The GRI sets out to have companies produce reports which:
This is done by trying to find measurable indicators. In theory you should be able to see if the company is getting better or worse in any of these areas and how it stands up against similar companies. There are some parts of the reporting which are general to all companies and some parts which take account of the specific industries involved.
How are things like “social justice at the workplace” measured?
The GRI uses indicators such as the percentage of employees covered by
collective bargaining agreements. Another indicator is the percentage of employees represented by
independent trade union organisations or “bona fide employee representatives”. This last category
severely weakens the data as there are many strongly anti-union companies which claim to have some
form of “bona fide worker representation”. Health and safety indicators include data on work-
related injuries and fatalities.
How do you know the information is accurate?
As with most corporate social responsibility schemes, verification processes are weak. The GRI says it is
working on various “assurance mechanisms”. The data presented is meant to be disclosed in a way
that would enable external assurance providers to attest to its reliability. Of course anyone who
has been involved in producing or examining statistics will know the infinite scope for putting a different slant on the same data.
The GRI secretariat, however, is very rigorous in the standard of information they require and
appears highly committed to the social responsibility principles of the initiative.
Does the GRI set some kind of industry standards?
No, GRI does not set a standard or a code of conduct. It aims
to get companies to provide information on their performance, or about their standards. This may
enable you to see whether they meet a number of international standards. For example under the
heading Decent Work companies are asked to measure themselves up against the ILO core labour
standards.
Why do companies involve themselves?
At beginning of 2004 there were 380 organisations using GRI guidelines in their reporting. The number is growing as the GRI expands the number of
industries it proposes to cover. Each time the GRI draws in a larger number of companies into the
GRI stakeholder dialogue. A major impetus for company involvement appears to be defensiveness by
companies who are aware that users and consumers are demanding some indication that they have
standards and are trying to improve their performance. Competitiveness is also a factor. A number
of companies who you might not expect to be involved probably join in because they do not want to
see their rivals steal any market advantage through their participation.
Is it relevant to the ITF and its affiliates?
A number of Global Union Federations have participated in GRI working groups.
The ITF has recently been invited to participate in a GRI multistakeholder working group on
transportation and logistics which includes companies such as UPS, DHL and Federal Express. The
GRI is a genuine multistakeholder dialogue dealing with information about corporate behaviour. It
is of course entirely voluntary. However the commitment of logistics and other transport companies
to the initiative could prove extremely useful to trade unions seeking to establish responsible
industry global social standards. Anything that prises more information from companies has to be a
good thing. The GRI is still very new, however. We would have to say the jury is still out.
further reading: www.globalreporting.org
Section home:
Issue 18 January 2005
Other pages for Issue 18 January 2005:
Economics of HIV | Presumed Guilty | Bus Driver Blues | Picket Notebook | Cargo in the Wrong Hands | New Pollution Charge | Keeping Going | Commentary: Let them ashore | Commentary: Low cost at any price | Comment: frontlines in US | In a Man's World | Working Life: Our struggles with Maersk | Reflections: Readers thoughts on HIV/AIDS
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