Company
Aker
Date of signature
24 August 2023 (renewal, initial agreement signed 28 October 2008 renewed in 2010 and 2013))
Signatories
Aker's CEO, national union organisation Fellesforbundet, NITO, Tekna and the Global Union Federation IndustriAll Global Union.
Key objectives
"This agreement reflects Aker's commitment to respect basic human and trade union rights in the community and abide by minimum social safeguards set out in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, including the principles and rights set out in the ten fundamental Conventions identified in the International Labour Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the International Bill of Human Rights. Further, to recognize the UN Convention on the Rights of the ChiId and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of lndigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and responsibilities under these."
Duration
"This agreement is applicable for an indeterminate duration if not cancelled or if renegotiation is not requested by one of the parties. Cancellation or renegotiation must take place with a notice of at least 6 months and shall be followed by mandatory negotiations initiated by the company."
Implementation and dissemination
"a) Aker will ensure that appropriate translations of the agreement are available for ail Aker Companies and for their The agreement will also be made public on the Aker and lndustriALL web sites and relevant intranets. This should be done within 90 days of signing the agreement.
b) Both parties accept that effective local monitoring of this agreement must involve the local management, the workers and their representatives, health and safety representatives and local trade unions.
c) The workers' representatives will be given access to the resources necessary for their involvement in the implementation and monitoring The company will ensure that local representatives are provided with information, access to workers, and rights of inspection necessary to effectively monitor compliance with this agreement.
d) Aker Companies shall provide training on the content and implementation of the agreement for employee representatives and local managers to enable them to implement the agreement together.
e) Aker shall perform human rights impact assessments and due diligence to understand and mitigate potential and actual adverse impacts in line with its policies and shall encourage the Aker Companies to do the same.
f) The Global Works Councils working committee meets once a year with representatives from Aker management to carry out an assessment of the implementation of the agreement, evaluate the results, and promote the good practices that have been This committee, if necessary, will carry out reasonable monitoring activity at workplaces to ensure compliance. Aker bears the costs linked to these implementation and monitoring activities."
Review and monitoring
"Each of the signatories to the agreement can ask for a meeting when deemed necessary in order to review the principles, practice, effectiveness, and impact of the agreement. The aim shall be to exchange views regarding the current situation, and jointly develop further good working relations in Aker. At a minimum, such meetings will be held at least every second year."
Dispute settlement and sanctions
"Art.4 Infrigements of the agreement
ln the event of a complaint or an infringement of the agreement the following procedure will normally apply:
- Firstly, the complaint should be raised with the local site
- If the complaint is not resolved with local management, it should be referred to the appropriate national union who will raise the issue with the company's regional If no national union exists or the matter is still unresolved, the complaint will be referred to Aker's Chief Shop Steward who will take the issue to Aker's Chairman and CEO.
- Ultimately, if still unresolved, the complaint will be referred to a monitoring group, consisting of an equal number of (company) management and union (including lndustriALL) representatives (3+3). ln case ofdeadlock, arbitration will be handled by the ILO or a neutral party agreed upon by (company) management and the union
- After this process has been exhausted failure to reach a consensus will mean a termination of the agreement."
Main topic
Fundamental social rights,
Secondary topic(s)
freedom of association and collective bargaining , non discrimination, child labour, forced labour, violence and harassment in the workplace, equality, diversity and inclusion, health and safety, living wage, employment conditions, working hours, pandemics and global health risks, environnemental and climate issues, digitalization, skills training, just transition, community impact and engagement, good corporate governance and responsible business conduct.