(The ITUC) Congress renews the call for effective regulation of global business by states acting individually at the national level and collectively at the regional and global levels.
The case for such regulation is stronger than ever before and it is needed to increase corporate accountability through better systems of corporate governance and mandatory reporting on both the financial performance of the enterprise as well as on the social impacts of its activities.
New and better regulations are needed to ensure that business pays its fair share of taxes and that the environment is protected from business activities that are damaging.
Most importantly regulation of business activities is needed to ensure respect for trade union and other human rights. In this regard Congress welcomes the "protect, respect and remedy" framework proposed by the UN Secretary General's Special Representative on business and human rights and accepted by the UN Human Rights Council. Congress notes that the realisation of this framework will require standards of due diligence, a more encompassing definition of complicity and meaningful judicial remedies that will not be possible without a strong government role.
The changing organisation of business is used to avoid the legal responsibilities of the employer and is having the effect of reducing wages, worsening working conditions, removing or reducing social protection and making rights unrealisable. Regulation is required to end the abuse and exploitation of workers performing work in increasingly complex supply chains who are without access to the management of the companies for whom the work is ultimately performed.
The rush to avoid responsibility is contributing to the informalisation of work relationships where work is performed outside any legal framework and protection. Governments must ensure that the rights of workers to form and join their own organisations and to bargain collectively with their employer are realisable in small and medium sized companies.
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