sustainable development
HUMAN TRAFFICKING BUSINESSES MUST ACT TO STOP SLAVERY Surely few things can be worse for a company or an industry than to be associated with human trafficking or slave labour. Sadly, this country is said to have one of the highest levels of slavery in Europe, which means that there are Czech businesses connected in some way with this shameful practice. According to the recently published Global Slavery Index, compiled by the non-governmental organization, Walk Free Foundation, the Czech Republic ranks third in Europe with as many as 40,000 people believed to be effectively enslaved. When the Americans famously outlawed Slavery in the 1850s, Abraham Lincoln said, “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves”. It’s therefore shocking to realise that the practice is going on more than 150 years later, right under our noses, in the Czech Republic. Contrary to popular myth, enforced labour extends way beyond the sex industry, affecting all sectors of society. The chances are that every one of us have purchased products and services that are in some way connected with this terrible practice. Many companies are complicit without actually knowing about it, often because they are simply unaware that somewhere in their workforce or along their complex supply chain are impoverished people who are being dreadfully and unacceptably exploited. But ignorance isn’t an excuse, either in the eyes of the law, nor in the court of public opinion. Human trafficking is one of the largest and most profitable crimes in the world. According to the International Labour Organisation, approximately 2.5 million people are trafficked every year for the purposes of some form of enforced employment. The United Nations defines human trafficking as: “The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.” Jonathan Wootliff A former director of Greenpeace International, Jonathan Wootliff lives in Prague and works throughout the world as a sustainability consultant to business. He is a special advisor to the Czech Business Council for Sustainable Development. He has consulted many large corporations including BP, Colgate-Palmolive, McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble and Whirlpool, and providing counsel to companies on the development of sustainability strategies that benefit the environment, society and business. Among his many activities, he helps companies to resolve disputes, forge productive relationships with non-governmental organizations, and build long-term sustainability strategies. A qualified journalist with a subsequent background in public relations, Jonathan commonly assists companies with their sustainability communications. He can be contacted at jonathan@wootliff.com
IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE
Companies may risk being associated with human trafficking and slavery in a range of ways. Traffickers may use a company’s products, premises or services in connection with their illegal activities. For example, moving trafficked victims by bus or other forms of transportation, or accommodating them in hostels or cheap hotels. It is the responsibility of all such companies to be vigilant and on the look-out. Forced labour can be hidden somewhere along a company’s supply chain. The procurement of products without knowing exactly from where or how they are manufactured, runs the risk of enabling the exploitation of trafficked victims. Using workers who are recruited and managed through third party agents could mean that they are being exploited or worse. It must be the duty of every company to ensure that all staff, directly or indirectly employed, are properly treated and fairly paid. In 2012, a television documentary entitled The Tree Workers Case exposed what has been labelled as the biggest case of labour exploitation to have taken place in Europe in the last two decades. The film focused on the case of over 2,000 labourers who were forced to work under very harsh conditions for the Czech Republic’s state forestry company. Workers were lured with bogus promises and partly with false contracts. They were taken to various locations in the Czech Republic, they were getting poor quality food in insufficient quantities, their living conditions were miserable, and they were either paid minimally or not at all. They were threatened against leaving, and in any case the workers had no money to pay for their return. They had no idea where to go and sometimes they didn’t even know where they were living and working because they had been brought in the middle of the forest. These workers, many of whom also came from Rumania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia among other countries, were employed by agencies rather than by the state-owned firm. The management said they did not hire the workers and therefore had no responsibility. Recent reports by German media highlighted the precarious situation of foreign workers at the Czech plant of a major electronics manufacturer. In a bid to combat human trafficking and modern-day slavery, the Czech Republic has passed a series of legal measures. It has joined the Palermo Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, and accordingly adapted its penal code. It has also adopted a European Union directive on human trafficking. But the nation’s only NGO specialising on this issue, La Strada, believes that the measures are not properly implemented. Its director, Irena Konečná says: “The bottleneck here is the implementations of these policies which are formally set up. For instance, in 2012 there
Former Greenpeace International director, Jonathan Wootliff, is now a sustainability consultant living in Prague. Photo: Archive of Author
were just three final court verdicts on labour trafficking in the Czech Republic despite the fact that the definition of human trafficking in the criminal code is in line with the definition internationally recognised in 2004. So it took eight years before Czech law enforcement agencies were able to prosecute labour trafficking.” While government must clearly ensure it has the most effective legislation and enforcement measures in place, Czech business must play its part in stopping slavery and human trafficking. This must be an important part of every company’s corporate responsibility strategy. Sustainability in the business context calls for companies to follows the principle of what has come to be known as the Triple Bottom Line, whereby management need to balance the three key imperatives of Profit, Planet and People – often referred to as the Three Ps. Simply stated, environmental protection and human rights are of equal importance to making money. Czech companies have a clear legal and moral duty to safeguard against the exploitation of any workers, either directly or indirectly. It is their responsibility to ensure that all employees within their own businesses and those of their suppliers fully understand their rights. There are many ways a company can responsibly address human trafficking within its own operations and supply chains. This includes making sure responsible managers learn more about the problem and do everything possible to comply with the law. Companies should conduct thorough assessments to mitigate the risk. Training as well as internal and external communications to proactively raise awareness of the potential problem should also be carried out. Steps must also be taken to make it more difficult, if not impossible, for traffickers to use a company’s products or services in support of its criminally exploitative practices. Claims of being implicated in human trafficking, even if unproven, can seriously damage reputation. Human trafficking and enslavement is wrong. Business must do the right thing in facing up to the challenge in helping to eliminate the practice in the Czech Republic. It is time to act. By Jonathan Wootliff ■ Leaders Magazine II/2014 61