Part 1 // Articles
LuxairGroup commits itself for others. LuxairGroup is committed to its employees’ welfare and to protecting the environment and people who are particularly vulnerable. Among other things, this commitment has given rise to a lasting and concrete partnership with the Red Cross and Caritas. A noble endeavour which is just beginning…
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n 2010, LuxairGroup unveiled its corporate accountability plans in its annual report for 2009 – printed on recycled paper! Since then, CSR, or Corporate Social Responsibility, has been integrated into the strategic policy of LuxairGroup. Whoever thinks that CSR is a notion consisting of occasional, sporadic and self-promoting actions, will not find much favour at LuxairGroup. Funding the odd charitable action, sponsoring this or that humanitarian event, is not the way LuxairGroup understands the acronym CSR. “For LuxairGroup, a CSR policy is not about show,” says Yves Schmidt, an executive officer at Caritas Luxembourg, one of the charities with which LuxairGroup has built close partnership ties.
Well-organised charity Lending coherence to a CSR strategy first of all calls for adopting a policy of valuing and caring for one’s personnel. Well-being, training, reconciliation of private life and working life are all elements which LuxairGroup carefully manipulates in order to ensure that its 2,500-odd employees flourish as much as possible once they put on their work uniform. LuxairGroup is also vying for accountable waste management and lowering energy and fuel consumption in order to adopt a sustainable vision favourable to the environment. It is with this in mind that a partnership was developed with the Hëllef fir d’Natur foundation; this partnership, which was initially limited to financial and promotional aspects, might well develop into a more operational relationship. The idea is to “develop programmes to rejuvenate rivers as a team-building exercise for instance,” says Yves Hoffmann, head of Corporate communication at LuxairGroup.
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Les « Buttek » gérées par la Croix-Rouge offrent également des cours de cuisine et de nutrition aux clients qui souhaitent en bénéficier. The “Buttek” run by the Red Cross also offers cooking and nutrition courses for clients who wish to take advantage.
Will we soon see LuxairGroup employees getting their hands dirty on the banks of the Our or the Alzette rivers? Finally, LuxairGroup promotes responsible tourism and has been involved for many years in the struggle against sex tourism in conjunction with ECPAT.
“Without solidarity, you cannot expect sustainable or honourable performance” This maxim by Proust (François not Marcel), a French anthropologist, reflects the convictions of LuxairGroup which, to develop its corporate social responsibility towards the most vulnerable sections of society, has chosen to follow the path laid by two emblematic leaders of the charity sector: the Luxembourg Red Cross and Caritas Luxembourg, “because for us it is very important to work with major institutions and provide assistance as part of recurring and perennial projects,” says Yves Hoffmann. All the more so since these two charities have joined forces – in a move which particularly thrilled LuxairGroup – to develop a network of social grocery stores based in several towns throughout the country and aimed at the most vulnerable elements of society. Make no mistake, these stores are typical stores in which clients walk among the aisles, select fruits, breakfast cereals or other food products, and put them in their shopping trolley before going to the till. An ordinary scene, you might say, involving nothing but ordinary characters! Yes, apart from the fact that these grocery stores are only open to economically
deprived persons who have been identified as such beforehand by the social services. Although they pay for their food products and household goods like everyone else (subject in part to their resources), the prices on display are three to four times lower than prices of equivalent products in leading supermarkets. “A person who comes out of one of our stores having spent 50 to 60 euros goes home with the equivalent of 200 euros of goods,” says Yves Schmidt. This tremendous boon is the outcome of sustained cooperation between several suppliers who offer their goods at low prices or even free of charge, and the two leading charities (together with Aarbechtshëllef asbl), which, in order to manage the supply chain, have formed Spëndchen asbl, which is in charge of organising the supply and distribution of the food products to the grocery stores.
LuxairGroup supports other actions Pasta, sugar, salt, bread, fruits and vegetables…all the grocery stores offer daily a range of basic food products “complemented sometimes by little treats such as Nutella for instance,” says Caroline Theves, Communication manager at Caritas. Sometimes they also sell some of the surplus chocolate that the big retail chains will have brought out of their basket during the 2010 festive season. The sale of these treats, although sporadic and very much ancillary to the main business of the grocery stores, is nonetheless an opportunity to liven up the fare of the clients. In addition to contributing financially and pro-
moting this scheme of social grocery stores, LuxairGroup provides backing to many other projects devised by Caritas and the Red Cross. For the Red Cross to begin with, LuxairGroup provides extensive promotional communication opportunities on its flights during the traditional "Mois du Don" (in April). “LuxairGroup thus enables us to reach out to a wider population segment,” says Jean-Marc Le Coq, secretary general of the Red Cross in Luxembourg. This action is all the more remarkable as the cabin crew have taken the initiative to get involved in spreading the good word about the charity with great fervour. Moreover, the emergency vehicles of the Red Cross are parked in the garages of LuxairGroup where they are maintained regularly. “We are hoping to develop a programme of skills philanthropy with LuxairGroup, says Jean-Marc Le Coq. And we would like to raise awareness regarding blood donation and enroll blood donors among employees at the Cargocenter.” Say no more! For Caritas, the company’s commitment extends to providing surplus food from the catering department to the Ulysse night shelter for the homeless. It is also promoting the forthcoming “Caritas Challenge” which will take place in May (www.caritas. lu/challenge). This initiative, which is designed to collect donations to help deprived children is aimed at any person who is motivated by a challenge. It involves organising any charitable action they can imagine (sports tournament, cultural event, public auction, etc.). So if you have an idea, go for it… for the children!
FLYDOSCOPE // 2012 — \2
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