Alice Tepper Marlin, president and founder, Social Accountability International (SAI) has said that effective labour law enforcement is the need of the hour in India. During her visit to Tata Steel, she interacted with the media and spoke about the global trends and practices in the area of labour and human rights. She said that about 70 per cent of labour class works in unorganised sector in India so if the laws are enforced, there would be better work culture.
Marlin informed that SAI is a non-Governmental, international, multi-stakeholder organisation dedicated to improving workplaces and communities by developing and implementing socially responsible standards. She went on to inform that SAI works to protect the integrity of workers around the world by building local capacity and developing systems of accountability through socially responsible standards.
SAI established one of the world’s preeminent social standards—the SA8000®standard for decent work, a tool for implementing international labour standards that is being used in over 3,000 factories, across 66 countries and 65 industrial sectors. Sharing her observations during the visit, one of the major issues in India is health and safety.
She said that spreading awareness and capacity building would add to safety improvement. However, she finds Tata Steel interesting, it’s been a CSR leader for 100 years. She visited Pipla Camp School, Centre for Excellence and Tribal Culture Centre and learnt about the company’s heritage and initiatives for the tribal community.
Marlin expressed how touched she was with the transformations being brought about by the company’s CSR work. The SAI visitors commented that Tata Steel is a pioneering company for its workplace practices and also noted the emphasis placed on safety related improvements. Tata Steel is certified to the SA8000 standard since 2004 which focuses on workplace practices.
Speaking about SAI, she said: “Our motto — human rights at work. The journey of SAI began several decades ago. We provided information that rated US companies on a wide range of social issues from environment to welfare. The initiative brought in a much larger scope to design and implement new processes that empower and inspire stakeholders and facilitate partnerships.
She said that Tata Group has always been a leader in how they treat their workers. If you treat your people well, you will have a variety of benefits — higher productivity, better quality, more innovation, lower insurance rates and lower absenteeism. Tata already has a 40 hour week and pension plan.