ETI roundtables

Events for ETI Members

We organise between 4 and 8 members’ roundtables a year, focusing on ethical trade topics prioritised by our members. Since a key aim of these events is to build trust and encourage exchange of experiences and viewpoints between our members, participation at the events is restricted to our membership. However, the roundtable reports are available to non-members. Below you will find a list of past roundtables we have organised and links to the reports.

Past roundtables

Freedom of association and collective bargaining

9 March 2005

ETI held a roundtable event for its members to discuss how companies can implement ETI Base Code Article 2: ‘Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining are Respected’. Nearly 50 participants attended the roundtable, comprising representatives from NGOs, trade union organisations, the ETI Secretariat and over 20 ETI member companies. To coincide with this event, the ETI trade union caucus produced a guidance document on freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Freedom of association and collective bargaining report.

Purchasing practices:‘marrying the commercial with the ethical’

7 July 2004

This roundtable highlighted the key impacts that retailers’ purchasing practices can have on workers, and explore possible approaches to improving buying strategies with a view to better integrating commercial and ethical considerations. It aimed to take forward thinking on this issue, by building on recent discussions and work done by Oxfam, Acona/Insight and ETI.
Purchasing practices roundtable report.

Prison labour

5 Feb 2004

Various corporate members have become aware of prison labour in their supply chains in the last few years. Following a workshop at ETI’s Annual General Meeting in 2002 which aimed to increase members’ understanding of prison labour issues, workshop participants requested a roundtable on the prison labour to explore the matter in greater depth.
Prison labour roundtable report.

Worker participation & awareness
raising in code implementation

19 June 2003

Many of ETI’s corporate members recognise the need for increased worker participation in code implementation, but are unsure how to go about including workers. This roundtable was organised to provide practical guidance to companies on how to raise worker awareness about codes and how best to involve workers in code implementation, drawing on the practical experiences of our corporate, NGO and trade union members.
(Worker participation roundtable - advance details)

Working with local monitoring groups

20 March 2003

Our work has shown that code monitoring and implementation is most successful when relevant organisations and individuals with local knowledge and expertise are actively involved. But companies who have tried to work with local organisations on code issues have found that there are some very real practical challenges involved. This roundtable aimed to provide encouragement and guidance to companies interested in working with local organisations, drawing on the experiences of partnerships developed between companies and local monitoring groups in Central America.
Working with local monitoring groups roundtable report.

Effecting change in your own organisation

4 February 2003

Our experience shows that integration of ethical sourcing principles across all parts of the company is key for success. In practice, however, ethical sourcing managers can find it difficult to get colleagues from other departments – be they buyers, technologists or quality controllers – to buy in to ethical sourcing principles. This roundtable brought together the experiences of corporate members in seeking and winning internal support for codes.
Effecting change roundtable: download presentations.

ETI AGM 2002 roundtable workshops

28 November 2002

1. Prison labour
2. How influencing suppliers is best achieved when buying power is limited
3. Engaging with workers in China
4. Trade Unions and Companies
5. (AGM report)

Corrective actions: sharing best practice

1 October 2002

The ability of companies to implement corrective actions (ie, actions taken to rectify labour problems that have been identified through monitoring activity) is in many ways the crux of what ethical sourcing is about. Yet some companies are clearly more effective at taking action than others. This roundtable provided an opportunity for companies to learn from each other about key success factors in achieving corrective action.
Corrective actions roundtable report

Homeworkers

16 July 2002

Our member companies have become increasingly aware of the large number of homeworkers in their supply chains. They recognise that, while homeworkers face some of the worst working conditions, they also pose some of the most difficult challenges for companies aiming to source ethically. This roundtable provided members with an opportunity to learn more about homeworkers and the conditions they face, and to hear about companies’ experiences of applying codes in supply chains involving homeworkers.
Homeworkers roundtable report.

HIV/AIDS in the workplace

17 April 2002

HIV/AIDS has emerged as an issue of increasing importance to our member companies, particularly for those sourcing from Africa. It became clear that a greater awareness about the impact of the disease was required, along with a better understanding of how to deal with HIV/AIDS in the workplace. We organised this roundtable in conjunction with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to meet this demand.
HIV/AIDS roundtable report.

Issues affecting women workers

7 March 2002

We organised this roundtable in collaboration with the Central America Women’s Network (CAWN) to raise awareness of the particular issues affecting women workers, and to offer practical suggestions on how to uncover and address some of the common problems. The event drew in particular on the experiences of two women workers from Nicaragua, from our Zimbabwe project, and from Verité’s experience of workplace auditing in Asia.
Women workers roundtable report.

ETI & Corporate Social Responsibility

19 Feb 2002

This roundtable aimed to provide members with: (a) a better understanding of where ETI sits within the wider context of CSR and how it relates to other initiatives, such as SA 8000, GRI, AA 1000; and (b) an opportunity to discuss and assess the pros and cons of different auditing companies.
CSR roundtable report.

 

See also:

• Forthcoming roundtables and other events
• ETI Seminars (current)
• Corporate Learning Needs Assessment (2001)
• 'Learning from Doing' seminars archive (1998-2000).