Trade Unions Delivering a Sustainable Finance Sector for Workers and Society at large

On 29 October 2024, finance sector trade unionists from across Europe gathered at UNI Global Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, to debate and exchange on the role of trade unions in delivering a sustainable finance sector for both workers and society at large.

Throughout the day, UNI Europa Finance affiliates explored how to promote sustainable investments, ensure decision-makers prioritise the ‘s’ in ESG, and map a company’s operations to hold it to account in its corporate sustainability reporting. 

Opening the thematic seminar, UNI Finance President Anna Maria Romano recalled the ambitious Action Plans adopted at the August 2023 UNI Finance Conferences, committing to work towards a sustainable economy, with social dialogue and collective bargaining as key to promoting workers’ rights in a just transition. “Only by working together and speaking with one voice can we avoid ‘greenwashing’ and make sustainable finance a reality”, she declared.

The participants had the opportunity to hear from and exchange with a variety of experts on the reality of sustainability reporting, using the OECD ‘Guidelines for Multinationals on Responsible Business Conduct’ as a tool for trade union campaigns, and influencing investors and global rating agencies to include labour rights as part of ESG.

Read more about UNI’s work with investors and about the Labour Rights Investor Network.

While international sustainability standards remain voluntary, the EU has adopted the world’s first set of harmonised and legally binding rules to hold companies accountable for human and labour rights violations: the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

UNI Europa Finance members agreed that trade unions must use this crucial opportunity to get a seat at the table. Under the new legislation, trade unions have a right to be informed and consulted on the development and implementation of a company’s due diligence plan and we need to be prepared: by understanding the company context and mapping its operations, identifying actual and potential ESG risks, assessing their potential impact, and following the company’s reporting process and outcomes.

A UNI Europa toolkit and checklist have been developed to train and support trade unions on due diligence – find out more here.

UNI’s Global Agreements with the French finance multinationals BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and Société Générale were also highlighted as an important part of this process. UNI is recognised as an official ‘stakeholder’ and we are informed and consulted on the elaboration and monitoring of the companies’ due diligence plans.

Closing the event, UNI Europa Finance President Michael Budolfsen thanked the participants for their active engagement in this important topic. “We need to take a holistic approach”, he concluded. “We have a collective responsibility to ensure that there is no sustainable finance without workers’ rights”.