Proceed to deeper integration of Human Rights issues in and beyond ST

Support local sites to implement new management systems

Working time in selected countries l STHR4 l STHR6 l
Hours, per employee, per week in selected countries

 

Working time lost to strikes l STS38 l			%
	2004	2005	2006
Ratio time lost to strikes/time worked	0.04	0.15	0.04

 

Working time and overtime hours l STS36 l STHR7 l
		2004	2005	2006
STS36	Employees with regular work time less than 48 hours per week (%)	100	100	100
STHR7	Average overtime per week (hours per employees)	1.79	1.24	4.17

 

Communication meetings l STS34a l
		2005	2006
Average number of meetings per year in each organization or site during which management presents company/organization/site results to all employees allowing time for open discussion		10	9

 

Working time and overtime

As shown in the tables above, all of our regions continue to work within the standard of 48 hours per week as regular work time. Overtime varies according to local legislation and culture, but always remains within the limit of a 60-hour week. Overtime leading to this 60-hour limit is an exceptional, not a regular occurence and it is always freely chosen. The increase in average overtime per week may reflect the hiring freeze in many regions, which can lead to an increase in working time for operators if production levels remain constant or increase.

Freedom of association and employee-management dialogue

2005 was unusually high in terms of working time lost to strikes, due to country-wide strikes in Italy in the context of the renewal of the National Labor Contract. 2006 results have returned to a more normal figure.

Considering that all of our European sites are covered by the European Works Council and a number of sites outside Europe (e.g. Morocco and Singapore) also have formal systems for collective labor negotiations, we calculate that in 2006, as in previous years, over 75% of our employees were represented by independent trade unions and other officially recognized representatives, or covered by collective bargaining agreements. l LA4 l STHR5 l

ST continues to ensure healthy dialogue and interactions between management and employees, notably by the existence in every site of regular communication meetings. During these meetings, as well as receiving information about ST’s strategy and results, there is the opportunity for employees to raise any questions with management and have an open discussion. A high average number of meetings per year was maintained in 2006 to reflect this long-standing cultural practice.

Entreprises pour les Droits de l’Homme (EDH) is a working group that ST and 7 other French or Francophone multinational companies have created together in 2006 to work proactively on the implementation of Human Rights in a business context. The group has been inspired by the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR).

What is the objective of EDH?

The high-level objective of the group is to contribute to the concrete implementation of the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights through a number of different actions:

• exchange best practices and challenges in the implementation of Human Rights with other stakeholders
• find solutions together and with other stakeholders to challenges that our companies may face in implementing Human Rights
• contribute to reflections on human rights at the international level and to the emerging international framework for the implementation of human rights in a business context
• contribute to the promotion of Human Rights through our activities, including direct action with stakeholders within our sphere of influence

The group is newly formed and so will in due course translate these high-level objectives into more concrete and measurable objectives. Each company will make a formal commitment within the group regarding what they intend to achieve. ST has set up an internal working group on human rights to drive this initiative within the company. The group will work in 2007 to define its formal objectives and areas for activity during the year.