Helsinki (12.02.2015 - Heikki Jokinen) In certain Stora Enso factory units or operations pay is too low and the use of overtime can be excessive, says a new human rights report. This comprehensive assessment has been published by Stora Enso and was drafted by the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
The report looked at 43 human rights issue areas, covering labour rights, community impacts and controls for suppliers and business partners. It covered 93 units in 22 countries, as well as some joint operations in Brazil, Uruguay and Pakistan.
The report lists some problem areas. Working hours raised concern in some countries, where the number of staff has been reduced without new recruitments, like in Poland, Austria and Germany.
In China, Latvia and India pay was deemed too low to meet the cost of living. In particular entry level wages were a problem.
In some Stora Enso units gaps existed in policies concerning harassment and non-discrimination and in China there was a need for measures to better support employees with family responsibilities.
Freedom of association is not ”generally viewed as an area of concern ”, according to the report. However, in China it is a problem due to legal restrictions. In Lithuania there are no trade unions in the Stora Enso operations, but according to the report ”it was clear that union membership is not a popular form of worker representation in the country”.
In Russia most employees are not organised either and 30 per cent of those interviewed think “management would not be happy if employees suggested forming a union”.
The conditions for third-party in-premise staff is an area of concern for most Stora Enso units. Continuous use of overtime took place in Pakistan and Russia. The circumstances for sub-contractor employees was in many places worse than for those employed directly by Stora Enso. In many countries contractors are not being monitored as to whether they follow fair practices in respect of their employees or not.
Agency workers are in a weak position
In Poland for example “third-party employees do not receive equal pay for equal work, in contrast to permanent employees”, the report states. Agency workers are also afraid to ask for sick leave in Poland as they fear that they could be replaced by a new worker and lose their jobs.
Stora Enso will use the report to instigate further reforms, promises CEO Karl-Henrik Sundström. "Launching the human rights action plans in 2015 will be a top priority for us. We see this report as a baseline, and will agree on ambitious but realistic milestones based on detailed analyses of what needs to be done to make a real change. The way we see it, transparency increases accountability."
The company received a lot of negative publicity last year when it became known that it was using child labour in its partially owned company in Pakistan. According to the Financial Times a Swedish state-owned pension fund AP7 has blacklisted Stora Enso due to this and sold off its shares in the company.
Stora Enso is a Finnish-Swedish company working in the fields of paper, biomaterials, wood products and packaging industry. It employs some 27,000 people worldwide. In the last quarter of 2014 the company EBIT (earnings before interests and taxes) was 38 per cent higher than the year before due to cost management.
The Danish Institute for Human Rights is an independent state-funded institution. It advises officials in Denmark on human rights issues and offers comprehensive and detailed analyses in addition to conducting research.
Read more:
The full report (pdf)
Stora Enso admits use of child labour in Pakistan (02.04.2014)