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Uniting Food, Farm and Hotel Workers World-Wide


IUF/Accor international trade union rights agreement

Posted to the IUF website 22-Jan-2001

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Accor is one of the largest global hotel and tourism groups. About 145,000 persons work for the Accor Group. Accor has a global activity, both by its presence in all categories of hotels and by its presence in a large part of the world.

The following agreement signed by the IUF and Accor central management in June 1995 covers all activities of the Accor group worldwide. It represents a commitment from the company to implement internationally-recognized labour standards enshrined in basic ILO Conventions.


Agreement between the IUF and the Accor Group on Trade Union Rights




The Accor Group and the IUF:

 noting that, in the global economy, all social and economic progress is contingent upon the maintaining of a society based on democratic values and respect for human rights;

 further noting that the hotel industry needs peace and social consensus in order to grow;

 being committed, therefore, to work in this direction, above all by the example they set;

 recalling the basic right of each employee to be represented and defended by a union of his or her choice;

 recognizing the reciprocal legitimacy of the other party and its right to intervene in both social and economic affairs, while both retain their own responsibilities, to the extent that they comply with applicable laws, contracts or collective agreements;

 are therefore convinced that reinforcing democracy in the Group is the duty of both parties and that this implies both the recognition of differences over ways and means as well as the search for solutions through collective bargaining;

 further note that this goal requires, for its achievement, an effort at educating and informing the employees concerned and their representatives so that they can better understand the problems, constraints and challenges faced by the company.

In this spirit, the Accor Group and the IUF shall undertake to

1. verify the faithful application by all Accor establishments of ILO Conventions 87, 98 and 135, pertaining respectively to

 the right of employees to affiliate to the union of their choice,

 the protection of employees against all acts of discrimination that tend to violate freedom of association,

 the protection of employee representatives against any measures that could harm them, including discharge, motivated by their status or activities as employee representatives, insofar as they act in compliance with applicable laws, contracts or collective agreements.

The Accor Group therefore undertakes not to oppose efforts to unionize its employees.

The Accor Group considers respect for union rights to be part of the good reputation of its brand names.

2. encourage the management of subsidiaries and entities to allow union representatives to carry out their mandates and to have access to the same opportunities for training, pay increases and advancement as all other equally qualified employees.

Both parties agree that any differences arising from the interpretation or implementation of this agreement will be examined jointly, for the purpose of making recommendations to the parties concerned. The French version of this agreement shall be the point of reference.