Published on 04/02/2019

Societe Generale and UNI Global Union renew their agreement

Societe Generale and UNI Global Union are furthering their agreement on human rights and the freedom of association.

The new three-year agreement was signed this morning in Societe Generale’s offices by Christy Hoffman, General Secretary of UNI Global Union, and Caroline Guillaumin, Group Head of Human Resources at Societe Generale, first European bank to renew its agreement with UNI Global Union.

Societe Generale was the first French bank to sign, in 2015, a global agreement on human rights and implement a global social framework with UNI Global Union. Societe Generale and UNI Global Union have extended their commitments in terms of:

  • Combatting discrimination and developing diversity
  • Fostering a working environment that protects and enhances health, safety and quality of life in the workplace
  • Introducing the principle of a duty of care with a plan to identify, prevent and mitigate human rights violations within the Group.

The agreement applies to all the Group’s 147,000 employees in 67 countries. Staff will be informed of all the details regarding this agreement.

We are proud to be taking our agreement with UNI Global Union even further. It confirms our commitment to respecting human rights as set out in our Code of Conduct and our recognition of the International Labour Organisation’s Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, including the freedom of association. All Societe Generale Group’s Human Resources teams around the world worked hard together to finalise the agreement, which reflects the constructive social dialogue we have with employee representatives at Societe Generale.

Caroline Guillaumin, Group Head of Human Resources at Societe Generale

This new agreement improves upon the previous version in several important ways and reaffirms Société Générale’s commitment to social dialogue, freedom of association and collective bargaining. We look forward to working with the bank to ensure that all workers can exercise their right to organise, have safe jobs, and enjoy workplaces free of discrimination.

Christy Hoffman, UNI Global Union General Secretary