CNV Internationaal

The Foundation CNV Internationaal is part of the National Confederation of Christian Trade Unions in The Netherlands (CNV). CNV Internationaal has been working with trade unions in developing countries since its establishment in 1967. Together with its partner organisations, CNV Internationaal protects and promotes workers’ rights by means of a consultative and coherent model in which social dialogue, pluralism of the trade union movement and workers’ individual responsibility are key values. CNV Internationaal’s mission is to contribute to Decent Work in developing countries through strengthening the position of workers in both the formal and informal economy, through strong social partners and by promoting sustainability throughout supply chains. In the Netherlands, CNV Internationaal – together with the CNV and CNV trade union federations – contributes to Decent Work in developing countries through lobbying, policy and raising awareness. The work of CNV Internationaal is centred on the themes of social dialogue, labour rights in supply chains and (youth) employability.

Current programme countries of CNV Internationaal are Benin, Cambodia, Colombia, Guatemala, Guinea, Indonesia, Niger, Senegal. In 2018 CNV Internationaal started cooperation in Bolivia, Mali, Nicaragua, Peru, Tunisia and Vietnam.

CNV Internationaal aims to strengthen constructive social dialogue in various economic sectors and programme countries, through supporting trade unions on the topic. A bipartite approach towards improving social dialogue often works, as improvements from both the trade unions side as well as the employers’ side are being discussed. The bipartite approach helps in building trust between social partners where this is still lacking. Below you find two examples of successful bipartite interventions of CNV Internationaal and DECP.

Improving social dialogue in Indonesia

In Indonesia CNV Internationaal, DECP and Indonesian employers’ organisation, APINDO together with national trade union organisation KSBSI developed a common Social Dialogue Indonesia (SDI) project. A trainer from DECP and a trainer from CNV Vakmensen developed and facilitated various workshops. This cooperation with DECP has been most successful in triggering discussions on social dialogue. In several regions employers and trade unions agreed to meet on a regular basis to discuss labour issues. They agreed that APINDO would appeal to its members if labour rights violations appear. Trade unions would support APINDO by providing relevant information.

Facilitating social dialogue in Heineken Brewery in Haiti
In the midst of an escalating conflict on labour issues between the management of the Heineken brewery BRANA in Haiti and the workers’ union of the brewery SYTBRANA they called upon the assistance of CNV Internationaal. Together with the Dutch Employers Cooperation Programme, CNV Internationaal decided on a bipartite intervention: with the workers and the management. With trade union expertise of CNV Internationaal and expertise of DECP, on-demand advice was successfully provided: they built capacity on social dialogue, including negotiation skills of the management of BRANA and leadership of SYTRBANA so that they could work towards improved labour relations. A total of 1,200 workers will benefit from improved working conditions

Strong social partners, active in a level playing field, are indispensable to improve labour conditions.

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