HP is a world leader in technology, producing computers, printers, software and other products and services for companies and consumers. Revenues in 2008 were US$118.4 billion.
HP has an extensive supply chain which extends to many emerging markets, including Brazil, Mexico, and China. In many emerging markets, workers may not be aware of their rights and may not have channels to discuss problems. Detecting and addressing workplace issues can be a challenge for companies without an interlocutor who is trusted by the workers.
In order to address worker grievances in Mexico, HP has developed a partnership with the Centre for Reflection and Action on Labour Rights (CEREAL), a local NGO. CEREAL provides training and legal assistance and conducts research on labour rights issues. CEREAL focuses on the electronics workers in Guadalajara.
In Mexico, HP works with CEREAL to identify and address the grievances of workers in their supply factories. CEREAL, in collaboration with a private university, provides training and a diploma in human and labour rights for the workers. They will also represent worker complaints to the factory management and others involved in the grievance mechanism. Initiated by HP, the grievance mechanism within the electronics industry provides for an elevation path for complaints, bringing external facilitation into the process as it advances.
There are several stages to the complaints process:
It is in the best interest of companies to allow grievances to be made. According to a report by Harvard Kennedy School's CSR Initiative, “It is...in a company's best interest to ensure that those parties who may wish to bring complaints have the requisite resources available to them to do so in an informed and constructive manner and to engage as a partner in dialogue...The main question is not whether, but how, to address them.”
HP has received praise from CEREAL for working to improve working conditions among its suppliers, but also for acting to improve working conditions within the industry as a whole. According to CEREAL, HP's “most important role...was to act as a mediator in cases involving companies which were not their suppliers” but which faced problems.