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The French multinational retailer Carrefour, one of the largest hypermarket chains in the world, has been awarded a Social Dialogue trophy for its Global agreement with UNI Global Union.

Under the organisation of RH&M, a French independent group of human resources professionals, four companies have been recognised for their commitment in social dialogue with trade unions and the involvement of employees in finding balanced and negotiated solutions to issues such as work-life balance, workload and trade union recognition.

Carrefour’s award fell in the category ‘confiance et partage’ (trust and share). Laila Castaldo, UNI Global Union Director for Commerce and Jean Luc Delenne, Carrefour Group Director of Social Affairs talked about the reasons for and advantages of a Global agreement as well as the challenges the negotiations brought and the next steps in the implementation phase. They also stressed the importance of guaranteeing freedom of association where Carrefour operates and the importance of extending the agreement to the subcontractors and franchises. Castaldo and Delenne concluded expressing their hope that other companies will take the example and follow the same route of social dialogue.