As we know from more than a decade of helping companies achieve compliance to codes of conduct, the issues surrounding the right to freedom of association (FoA) are undoubtedly among the most complicated and contentious. Challenges exist in nearly every country, yet the FoA situation in the Philippines has been under heightened scrutiny in recent years; in fact, as a result of FoA problems, major trade preference privileges with the United States remain under official review. Much of Verité’s work throughout Asia is managed from the Philippines and we have been deeply engaged in labor audits, trainings, and research work there in a range of sectors. We were, therefore, pleased to receive funding last year from the US Department of State to create a multi-stakeholder initiative to improve respect for freedom of association in Philippine Special Economic Zones (SEZs).Our program’s guiding principle is that the Philippines’ competitiveness and stability as a sourcing location for apparel, electronics, and other key product categories will improve with stronger dialogue and cooperation around FoA and other labor issues. A key goal of this two-year initiative is to promote communication and cooperation among stakeholders in the Philippines who generally do not interact directly, despite the destructive business consequences of their miscommunication and conflict. Beyond a number of activities to improve communication and cooperation, we also have planned a full program of trainings and other capacity-building activities that will be provided free-of-charge to stakeholders in order to improve the ability to comply with freedom of association and other international labor standards and to monitor them independently. For instance, we will do systems assessments of the PEZA processes and train PEZA personnel to be able to monitor and remediate FoA and other labor issues themselves.We are currently reaching out to various stakeholders in order to encourage participation in program activities. Support from brands sourcing from the Philippines will undoubtedly strengthen the consultative process and your participation is of particular significance to the ultimate success of this initiative.During the meeting, we will":"Situate the project within the context of freedom of association practices in the Philippines and elsewhere; Comprehensively explain the FoA project; Clarify expectations among participants; Learn about brand perspectives and goals related to FoA and a project such as ours; and Identify brand representatives to the multi-stakeholder consultation to be held in ManilaBefore reaching out to stakeholders like you, we laid the groundwork by gaining cooperation from key local authorities. We are happy to inform you that we are currently working with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Legal Service Group and the Industrial Relations Division and with PEZA zone administrators in identified special economic zones in the Mactan, Cebu, Cavite, and Laguna/Batangas SEZs where many US companies source their products. We have conducted site visits in these economic zones and we are in the process of organizing orientation seminars on social compliance and FoA standards to be conducted on-site in February and March. We also reached out to the Bureau of Labor Relations of the Department of Labor and Employment and we agreed to harmonize our respective activities and initiatives on FoA and labor standards with them. We are currently reaching out to labor groups and unions regarding this project with an NGO partner – the Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panligal (SALIGAN) and are committed to include those groups that show a willingness to communicate and learn. All these activities are preparatory to the multi-stakeholder consultations that will happen in March 2010 with, we hope, participation from representatives from your company.Please RSVP by January 28, 2010 to Laurie Schimmelfing, Program Administrator – lschimmelfing@verite.org.