Towards a Global Wage Indicator Extension to Africa, Asia and Latin America Project proposal to FNV MONDIAAL By Naledi – South Africa ITPF – India DIEESE – Brazil Union Network International - Switzerland Wage Indicator Foundation – The Netherlands December 2004 Executive summary The Global Wage Indicator project aims to increase the transparency of the labour market in developing countries, and to give trade unions in these countries more insight into the way wages, terms of employment, working conditions are structured across occupations, companies, industries, regions and countries. This empowerment of both individual employees and the trade union movement is achieved by introducing the Wage Indicator online questionnaire research system. This proposal aims to widen the European scope of the present Wage Indicator project to encompass countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The applicants work in Brazil, South Africa and India. In the first 2 countries a trade union liaised research institute, specialized in the labour market, takes the lead and guarantees the involvement of the national trade union movement. In India, a slightly different approach is chosen. Here organized labour, i.e. the it-professionals forum takes the lead in the national project, in coalition with a group of research institutes from different regions in the country and some other partners. This group of applicants is backed by the global union UNI, which acts in the interest of its affiliates in the developing world. The online research system that the Wage Indicator essentially is, was first installed in the Netherlands in 1999, and it is currently under way in 8 other EU member states. In the Netherlands it has proven to be a viable concept that attracts large numbers of web visitors and completed questionnaires. The Wage Indicator will also be introduced in the USA by the end of 2004. A national Wage Indicator mainly consists of 1) an online Salary Check, that enables employees to compare their salary with the average salary of their professional peer group, 2) an extensive wage and working conditions questionnaire, the results of which are used as input for the Salary Check and for more general research purposes and 3) a Wage Indicator website displaying both 1) and 2), as well as specific labour market content. The Wage Indicator solves a problem hampering individual employees and trade unions: a lack of high quality, reliable data on wages. Presently, it is not easy to lay hands on even basic wage figures. Individual employees are generally dependent on labour market information gathered in their local community or peer group, making comparisons with wages earned in companies hundreds or even thousands of miles away almost impossible. For trade unions, data on wages is needed for their input in wage negotiations. Finally, the international comparability of data on wages and employment practices has become an important concern, because of the trend towards globalisation. In particular the wage and employment practices of multinational enterprises across the globe are more and more scrutinised. To facilitate analyses of these issues, a section on those enterprises will be included in the global Wage Indicator questionnaire. International comparison of wage data will be facilitated by the use of Purchasing Power Parities (PPP’s). The Wage Indicator is fully internet-based. The internet offers a low cost possibility to collect cross-country survey data about wages and related issues (terms of employment, working conditions) on an unprecedented scale. Given the experience in the Netherlands and Europe with the Wage Indicator and given the exponentially increasing internet penetration, several hundreds of thousands of completed questionnaires can be expected. These data will allow for salary checks on the Wage Indicator websites for over hundred occupations. In addition it will allow for detailed reports on wage differentials across gender, ethnicity and age groups, across regions and nations, across occupations and industries, within multinational enterprises and for foreign versus local establishments in national economies. The internet will also enable a wide dispersion of the results of these studies, not only to individual employees (most concretely in the form of the salary check, but also by the online reports), but also to trade union officials and negotiators, activists, the research community at large and international organisations such as the International Labour Organisation. The Wage Indicator Foundation acts as the co-ordinating applicant of the present proposal. It is backed by two universities: the Amsterdam Institute of Advanced Labour Studies of the University of Amsterdam (AIAS/UvA), that ensures the scientific methodology and the questionnaire, and the SCOPE team of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam/Rotterdam School of Management (EUR/RSM) for the section on multinational enterprises. AIAS/UvA is also represented in the Board of the Wage Indicator Foundation. Key to putting together a viable and reliable Wage Indicator and to the success of the project are alliances with national counterparts, preferably combinations of research institutes, trade unions and national media with a strong web presence. These national counterparts adapt the Wage Indicator research system to their national labour markets, and manage, update, promote, and further develop the website(s). They collaborate with and are supported by the Dutch researchers and the support team of the Wage Indicator Foundation. The Wage Indicator Foundation is also responsible for monitoring and evaluation. Some of the most important outputs at the end of this three-year project include: 1. Online and operational national Wage Indicator websites, including questionnaires and salary checks, targeting different language groups, age and gender groups; 2. Functioning national teams, consisting of researchers, trade unionists, web workers and journalists; 3. National datasets that are large enough to allow for the salary checks and for scientific analysis i.e. for national and international analyses of wages, terms of employment (including working time issues) and working conditions; 4. Reports and evaluations for trade unions and others, to be exchanged Table of Contents 1 Introduction 7 1.1 Project aims 7 1.2 Project approach 7 1.2.1 The first 3 months of the project 7 1.2.2 Team formation 8 1.2.3 Involvement of trade union journalists 8 1.2.4 Contract to be concluded in the first 3 months 8 1.2.5 Financial arrangements 8 1.2.6 Introduction of new elements 9 1.3 Applicants 9 1.3.1 Global union 10 1.3.2 Brazil 10 1.3.3 South Africa 10 1.3.4 India 10 1.4 Outline of this proposal 11 2 Empowerment of the trade union movement 12 2.1 Research for better wage negotiations 12 2.2 Attractive website to serve (potential) members 12 2.3 International research on trade union issues 13 2.4 Research on multinationals 13 2.5 Labour market information for employees 14 2.6 Strengthening the trade union movement 15 2.7 Lack of proper statistical data on wages 16 3 The Wage Indicator research 18 3.1 Short history 18 3.2 The concept 18 3.2.1 The questionnaire and the dataset 19 3.2.2 The salary check 19 3.3 Research on multinational enterprises 19 3.4 Purchasing power parities 20 3.5 Research on the data 20 3.6 Potential data bias 22 4 Participants and target groups 23 4.1 Participants in the project 23 4.1.1 Workforce 23 4.1.2 Trade unionists 23 4.1.3 Researchers and web workers 23 4.2 Identification of target groups 24 4.2.1 Workforce 24 4.2.2 Trade unionists 24 4.2.3 International institutions 24 4.2.4 Research community 25 4.3 Gender analysis 25 4.3.1 Female workers 25 4.3.2 Gender wage gap as starting point 25 4.3.3 Gender expressed in women’s and men’s websites 26 4.3.4 Gender mix in the project teams 26 4.4 National trade union gender policies 26 4.4.1 South Africa 26 4.4.2 India 26 4.4.3 Brazil 26 5 Implementation strategy 27 5.1 Strategic inputs for a fast roll out 27 5.1.1 Tried and tested system 27 5.1.2 Strong research backing 27 5.1.3 A running international operation and network 27 5.2 National strategic goals 27 5.2.1 Sufficient traffic 28 5.2.2 Creating a strong research and web team 28 5.2.3 Attractive websites to promote participation in the research 28 5.3 International strategic goals 28 5.3.1 International exchange of knowledge and experience 28 5.3.2 Cross-country studies into policies of multinational enterprises 29 5.4 Contribution to overall development goals 30 6 Specific project input and output 31 6.1 Inputs 31 6.2 Activities 31 6.3 Expected results 31 7 Monitoring and reliability checks 33 7.1 Monitoring 33 7.2 Indicators of achievement 33 7.3 Sources for benchmarking 33 7.4 Measuring the impact on development 34 7.5 Evaluation 34 8 Institutional framework and sustainability 35 8.1 Institutional framework 35 8.1.1 South Africa 35 8.1.2 Brazil 35 8.1.3 India 36 8.1.4 Netherlands 36 8.2 Assumptions and preconditions 36 8.3 Sustainability check 37 9 Working plan and time schedule 39 9.1 Description of activities per period 42 9.1.1 Period 1 42 9.1.2 Period 2 42 9.1.3 Period 3 42 9.1.4 Period 4 43 9.1.5 Period 5 43 9.1.6 Period 6 43 9.1.7 Period 7 43 9.1.8 Period 8 43 9.1.9 Period 9 44 9.1.10 Period 10 44 9.1.11 Period 11 44 9.1.12 Period 12 44 10 Appendix 1 National requesting organizations 45 10.1 Brazil 45 10.1.1 CV of teamleader 46 10.1.2 CV of researcher 47 10.2 South Africa 47 10.2.1 CV of teamleader 48 10.3 India 50 10.3.1 CV of teamleader-ITPF 51 10.4 Letters of intent of research institutes in India 51 10.4.1 Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 51 10.4.2 ICFAI Business School, Chennai 51 10.4.3 Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad 52 10.4.4 Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad 52 11 Appendix 2 International requesting organisation 53 11.1 The Wage Indicator Foundation 53 11.2 Cv’s of team leader and researchers 53 11.2.1 Team leader 53 11.2.2 Research coordinator 54 11.2.3 Research coordinator multinational enterprises 54 11.2.4 Researcher 54 11.2.5 Researcher 55 11.2.6 Researcher PPP’s 55 1 Introduction 1.1 Project aims The present project has five aims: 1. increasing transparency of the labour market by providing individual employees with insight in wages paid in large numbers of occupations in their country or region; 2. gathering data by means of an online questionnaire with questions about wages, employment practices and firm characteristics; 3. facilitating wage bargaining by the trade unions by providing deeper insight in wage structures across occupations, companies, industries, regions and countries; 4. strengthening the trade unions by improved use of the internet through a dedicated website, as to establish themselves as reliable authorities in the field of wage information; 5. improving comparisons of the wages in multinational enterprises in various countries on behalf of servicing the global trade union movement Such empowerment can be achieved by introducing the Wage Indicator online research system in national labour markets. Wage Indicator research is already under way in 9 member states of the EU and will be introduced in the USA by the end of 2004. This project proposes to bring Wage Indicator websites online in Brazil, South Africa and India. In addition to this proposal the Wage Indicator Foundation (in Dutch Stichting Loonwijzer) put forward a similar request to FNV Bondgenoten in order to include South Korea in the project. This detour was necessary, as South Korea no longer enjoys DAC-status (Development Assistance Committee of the OECD). The latter request has already been approved. 1.2 Project approach The whole project period of 3 years is divided in 12 phases of a quarter each. Each quarter targets are set. The first 3 months merit special attention, as a national team must be formed, involving trade unions, and contracts have to be concluded (see the next section). The quarterly report, facilitated by a simple standard form equal for all participants, allows for regular monitoring of project progress. This input is used as a check on whether or not the funds spent so far bring the project aims closer to plan. A go-no go moment at the end of each year is built in in the overall project plan. Thus, although this application in principle is for a grant covering 3 years, the commitment asked from the ‘sponsors’ is conditional for the successful implementation of the project plan. 1.2.1 The first 3 months of the project In the first 3 months of the project the foundations for co-operation during the 3-years project period must be laid. This amounts to: • putting together a national team; • negotiating a contract (see 1.2.4). In order to make this happen the Wage Indicator Foundation will send an experienced coach to each country within the first 3 months of the project. 1.2.2 Team formation The formation of national teams in Brazil, South Africa and India is the first step. A team must at least consist of labour market researchers, trade unionists and journalists. Team formation must take place in the first 3 months of the project. The failure to do so will already mean a no go for the project. From the outset of the project in each participating country an institute, specialized in labour market research, is involved. This research institute will bring in the national team leader. 1.2.3 Involvement of trade union journalists In close consultation with the team leader from the national research institute, trade unionists from the communication departments will be approached and selected for participation in the national team. The union journalists in the team have a crucial role to play in the early phases of the project. First they will be trained – if needed – in the production of attractive website content, related to the labour market. Second their training will be extended to the promotion of the Wage Indicator website within and outside the trade union movement. They should put an effort into raising the awareness of the wage indicator amongst the union rank and file, as well as amongst the public at large. Large numbers of visitors are a precondition for massive data gathering. A national team ideally includes journalists from mass media, both old (print, radio and tv) and new (the internet). They can bring in their network and use it for the media campaign necessary to promote the wage indicator website. 1.2.4 Contract to be concluded in the first 3 months Next to the formation of the national team, the coach will have to negotiate a contract in the initial 3 months, involving at least the research institute and the trade union, as well as the Wage Indicator Foundation, bearing overall responsibility for the project. Provisions in this agreement will include: • how the Wage Indicator concept is put at the disposal of both trade union and research institute • how the trade union will suggest and promote topics for research on the dataset • how the trade union can use the Wage Indicator concept and website for its own promotion and recruitment purposes as well as for its internal communication • how to co-operate internationally with other national Wage Indicator teams, sharing the results of research on the national datasets and to contribute to international research on behalf of the trade union movement • financial arrangements (see next section) • the intention to create a national Wage Indicator foundation or some other permanent body for the continuous operation of the concept after the expiration of the current project • the intention to make a realistic financial contribution to the continuous operation of the Wage Indicator after the expiration of the project 1.2.5 Financial arrangements As project leader, the Wage Indicator Foundation is responsible for all payments to the contract partners, following the regulations laid down in the contract. Basically payments will follow the project cycle of 3 months’ terms, as specified in the contract concluded in the first 3 months of the project. Provided the targets laid down for the 3 months’ term just concluded are met, the funds due according to that contract will be transferred. In the first 3 months the funds earmarked for Brazil go to DIEESE. After the formation of the national team the funds will be shared by DIEESE and participating trade union(s) that will do the lion share of the web management. It is conceivable that technical support will be hired from a third party or that hosting will be done by either DIEESE or by the union(s). The same pattern will be followed concerning South Africa, i.e. in the first 3 months funding will go to NALEDI and afterwards it will be divided as stipulated in the contract. In India ITPF will exclusively receive funding for the first 3 months. After that funds will be shared by ITPF and the research institute in Ahmedabad, which will co-ordinate the group of research institutes. The money earmarked in euro for TEAM BRAZIL YEAR 1 45000 YEAR 2 54000 YEAR 3 51000 TOTAL 1, 2, 3 150000 TEAM INDIA YEAR 1 22100 YEAR 2 25900 YEAR 3 30800 TOTAL 1, 2, 3 78800 TEAM SOUTH AFRICA YEAR 1 38875 YEAR 2 42875 YEAR 3 44750 TOTAL 1, 2, 3 126500 1.2.6 Introduction of new elements In keeping with this step-by-step approach, new elements will be introduced gradually into the Wage Indicator system. This applies in particular to the section on multinational enterprises. It will be only made operational once the websites have generated sufficient data as to create the first salary check based on those data, i.e. in year 2 of the plan. Similarly, the Purchasing Power Parities (PPP’s), needed for meaningful international wage comparisons, will be calculated and adopted once the national data intake is well under way, that is in year 3. 1.3 Applicants In each country the national counterpart(s) cooperate with the Wage Indicator Foundation which owns the concept and submits this proposal. Members of the Board of the Wage Indicator Foundation are representing (1) the FNV, (2) the Amsterdam Institute of Advanced Labour Studies of the University of Amsterdam (AIAS/UvA), and (3) the vacancy website Monsterboard.nl. Following its statute, the Foundation’s tasks are: (1) exploitation of the internet website www.loonwijzer.nl and all related websites; (2) granting licenses concerning the Wage Indicator and parts thereof; (3) cooperating with third parties, interested in the development of the Wage Indicator; (4) acquiring subsidies; (5) organising conferences; (6) undertaking all other activities that may serve the goal of the Wage Indicator Foundation. In this project the Wage Indicator Foundation puts the concept at the disposal of its national counterparts, acts as mentor, coach and trainer of the national research and web teams, as well as as project leader. The research efforts are co-ordinated and backed by the University of Amsterdam and by the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. In Brazil and South Africa the Wage Indicator research will be carried out by institutes established by and linked with the trade union movement. In this way the involvement of the trade union movement in the project can be guaranteed. In India a group of research institutes based in the main Indian IT-cities is selected in close consultation with the Information Technology Professional Forum (ITPF, a forum of employees and self-employed) and Union Network International (UNI). Whether a research institute or ITPF will take the lead, is not yet decided. The national counterparts are listed below. 1.3.1 Global union UNI (Union Network International), Nyon, Switzerland. UNI wants to contribute its expertise, network and management capacity in order to expand the Wage Indicator beyond Europe, in particular to countries in South America and Asia. Also UNI is committed to continue with the Wage Indicator beyond the duration of the project, as it is convinced that this tool is needed to strengthen its affiliates in the proposed countries (see the letter of intent in the appendix). Team leader is mr Gerhard Rohde, head of the UNI Department for Industry, Business and Information Technology Services (IBITS). 1.3.2 Brazil DIEESE - Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socio-Economic Studies in Sao Paulo (see its letter of commitment in the appendix), which cooperates with all 6 trade union confederations, i.e.: • CAT - Central Autônoma dos Trabalhadores • CGTB - Central Geral dos Trabalhadores • CGT - Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores • CUT - Central Única dos Trabalhadores • Força Sindical • SDS - Social Democracia Sindical, and its 400 affiliated unions CUT, Força Sindical, CGT, CGTB and CAT have already committed themselves to the project in writing during a meeting in the early days of December; SDS is expected to join the initiative shortly. Team leader is Clemente Ganz Lúcio, director of DIEESE. 1.3.3 South Africa NALEDI, National Labour and Economic Development Institute in Johannesburg, which has been established by and cooperates with COSATU. The commitment of NALEDI, including manpower, is given in writing (see also the appendix); in it NALEDI refers to the commitment in writing that it will obtain from COSATU in January 2005. Team leader is Braude Wolfe Logan McGeoch, senior researcher at NALEDI. 1.3.4 India ITPF, Information Technology Professional Forum, backed by Union Network International (UNI) and a group of research institutes, all of which have expressed their intent to co-operate in this project and the input of manpower in writing (see also the appendix). These institutes are: • IIM, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad • IIS, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore • IPE, Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad • ICFAI Business School, Chennai • NITT, the national training institute for computer workers • Monsterboard India, the countries’ largest job site Team leader is Amar H.S., an engineering graduate in Electronics and Communication and project co-ordinator at ITPF. 1.4 Outline of this proposal To structure this proposal, the guidelines laid down in the ‘Handbook of participatory project planning’ of the International Trade Union Development Cooperation program, have been applied. 2 Empowerment of the trade union movement The wage indicator concept fits well into the trade union’s core business. 1. First, it gives insight into the earnings of the working people. This is valuable input for negotiations about collective agreements. 2. Second, the salary check in the wage indicator website attracts lots of visitors. The website therefore can be used by the union to communicate with its members, serving their needs, as well as for promotion and recruitment purposes. 3. Third, since national datasets can be compared, it becomes possible to carry out studies in the interest of the international trade union movement. 2.1 Research for better wage negotiations The research is based on data, gathered through the Wage Indicator questionnaire. Its questions cover a whole range of work-related issues, notably wages, terms of employment and working conditions. As thousands of completed questionnaires come in, a rich dataset is being built up. The needs of the trade union movement will be of guidance for the research on this dataset to be done by their affiliated research institutes. Research may range from specific industries and regions to the level of multinational companies. Research based on socio-economic micro-data has so far been practically non-existent in developing countries. Backed by regular, comprehensive reporting of the research outcomes, the trade unions will have opportunities to reach stronger negotiating positions. Most questions in the questionnaire are similar in all countries with a Wage Indicator website. National teams may add specific questions, to be asked in their country only. The national dataset is available for research in the country at stake. It will be regularly updated. The data is also a part of the worldwide Wage Indicator dataset. This dataset allows for cross-country comparisons of wages, once PPP’s can be used, and other working conditions. At their request, the worldwide dataset is available to the researchers in the teams of South Africa, Brazil and India. The national dataset is used to calculate occupation-specific wages, under the condition of sufficient numbers of observation. This information is used in the salary check, which is part of the Wage Indicator website (see next section). 2.2 Attractive website to serve (potential) members Strong internet presence as described in this section is good public relations, fitting a modern trade union, next to being very cost effective: • an accurate salary check is an attractive tool on the website, a crowd puller. It is a tool of great service to the working population. In return, visitors are kindly requested to fill in the questionnaire. According to our experience, visitors like this idea; • the website will have content related to wages and working conditions, to labour standards, to labour rights. In addition, it will provide information about the trade union, its work, how to become an member and how to involve the union in wage negotiations; the national teams decide about issues related to the content; • in addition, part of the website is used for the Wage Indicator questionnaire • finally, visitors can send emails with questions regarding work-related issues; the national team will take care of answering them tailor-made by mail; the unions may profit from the insights based on overviews of the items raised in the emails. 2.3 International research on trade union issues Wage Indicator research is already under way in 9 member states of the EU: the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, Poland, and Spain. It will be introduced in the USA and in Hungary by the beginning of 2005. It will start in South Korea, as explained in chapter 1. And if this proposal is approved, it can start in Brazil, South Africa and India. Essentially the concept is the same in all participating countries, consisting of: • co-operation based on equal partnerships per country between trade union(s), research institute(s) and – possibly – media; • a questionnaire, basically similar in all countries, thereby allowing for comparability of the national datasets, however, there can be specific questions, to be asked in one or a few countries only; • a single, web-based questionnaire technique, because this is highly cost-efficient due to profits from economies of scale. The research on the worldwide dataset allows for international wage comparisons and topical research, for example concentrating on targeted multinational enterprises. The international unions are quite interested in such a perspective, as is the ILO. Moreover, there is the perspective that the co-operating teams of trade unionists and researchers, including those from Brazil, South Africa and India, will develop into an international community of dedicated specialists in the research of work-related issues. They have excellent opportunities to exchange research results and to inspire new research projects for the benefit of the global trade union movement. 2.4 Research on multinationals Speeded up by processes of globalisation, structures of production and distribution are fundamentally changing. Global factors growingly dictate the terms of competition. A majority of companies prepare for and are exposed to competition in globalised markets, under pressure of the financial markets for short-term results, by flexibilisation, outsourcing, operative decentralisation, cost cutting, and implementing information technology. New economic configurations, like new (partly virtual) value chains, networks, corridors and clusters, show up. Supply chains are integrating local labour and firms into the global market, making cost and wage differences penetrating nearly all commercial activities. From the 1980s onwards, multinational enterprises and foreign direct investment have become increasingly important in many emerging markets. Affiliates of multinational enterprises have become important employers. UNCTAD estimates that worldwide, over 53 million people are employed by the foreign affiliates of multinational enterprises. The multinationals will prefer production plants in countries with low labour costs, or they will profit from low labour costs through subcontracting chains. The impact of multinationals on local economies can be large. However, comparable data on wages and working conditions in multinationals in developed and developing countries is hardly available. Therefore, the impact of globalisation cannot fully be understood. Given the already considerable and increasing role of multinational enterprises in the project countries, a detailed understanding of the quality of employment and working conditions for employees of local versus foreign establishments becomes ever more necessary. The FNV Bedrijvenmonitor from 2003 reports on Corporate Social Responsibility as practised by four Dutch multinational enterprises, with affiliates in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. The researchers involved in that project (with the research institutes proposed in the present project as national counterparts) conclude that more research is needed, “for instance on suppliers” of these multinational enterprises in their countries. Moreover they express the need for more “comparable research into other companies in other countries”. It has proven particularly difficult to make reliable international comparisons, to couple micro or census data to strategies of multinational enterprises, and to have a detailed understanding of the quality of employment and working practices for employees of foreign versus local establishments. This requires systematic data gathering through large-scale surveys. The Wage Indicator project aims to contribute to this goal. Therefore, a section on multinational enterprises will be – in year 2 - included in the Wage Indicator questionnaire. A question will be posed whether the respondent’s firm is part of a multinational chain or supplies to a multinational. Once the data intake is sufficient, it will allow for international comparisons of wages. 2.5 Labour market information for employees The labour market decisions of individuals are predominantly based on information gathered in their local community or their peer group. Sometimes their trade union can assist them. Especially when individuals consider labour migration, such information is definitely incomplete, because the local community does not provide information about wages earned in companies hundreds or even thousands of miles away. The Wage Indicator websites aim to provide this kind of information. Union Network International (UNI) analyses: “Virtually nowhere in the world can workers get reliable information about salaries. In many countries earnings are treated as confidential and secret. Official statistics do not provide the degree of detail, which would be necessary to operate in the labour market. Even where collective agreements about salary with occupational descriptors exist, figures about salaries are not real, since in many cases employers pay more than the minimum wages stipulated. In very few countries unions, who feel the need for this type of information, organise their own limited wage surveys. Often those surveys only cover certain companies or parts of branches. (See Austrian IT salary survey for example). The wage indicator can close this information gap, which brings a lot of insecurity for employees. The secrecy about wages is one of the reasons for women still being paid less than men for work of equal value”. NALEDI characterizes the availability of labour market information in South African from a trade union perspective as follows: “Wage information is available, though not easy or cheap to access. There is wage data collected by the statutory bodies, though this is presented in aggregate forms (e.g. wage increases on average, for all categories of employees were x%) There are private sector wage survey groups which offer services to major corporations. This is very expensive, and thus not accessible to individual workers. On labour migration there is no reliable information and such information as there is, is not accessible or affordable for individual workers. Trade unions are active in making public information on wage gaps, and wage agreements. Unions do not have or provide information on economy-wide actual wage rates. They however clearly feel the need to provide such information to workers. Therefore, if the wage indicator website with its salary checker provides information on actual remuneration, and is accessible and affordable to trade unions and workers, it makes a valuable contribution”. ITPF paints the following picture of the availability of labour market information in India: “In India the organised sector has a statistical department keeping all the information. This organised sector covers less than 35% of the total labour force. Especially in new sectors like IT, wages are not discussed and there is no effort to benchmark them. Any information on wages will be only at company level for internal evaluations and is never shared with outside agencies. In new/unorganised sectors there is no information available on wages at all. Trade unions are not providing any information services on wages, other than government and old economy sector unions. There is a need to provide information services on wages. This will empower trade unions and professional forums to effectively represent their members and assist them on wage issues. The wage indicator will result in benchmarking in the industry”. DIEESE reports in similar terms from Brazil: “Workers don’t get enough reliable information on wages, mainly because companies are too closed. Internal migration is linked to the poverty situation in certain regions. The migrants usually don’t have access to reliable information related to the region they will move to. Trade unions provide information about wages. They send their collective contract to DIEESE, which organizes the data, including data related to salaries. However, the information obtained is mainly related to the lower wages, what makes difficult as well as limits the comparison of salaries. Providing wage information to workers would strengthen the relationships between trade unions and workers. It would allow the trade unions to involve workers who are not members. The wage indicator website and its salary checker would help a great deal”. 2.6 Strengthening the trade union movement A firm position on the Internet strengthens the trade union movement. Based on its worldwide experience and first-hand knowledge of the Internet, UNI regards this potential of the internet for the labour movement as follows: “In the developing economies trade unions today do not use the internet a lot to pass on information to their members. This has to do with accessibility and costs. However, in certain countries like Korea or India, certain parts of the workforce have access to the internet and would like their organisations to provide more unique information through this channel. Implementing an interactive tool like the wage indicator would also lead to strengthen the ties between the union and its members or even potential members”. NALEDI states that COSATU has not yet fully developed a policy on how to make use of the internet to serve the workers in general, nor for its internal communication. The institute describes the present state of affairs as follows: “To an extent trade unions are very active in distributing statements and information via email distribution lists and their homepages. The wage indicator project will be part of an ongoing initiative to promote the use of the internet among trade unions. NALEDI is currently developing a database to provide (sectoral) collective bargaining information to unions via a new website, and this was endorsed by the central executive committee of COSATU”. According to ITPF, the labour movement and the internet in India are just beginning to find each other: “Trade unions are using internet to contact their target groups, but not yet very effectively at present. Educating and training them on these tools is very important. ITPF is the association of IT professionals. It learned that its members and target groups are very much aware of internet campaigns. Therefore to start with ITPF and its target groups is the best testing ground in India”. The use of the internet by Brazilian trade unions is not yet widespread, DIEESE writes: “We think that it is an important initiative to develop the use of the internet by trade unions and offer information about their work as trade unionists. Most of the trade unions in Brazil don’t use the internet yet for contacting the labour force. The wage indicator website could improve the use of the internet by workers and trade unionists”. 2.7 Lack of proper statistical data on wages Statistical data about wages are crucial as a condition for wage bargaining. However, in many developing countries this information is lacking. Trade unions in industrialised countries rely on either reports from employers or on national statistics, which are mostly gathered through administrative data, i.e. the employers’ personnel files. Trade unions in developing countries have to rely on data gathered through surveying individuals. However, these surveys are not often held and if so, this is predominantly done by national statistical offices, because surveying requires a large-scale organisation and is relatively expensive. Moreover, trade unions may find that this national information does not fit their needs, because quite likely detailed breakdowns into regions, industries and occupations are not possible. Presently, it is not easy to lay hands on even basic figures. Global union UNI points at the lack of availability of adequate statistical data: “Most of the existing salary statistics are not sufficient in terms of accuracy, detail in terms of branches and occupations, reliability, and validity. Official statistics are normally published with a substantial time lag, so that data might be obsolete by the time of publication. The only way to bypass all these shortcomings is to empower trade unions by involving them in the wage indicator project and enable them in cooperation with research institutes to stimulate the creation of data need for their members and potential members”. In South Africa, NALEDI holds, the trade unions and the research institutes have: “some official data available, but not actual, disaggregated wage data. It is neither affordable nor recent (six months old at least). There are also disputes over the survey sample. But there is official data on hours by industry. The data the trade unions are most keen on regard remuneration, working hours, education. The wage indicator data are in this respect seen to be desirable”. In India, a great need for labour market statistics is obvious: “Trade unions / professional bodies in India do not have consistent statistical data on wages. The data available is limited to the company level or for a specific purpose. These specific purpose surveys are conducted by independent agencies on request by specific companies or clients. Therefore these reports are not regular or recent, nor generally available or affordable. Even the research institutes have data for specific purposes only and gathered on specific request from a company or client. ITPF would be interested in skill-wage related information across different regions in India, because migration within India among IT-professionals is on the rise. For all the above reasons an online research platform with attractive tools like the wage indicator offers, is most desirable”. This is the situation concerning labour market statistics in Brazil, according to DIEESE: “The statistical data to investigate the labour market refer only to a few metropolitans regions. The statistics include limited information on wages and working hours. But it is difficult to get information broken down to branches of industry, occupations and regions. We do not have such information from companies. The wage indicator data would help a lot in this respect”. 3 The Wage Indicator research 3.1 Short history The Wage Indicator is designed to solve the data and information problems described in section 2. The Wage Indicator is meant to provide common building blocks for all parties involved in all participating countries. Starting in the Netherlands in 1999 as a combined online and off line research effort into the wages of working women, it soon was decided to skip the paper version altogether as the online response was high. The Wage Indicator website developed since then, as well as the research being carried out on the basis of the data left behind by visitors, have been outstandingly successful. As already noted, the Wage Indicator is being extended to 8 other EU member states, thanks to a grant of the FP6 Research Programme of the EU. Interest has been shown from other European countries to join; in the next two years extension of the Wage Indicator to Hungary is envisaged as part of a EU-funded EQUAL project. Moreover, by the end of 2004 a Wage Indicator website will be online in the USA. Building on these experiences, the Wage Indicator Foundation can offer the national counterparts a key tool to empower the working population and its labour organisations. Online Wage Indicator research based on the same basic questionnaire brings meaningful cross-country comparisons as regards wages, terms of employment and working conditions within the grasp of the trade union movement. Not only the international trade union movement is keen on such a source of information. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) also has shown great interest, considering the lack of reliable labour market statistics in many countries and the limits of international comparisons of such data. This is how the ILO sees the potential of the Wage Indicator project: “The Wage Indicator is a very interesting and innovative approach to generate additional statistical data on wages. (…) The Wage Indicator contributes to labour market transparency. In particular in countries with weak collective bargaining structures and a relatively large shadow economy, your approach can help to generate more realistic information about wage levels, wage structure and wage discrimination and provide useful information for social partners and individuals for wage negotiations. The value of the wage-indicator as an information source will grow as you will build up more representative data over time. In particular for comparative cross-country studies, reliable wage data will be of great interest for researchers and practitioners alike. As a unique cooperation network of universities, trade unions and media, this project can make a valuable and authoritative contribution to reduce information gaps concerning wage structures and wage differentials between industries, regions and social groups”. (Letter of June 29, 2004, to the Wage Indicator Foundation, by Friedrich Buttler, ILO regional director for Europe and Central Asia) 3.2 The concept The Wage Indicator concept consists of: 1. Wage Indicator website(s) featuring: • salary check related to occupations • content consisting of labour market advice • salary and labour market questionnaire 2. a dataset with data of workers and a codebook 3. scientific publications based on the dataset 4. publicity using research results 5. replying to visitor’s e-mails. 3.2.1 The questionnaire and the dataset The questionnaire is divided into six sections: A. occupation and education B. place of work C. employment history D. working hours E. employment contract and salary F. personal questions The questionnaire asks in detail for wages, fringe benefits and wage perceptions. In addition, the section on place of work has questions about firm characteristics such as branch, firm size, multinational enterprise, number of establishments, ownership, and region. Some country specific questions are included as well. The questionnaire addresses employees, as well as apprentices, unemployed, self-employed, freelancers, workers in family businesses and school pupils with a job on the side. Each group has its unique routing through the questionnaire. People are enticed to complete the questionnaire by the offering a prize. If they want to compete they have to leave their email address behind. Experience in the Netherlands thus far indicates that approximately 50 percent of respondents does so. 3.2.2 The salary check By entering the salary check, the key feature of the Wage Indicator website, visitors may compare their actual salary with the salary of their professional peer group. But they may also check how well or bad other occupations pay. Knowledge of wages empowers the individual. A quick salary check may also f.e. indicate if acquiring additional skills might be a good idea if one wants a pay rise. The salary check works simple. The visitor clicks 7 variables. In the Netherlands these variables are chosen on the basis of labour market research: level of education, years of work experience, supervisory position, promotion, male colleagues, career break and company size. In other countries other variables may be more significant, f.e. region or language. The user is then presented with the average earnings of his/her professional peer group. Each year the list of occupations grows and so does the attractiveness of this internet application for a growing audience. Each year the salary checks are updated, using the additional data gathered through the questionnaire. The data is corrected for inflation. 3.3 Research on multinational enterprises The data collection aiming at employees of individual multinational enterprises serves two goals. First, it offers the opportunity to differentiate between foreign and domestic firms regarding wages, terms of employment, including working time, and working conditions. Second, comparison of wages, terms of employment and working conditions in individual multinationals across countries becomes feasible. To ensure comparability across countries, lists of subsidiaries of the top 50 largest foreign enterprises in each of the relevant countries have to be compiled, as well as a list of subsidiaries of the world’s largest multinationals (approx. 500). These will be constructed by the SCOPE team of the Erasmus University Rotterdam, in co-operation with the national research teams once these teams are well established, i.e. starting in the second year of the present project. The national teams will take care of regular updates of the lists, in co-operation with the SCOPE team, based on a methodology provided by the latter team. If these lists are completed, they will be included in the Wage Indicator questionnaire in the form of a multinational enterprise chooser in the third year of the project. This chooser will enable the respondent to fill in for which affiliate of the multinational enterprise he or she works (sorted by industry and region of the location). The employees of these multinational enterprises and their subsidiaries will be stimulated with priority to complete the questionnaire. 3.4 Purchasing power parities For meaningful international comparisons between economies in different stages of development and at widely varying levels of economic performance, economic growth and competitiveness, it is indispensable to weigh national wages according to a representative ‘basket’ of goods and services consumers will buy in their respective markets. Thus, for each country Purchasing Power Parities (PPP’s) have to be calculated, that remove the effect of price level differences between countries. However, reliable PPP’s that become quickly available are difficult to achieve since a number of statistical problems has to be overcome. It may be clear that such parities only start to make sense once sufficiently large datasets have been built up. Therefore the calculation and adoption of PPP’s is foreseen to take place in the third year of the present project. 3.5 Research on the data The internet offers opportunities to collect cross country survey data about wages on an unprecedented scale. Only in the Netherlands, over 80,000 data were gathered by the Wage Indicator questionnaire in three years’ time. Thus, several hundreds of thousands of completed questionnaires can be expected once the proposed project gets in motion. Such large numbers of observations are particularly attractive as they allow for analyses of selected groups, for example those working in one multinational enterprise or those working in a particular industry in one region. Research on this data will allow for detailed analyses of wage differentials across gender, ethnicity and age groups, across regions and countries, and across occupations and industries. In addition, socio-economic micro data can be linked to industry or national data, in order to analyse phenomena like wage inequality across countries, labour migration, and the roles of foreign and domestic firms in national economies. National researchers will start analysing their datasets on particular issues, which have been selected in close consultation with their trade union counterparts, as soon as these datasets are sufficiently rich. Presumably this situation will be reached in the second year of the project. Such analyses will be regularly repeated during the rest of the project period. National researchers will be instructed how to perform the calculation rules which lie behind the salary check. On this behalf sufficient data per occupation are needed, which is why the creation of national salary checkers is scheduled to take place in year 2. UNI envisages the data generated by the wage indicator websites to fill an important knowledge gap within trade unions, worldwide: “Trade union research departments work with data available in order to provide information along social indicators such as absenteeism, health & safety, working hours, earnings or economic data about productivity, turnover and profitability of companies. Those date are extremely important to provide committees for collective bargaining with the necessary background information. However, in virtually every country data about earnings are not sufficient. The wage indicator would play into the hands not only of individual employees, more importantly, it would provide trade union researchers, employee representatives and negotiators with valid information to perform their jobs better that it is possible today”. In South Africa the trade unions and research institutes currently perform research using statistical data. The research touches upon: “Many themes, mainly employment trends, working conditions (e.g. hours, leave, benefits) and living conditions (e.g. travel time). This is based on official data (see comments above). NALEDI runs its own purposive sample surveys to collect data for other analyses. Actual remuneration data collected in a systematic, regular manner through the wage indicator questionnaire will be useful”. In Brazil, the ongoing research of DIEESE would be reinforced by wage indicator data: “In our own research we use monthly statistical data for the analyses of the labour market. We can compare some associated information, such as wage by gender, wage by ethnic groups and wage by age. Some other possibility of associated information is related to the position in the family by work time, gender, ethnic groups and age”. Under guidance of the trade unions, the research institutes involved will produce a number of reports, partly for national, partly for international use. These may include: • reports on wages and wage structures of various occupational groups in several countries • reports on wages, wage structures, terms of employment, including working time, and working conditions of selections of enterprises, spread over several countries • at the request of FNV reports might be made on sectoral wage structures and be f.e. combined with analyses of the distribution of profits in global commodity chains (since the distribution of profits to a large extent is based on the combination of prices and wages). The majority of reports can be produced once sufficient data have been gathered, i.e. in the third year of the project. Research results will be made accessible to all those interested, as publications will be posted at the national wage indicator websites as well as on www.wageindicator.org. 3.6 Potential data bias Data collection by means of an internet survey is relatively new and the response may be biased. Some groups in the workforce may be more likely than others to complete the questionnaire. However, where possible the data will be checked, either in relation to national labour force statistics or by comparing the response on one particular question in the survey to the same question that is posed in the World Values Survey, a long lasting worldwide survey covering 81 countries and carried out by the International Network of Social Scientists, located at the University of Michigan (USA). In the course of time and as a result of effective marketing and promotion of the websites, this bias may gradually diminish, as more and more occupations will be represented in the dataset. 4 Participants and target groups 4.1 Participants in the project 4.1.1 Workforce The quintessential participants in the project are the working people. If they do not visit the website and fail to fill in the questionnaire the whole exercise is in vain. The approach to draw them in will be very practical. In the beginning employees will be addressed who are relatively easy to reach, i.e. those in larger companies in urban centres, where the internet penetration is high. An example of this part of the workforce are those working in the IT-sector in India, whence this project will take off. Such employees should become the ambassadors of the project, in turn inspiring broader layers of the workforce --relatives, colleagues, friends and acquaintances-- to participate. In return, after one year they will have a salary check based on the national dataset they have helped to create. 4.1.2 Trade unionists Second, trade union officials, negotiators, organizers and activists participate in the project. Their interest lies in knowing the wages paid in occupations, (foreign owned) companies, industries, in both the formal and the informal sector, as well as terms of employment and working conditions. Such knowledge is their core business and better knowledge allows for more effective negotiations. Besides they may use the Wage Indicator website as a service tool to provide information on wages to the general public. In order to reach far and deep amongst the working population, these trade unionists may play active roles in motivating workers to fill in the questionnaire. South African trade union officials and activists to be involved in the wage indicator project are, according to NALEDI: “The organising secretary and secretariat coordinator at COSATU HQ, and researcher officers from the 20 COSATU affiliates. There will be about 20 union officials involved, all who are part of the Researchers’ Forum, which is mandated by COSATU and run by NALEDI. All will need a degree of training”. ITPF India want to make all its members ambassadors of the project: “The project coordinator ITPF-India, would be the first to get involved in the project. Later in the project, the marketing team consisting of coordinators from all regional ITPF-offices, will be involved at the operational level. The ITPF committee members will be involved at promotional level. And members (5000) will participate in this project. Web marketing/publishing and technical writing trainings are essential in developing and keeping it an attractive tool for the association”. 4.1.3 Researchers and web workers In the first phase of the project, the national researchers and their colleagues who will run the website, adapt the Wage Indicator research system to their national labour markets. They will be coached and supported by the researchers of the University of Amsterdam (who designed the questionnaire) and the Erasmus University of Rotterdam (bringing in the know-how on multinational research) and by the support team of the Wage Indicator Foundation for the web part in terms of advice, coaching and training. Once the national research teams have mastered the system they will engage in close co-operation with their counterparts in the trade unions in identifying topics and questions for research. NALEDI describes the web workers and the researchers that most likely will cooperate in the team as follows: “The Research Officers from unions (Researchers’ Forum) that NALEDI is coordinating. These officials all have good experience on technical issues in their specific industries and unions, and will be well placed to advise on how the website should develop to meet the needs of their union”. DIEESE goes into the strengths and weaknesses of its relationship with the trade union movement: “Our web workers and researchers are in a close contact with the trade union movement. Periodically, we have internal meetings to discuss questions related to the specific trade unions that we work for, as well as their work and ways of interfering in our society. We discuss a lot with trade unionists. We consider marketing as a weak point. We consider it an important element of this project. Probably here lies the bulk of our training needs”. 4.2 Identification of target groups The target groups are to a certain extent identical with the participants in the project, though not entirely so. 4.2.1 Workforce The workforce, the prime target group of this project, can be divided into several groups on which this project focuses. As stated, attention is focused on employees in large companies in urban areas and modern parts of the economy: this group is most likely to have access to the internet. A special category within this group is made up by the employees in affiliates of multinational enterprises. Another category consists of trade union members or professional peers in certain sectors, such as IT-occupations in India. A third target category may be reached through the first group of targeted employees and consists of their relatives, colleagues, friends and acquaintances. 4.2.2 Trade unionists The secondary target group is made up of trade union officials and activists. They may benefit from both website and research results as these will empower them at the negotiating table, bringing the unions in a better position than before to promote employees’ interests. Yet, they first have to go through processes of consciousness-raising concerning this potential. A special trade union target group is found in the global unions. Their interest mainly lies with international comparisons, focusing on multinational enterprises. 4.2.3 International institutions Already one international institution, the ILO, has clearly demonstrated its interest in detailed labour market information and the Wage Indicator concept; see section 3.1. One may anticipate that extension to a widening circle of countries – especially in the developing world – could fill the lack of wage information in many of those countries, and may result in valuable cross-national and cross-enterprise comparative data on terms of employment and working conditions as well. For these reasons international institutions such as UNCTAD, World Bank, IMF and OECD are also expected to be interested. 4.2.4 Research community It may be assumed that the international research community, especially those focusing on wages, terms of employment and working conditions, would be keen to see the outcomes of the presently proposed extension of the European Wage Indicator to create a foothold on 3 more continents, while safeguarding compatibility and comparability. Moreover it promises to be a cost and time saving way to gather data. Finally, the practice that the contributing individuals and the general public are included in feedback processes from the research results may be a stimulus for the research community to apply practices in this direction. 4.3 Gender analysis The gender pay gap is a hard nut to crack all over the world. The trade unions from the EU member states bring in quite some experience here. Despite their continuing efforts to close the gap, over-all pay differences between male and female employees still remain between 12 and 22% in the various EU countries. It therefore remains a hot issue for the trade union movement. New impulses, based on greater labour market transparency, are needed to decrease the pay gap. Research suggests that a two-fold approach is most promising: on the one hand increase the involvement of individual female employees, on the other hand intensify collective bargaining. The Wage Indicator can be supportive on both sides. As UNI, Union Network International, organizing the service sectors worldwide, explains: “To attack the gender pay gap is definitely the strength of the wage indicator. Often the ignorance and secrecy about earnings make it easy for companies to pay less to women than they would to men. In turn, the lack of detailed income data makes it very difficult for women to claim more, to support their bargaining position, since they don’t know what the going rate could be. To back trade union equal opportunity policies, not only for women, also for minorities and handicapped, the wage indicator could become the tool to fight against discrimination, not on ground of rumours or assumption, but on grounds of positive data”. 4.3.1 Female workers To improve the position of weak groups in the labour market, in whatever country, more specific knowledge about their wages, contracts and working conditions is fundamental. Since women are as a rule over-represented in the weaker sections of the labour market, any improvement here may disproportionately benefit them. 4.3.2 Gender wage gap as starting point Initially, the Dutch Wage Indicator aimed at providing women with wage information that was not available in the Netherlands. The Dutch dataset has already allowed for a number of detailed analyses of the gender wage gap and other gender-biased differences in terms of employment and working conditions. It therefore can be assumed that similar analyses can be very well performed with the datasets of the target countries. 4.3.3 Gender expressed in women’s and men’s websites Based on the Dutch experiences, it might be advisable to create different websites for women and men, with distinctive look-and-feel, although major parts of the web content, including the questionnaire, will remain identical. From a marketing point of view such differentiation has proven to be very effective. 4.3.4 Gender mix in the project teams Again based on the Dutch experience, the Wage Indicator Foundation recommends a proper balance in the national teams concerning age and gender, as is the case in the already functioning national teams in the EU. This is particularly important because the team should more or less reflect the composition of the national work force to ensure that marketing addresses optimal all major groups in the labour force. The Dutch initiators (presently the international web manager and the research co-ordinator) are women. 4.4 National trade union gender policies 4.4.1 South Africa COSATU, co-operating with NALEDI, has a gender policy: “It is to promote the role of women workers within the leadership structures of the unions. Unions set targets for ensuring more women in leadership. In the labour market, unions have succeeded in winning Employment equity legislation that requires that workplaces reflect the demographics of the country. Gender discrimination is outlawed, and employers have to pay the women the same rate for the job. The wage indicator website will be used to communicate with visitors about the gender pay gap. The wage indicator data will be used to reveal the determinants of the gender wage gap and thereby be useful for the union gender policy”. 4.4.2 India ITPF in India embraces gender specific website marketing: “ITPF has a sub-committee to look into and recommend on gender issues. It is called WITS (Women in IT Sector). This committee recommends a separate website with gender specific promotion, so as to improve women’s participation in the online research. By making gender specific websites, the data would be of great help in improving the gender policy of the association”. 4.4.3 Brazil Trade unions like metalwork (electric electronic, automotive), bank, teaching and public sectors have started a gender policy, related to conditions in the collective agreements. DIEESE on gender issues: “DIEESE yearly reports about the situation of the women in the Brazilian labour market. Its reports are well covered by the media and penetrate the trade unions. Besides, our confederations have promoted initiatives to increase the number of women workers within the leadership structures of the trade unions. We expect that the wage indicator website can be used as a tool to decrease the existing pay gap between males and females”. 5 Implementation strategy 5.1 Strategic inputs for a fast roll out 5.1.1 Tried and tested system First of all participants in the project must agree to adopt the Wage Indicator system already operational in Europe. This system is tried and tested, and contains the building blocks for a fast roll out. Experience with national roll outs has already been developed and the master version of the questionnaire is available, as well as the basic design and the content management system of the websites. These are the tools for data-intake. They must be brought online first, after which the project can really take off. 5.1.2 Strong research backing From the very start strong research backing will be given by the University of Amsterdam and the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. Moreover, the experiences of the Wage Indicator researchers in the 8 other EU member states, all representing well-established research institutes, will be made operational for applications in Brazil, South Africa and India as the roll-out proceeds. This too holds for the experiences in the USA, where Harvard University (Faculty of Economics) is the research counterpart in the project. 5.1.3 A running international operation and network The strategic starting point for the countries participating in this second round of extension lies in the fact that they get involved in an operation that has been up and running now for almost five years. The experience gathered in setting up national research and web teams is made available by the web specialists and trainers of the Wage Indicator Foundation. The same holds true for the wider international network that has been created over the last years. This network includes Monsterboard, the world’s largest job site and active in many countries, MSN, the Microsoft portal to be found in countries all over the world, and leading newspapers – including their online versions in several participating countries, like Gazeta Wyborcza in Poland, the Financial Times in the UK and El Pais in Spain. 5.2 National strategic goals The national strategy can be characterized in a few key words: nice website, much traffic, much data, good research, fresh input – in that order, but coming full circle, time and again on higher levels of sophistication and empowerment. The basic tenet is: forge alliances; create coalitions; include, not exclude! This policy will be made operational on a national basis by targets set with the national counterpart. The ideal is to cover the labour market as a whole, all occupations, the formal and the informal sector, the young, old, male, female, dependent and self-employed workers. The best combination of partners to bring this final aim closer is obviously: research institute, organised labour, media (for support through free publicity, but also internet based media, like dailies online, career sites, and huge internet portals). 5.2.1 Sufficient traffic The national strategy, once the websites are brought online, amounts to a) the marketing and promotion of the website(s) to ensuing data-intake, b) the feedback of data to participants in the research through the ever more accurate salary check (in the second year) and c) the continuous update of a popular, informative website with labour market advice and regular analyses of the dataset(s). This leads to input for trade union activities and policies, union programs and other actions on behalf of the working population. Once the website is up and running, the Wage Indicator system is almost like a self-sustaining process. Yet, the key to making this happen is to generate traffic first! To do so, the national teams will be supported, coached and trained by specialists from the Wage Indicator Foundation, who have experience with this in European countries. 5.2.2 Creating a strong research and web team Attractive websites as well as good marketing and promotion are preconditions for a successful project. Initially, a large effort must go into marketing and promotion. For this reason, professionals with internet knowledge and a journalistic background will be included in the national teams. Preferably they will be found in the trade unions. In addition they should have enough feeling with labour market issues to be able to co-operate well with the researchers on the team. Also, a deliberate attempt must be made to involve large media organisations with a strong web presence. The EU experience shows that in many countries willing media partners can be found. Nevertheless coalition building should no be limited to those parties. In India for example the NIIT, the national training institute for the IT-sector, training over 1 million individuals each year in computer skills, offers its facilities to stimulate the filling in of the questionnaire by its trainees. 5.2.3 Attractive websites to promote participation in the research Attractive websites have a way of promoting themselves. The websites are attractive when they contain practical labour market information. Also, they should make feel visitors at home. Therefore, especially in sizeable countries where more than one language is spoken, it may be advisable to offer a Wage Indicator website for each major language. Moreover one may consider to make gender specific websites – as was done in the Netherlands with great success – or target them to different age groups like the young and those over 40. The target group-specific information on display makes them attractive. They are still more attractive if participants, those who fill in the questionnaire, can win a prize. They are however most attractive once they feature a salary check, based on the national dataset. The question whether to operate one or several websites will be decided in close consultation between the Wage Indicator Foundation and its national counterparts. 5.3 International strategic goals 5.3.1 International exchange of knowledge and experience After 18 months into the project, the first round of exchange of knowledge and experience between the national research institutes can be organized. Representatives of the national teams will meet to exchange experiences thus far during a conference of several days at which workshops will be held on a variety of topics. Research, including international comparisons, will intensify in the third year as the datasets grow and become more refined. This international exchange will be bolstered by the availability of datasets that are simultaneously and similarly being built up in the developed economies of the EU and the USA. In order to facilitate realistic comparisons Purchasing Power Parities must be calculated and kept up-to-date. International exchange of knowledge and experience will be organized between the web workers of the national teams too. This expresses the fact that the success of online research is preceded by and depends on the creation and marketing of attractive websites. This is an art to be learned and refined by its practitioners in mutual contacts. 5.3.2 Cross-country studies into policies of multinational enterprises When the section on multinational enterprises is installed, the dataset will allow for cross-country comparisons of the activities of these enterprises and their wage and employment policies between various host countries: the 9 EU member states, the USA, Brazil, South Africa, India and South Korea. Such comparisons will support trade unionists as well as, more generally, policy makers in assessing the employment consequences of multinational enterprise activities and to develop appropriate policies and strategies to deal with these activities. In the economies of all four countries, Brazil, South Africa, India and South Korea, multinational enterprises play important roles. This is indicated in table 1, with figures of inward Foreign Direct Investment. Within the countries involved, subsidiaries of multinational enterprises can especially be found in a range of manufacturing industries (table 2). Geographically, in some branches they are concentrated in export processing zones, where they can have important employment effects (table 3). Table 1 Foreign Direct Investment inward stock as percentage of GDP, 2003 Country FDI/GDP Brazil 25.8 India 5.4 South Africa 18.5 South Korea 7.8 Source: UNCTAD World Investment Report 2004 Table 2 Key industries with multinational enterprises Country Industries Brazil Utilities, Motor vehicles, Chemicals, Food & beverages, Financial intermediation. India Power, Petroleum and oil, Computer software, Telecom and cell phones, Chemicals, Financial services South Africa Mining, manufacturing South Korea Computers & telecom equipment, Metals, Petroleum & chemicals, Finance. Table 3 Export processing zones / Special economic zones Country EPZs Brazil 1 EPZ, in which 60,300 employees. India 7 EPZs, in which 95,000 employees South Africa 6 EPZ, in which 290,000 employees South Korea 2 Free Economic and Trade Zones, estimated 39,000 employees (source: ILO 2003 database on EPZs) 5.4 Contribution to overall development goals It should be stressed, finally, that the project enlarges the transparency of national labour markets in the participating countries and will allow for a large number of international comparisons. This goal is beneficial to societal development as a whole and it empowers individual employees as well as their organisations vis à vis employers. Moreover, the project is a vehicle to intensify co-operation between researchers and trade unionists from various parts of the world, notably to integrate those from Brazil, South Africa and India in a growing and promising network. 6 Specific project input and output These are presented here broken down as inputs, activities and expected results. The activities are listed in and distributed over the 12 periods the project is scheduled to pass through. See also section 9, working plan, time schedule and description of activities per period. 6.1 Inputs These are essentially: • questionnaire and underlying technique • basic web design, web technique and content management system • datasets of other countries. 6.2 Activities These are: • installation of Content management system, questionnaire engine and first content on the websites • production of labour market content for the national websites • adaptation and – if necessary – translation of the questionnaire, plus list of industries and occupations (in NASCE, ISCO coding) • training of researchers in how to make the Wage Indicator system work • development of instruction for trade unionists • recruitment of web workers • web management • marketing and promotion of the national websites • hosting and upkeep of websites • data handling and cleaning • data analysis • international exchange • financial reporting and accountancy • project management. 6.3 Expected results To meet expectations the following results must be achieved during the project period (in this survey the participation of South Korea, albeit in a formally separate project, is included). Thus: • a minimum of 3 national Wage Indicator websites online and operational, • a minimum of 3 questionnaires, translated and adapted to national labour markets, based on the master version, • a minimum of 3 national salary checks online and operational, • functioning national teams, consisting of researchers and web workers, • instructions for trade unionists, guiding them in their promotion efforts, • national researchers are familiar and comfortable with Wage Indicator methodology, • national datasets are large enough to allow for scientific analysis, i.e.: enough data to base a national salary check on, enough data per profession or occupation, a minimum of 50 questionnaires, a salary check for a minimum of 120 professions or occupations, enough data to allow for international wage comparisons, enough data for a selection of multinational enterprises, active in the participating countries. • data and results of analyses are being exchanged internationally • 3 national purchasing power parities are developed • reports and evaluations. 7 Monitoring and reliability checks 7.1 Monitoring The monitoring of this 3 year project will take place on a quarterly basis. Quarterly reports of the national teams in South Africa, India, Brazil and the Wage Indicator Foundation in the Netherlands will be the basis of the monitoring process. The quarterly reports will address all indicators mentioned in the following section. Go-no go decisions will be based on these reports. The project’s activities include three times a go-no go decision, after 3 months, after 1 year and after 2 years (see also section 9). 7.2 Indicators of achievement The project will be monitored on the following criteria: • the functioning of national Wage Indicator teams in South Africa, India, Brazil, with participation of trade unionists, web manager(s), and researcher(s) • the functioning of national Wage Indicator websites in one or more languages with dedicated content, in each of the three countries • the functioning of a national Wage Indicator questionnaire in one or more languages, in each of the three countries • the number of trade union members recruited via the national Wage Indicator websites in South Africa, in India, and in Brazil • involvement of trade unions and trade union confederations in South Africa, in India, and in Brazil • the number of unique visitors per reference period per country • the number of completed questionnaires per country • the six-monthly delivery of three national datasets as well as a worldwide dataset • the number of responded emails per country • the number and quality of research reports per country • the marketing and promotion efforts per country • the making of a salary check for the Wage Indicator websites per country, including updates • the functioning of online support and advice for the national teams • the organisation of training sessions for the national teams • the publication of PPP’s, to be used in the dataset • the functioning of a Multinationals database, to be used in the questionnaire In this proposal, the criteria for monitoring are set. However, the specific targets cannot be formulated until the end of period 1 (after three months), because the targets must be set in cooperation with the national teams. The targets will be highly dependent upon national Internet penetration and Internet growth and on access to media. Therefore, the targets will be part of the first quarterly report. 7.3 Sources for benchmarking A number of sources are used for benchmarking the project. As the project is unprecedented because of the new use of the Internet, benchmarking will be performed across the countries involved. The quarterly reports will be consists of joined reports from South Africa, India, Brazil, and the Netherlands. The reports will include self-assessments of the functioning of the team, the involvement of trade unions, the training sessions and the support from the Wage Indicator Foundation. The marketing and promotion efforts will be indicated by presence in the press and other media and links to the national Wage Indicator websites. The number of unique visitors and the number of completed questionnaires will be traced by daily web statistics, that allow for detailed information about web traffic. The number of responded emails will also be part of the web reporting. The datasets, the research reports, the questionnaire and the salary check will be indicated by their presence on the national websites. The PPP’s and the Multinationals database will be indicated by their presence in the dataset, respectively the questionnaire. 7.4 Measuring the impact on development The contribution of the project to the overall development goal is harder to verify. However, the web traffic of the Wage Indicator websites indicates the level of provision of work-related information. This is considered a contribution to the overall development goal. In addition, should the international Wage Indicator research continue to function after the project expires, this in itself would be an indication of its relevance and reliability. 7.5 Evaluation Project evaluation is foreseen in the 3rd year of the project. Then, the national teams in consultation with the Wage Indicator Foundation will explore the possibilities for continuation of the websites in respectively South Africa, India, and Brazil. This evaluation will be based on a thorough evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of the project. Project progress will be evaluated on the basis of the quarterly reports, as explained in the previous sections. Quality will be assessed will be evaluated similarly in the quarterly reports. 8 Institutional framework and sustainability 8.1 Institutional framework Research institutes, networks and trade unions in three developing countries will participate, notably South Africa, India and Brasil. They are introduced hereafter. These partners will lay down the rules of cooperation, input and expected output in separate bilateral contracts with the Netherlands partner, notably Wage Indicator Foundation. The national project management is responsible, reports periodically and takes care of the (concluding) evaluation(s) of the project. They are responsible for the creation of a research- and web team, for the online content, their updating, marketing and promotion, research on the dataset, as well as for the building up and active involvement of a network based in organised labour. The Wage Indicator Foundation supports the national teams technically concerning the websites and applications, coaches and trains the national teams in management, marketing and promotion, and handles the data gathered through the questionnaires. Apart from India, most of the research institutes know each other, have exchanged information before and (presently) cooperate in some other trade union inspired projects. The shared methodology of the Wage Indicator system will increase exchange over the coming years and strengthen their combined research effort on the basis of the new datasets as a result of the project. 8.1.1 South Africa In South Africa, the cooperating research institute is NALEDI, based in Johannes¬burg. NALEDI is established in 1994, and is an autonomous institute that develops research of interest to the labour movement. It is a relatively small institute with 16 employees. The main topics of research are labour standards, collective bargaining, poverty alleviation, trade policy and globalization. Team leader is Braude Wolfe Logan McGeoch, senior researcher at NALEDI. NALEDI cooperates with COSATU, the largest trade union confederation of South Africa. 8.1.2 Brazil In Brazil, the cooperating research institute is DIEESE, short for the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socio-Economic Studies, based in Perdizes São Paulo. DIEESE is a large institute with 210 employees and a longstanding tradition of research in the fields of collective bargaining, employment relations at work, trade union education, and methodology of education. Team leader is Clemente Ganz Lúcio, director of DIEESE, or Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socio-Economic Studies. DIEESE cooperates with six trade unions and trade union confederations, together representing approximately 400 trade unions, notably • CAT - Central Autônoma dos Trabalhadores, • CGTB - Central Geral dos Trabalhadores - Brasil • CGT - Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores • CUT - Central Única dos Trabalhadores • Força Sindical • SDS - Social Democracia Sindical 8.1.3 India In India is chosen for a group of high quality research institutes all over the country. They all have contacts with the labour movement. However, the primary cooperating partner in India will be ITPF, short for I.T. Professionals’ Forum. ITPF is based in Karnataka, Bangalore. ITPF is a non-profit network for IT-professionals offering its members professional and personal services. Its membership consists of both employees and self-employed. ITPF strives to enhance the employability of its membership in India and abroad. Its services therefore extend to areas such as health, immigration, legal advice, investment, finance and tax matters. Its educational program is carried out with specialists in fields such as foreign languages, communication and documentation, leadership, time management, team building and of course IT-skills. It strives to set standards in the IT-sector by having its training courses certified. ITPF is a newly established network with 15 employees. Team leader is Amar H.S., an engineering graduate in Electronics and Communication and project co-ordinator at ITPF. He is also secretary of ITPF Karnataka. ITPF cooperates with UNI, short for Union Network International, located in Nyon, Switzerland. 8.1.4 Netherlands The Wage Indicator Foundation acts as the applicant of the present project proposal and manages it. It is backed by two universities: the Amsterdam Institute of Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) of the University of Amsterdam and the SCOPE project of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. The Wage Indicator Foundation originates from the FNV, the largest trade union confederation in the Netherlands. 8.2 Assumptions and preconditions A major assumption is that the websites in South Africa, India and Brazil can be as successful as in the Netherlands since 1999 and in 8 other European Member States since 2004. A precondition is that the use and penetration of the Internet has sufficiently proceeded. Therefore, the project will start in regions, industries and companies where this is the case indeed. It is furthermore assumed that Internet penetration will continue to rise as the project proceeds. This assumption is justified because Internet penetration is considerable and growing fast, as illustrated in table 4. Table 4 Internet penetrations 2001 2003 2001-2003, % growth Million users Percentage of population Million users Percentage of population Million users Percentage of population Brazil 8,0 4,65 14,3 8,22 78,8 76,8 India 7,0 0,68 18,5 1,74 164,3 155,9 S.Africa 2,9 6,48 3,5 6,82 20,7 5,2 S.Korea 24,3 52,10 29,2 60,96 20,2 17,0 Neth. 7,9 49,05 8,5 52,19 7,6 6,4 Source: ITU = International Telecommunications Union Another precondition for success is effective marketing and promotion of the websites during the full period. It is assumed that dedicated web workers can be recruited to join the national teams, preferably originating from the trade unions or web based professional groups, to ensure such marketing and promotion. 8.3 Sustainability check The project aims for self-supporting Wage Indicator websites in South Africa, India and Brazil when the 3 year project will be ended. In year 3 the development of national business plans is foreseen to achieve continuation after the project period expires. Hereafter, the partners express their interest in continuation of the project. Of course, the sustainability of the project will be totally dependent on its success in the coming years. Apart from the commitment of the national teams, there are sound financial reasons to expect sustainability of the national websites. These are: • income generating capacity of the national websites through the sale of banners, licenses and research for paying customers; • in case of grants for large scale international data collection, the national teams will be paid proportionally for their efforts; • diminishing technical costs for upgrading en maintenance of the website and questionnaire engine. Global union UNI commits itself to the continuation of the wage indicators on behalf of its affiliated national unions, as follows: “The Wage Indicator will be an excellent tool to strengthen their organizations. It will enable them to provide useful information to members and potential members, to use this as value added services and attract new members. Also the project itself will enable them to make cooperation links with universities and research institutions and improve their reputation and image substantially. As UNI IBITS we will definitely do our utmost to continue with the Wage Indicator beyond the project duration, since we are convinced that this tool is needed to strengthen our affiliates in those countries.” NALEDI will work with partners in South Africa who are committed to the labour movement, and acceptable to COSATU, and provided that there is no conflict of interest. Furthermore: “NALEDI will seek to work together with the Labour Research Service, which has a long-standing database of collective bargaining agreements and which was set up with the help of FNV. The difference between the LRS award database and the NALEDI wage indicator will also be useful in determining the “wage drift” (gap between collective agreement and actual), and the “wage gap” between lower paid workers and professional or middle-management staff. Regular internal assessments of the wage indicator project and website performance will be made, and a more in-depth evaluation before the end of three years. The critical factor will be the response rate achieved across the necessary sectors. If this evaluation is positive, plans will be made for continuation of the wage indicator website and online research after the project period expires.” In India ITPF plans as follows: “The wage indicator is going to be an effective tool for a major portion of the Indian labour market. We foresee a great potential to attract commercial banners so as to support the nationwide website in future. During the initial stage ITPF would lead the team of researchers and marketers. Once the system is ready to include many more sectors, ITPF it would continue to participate in and contribute to the team to effectively take the wage indicator forward. It is intended to evaluate the progress every quarter and take necessary actions and/or corrective measures to improve the website. ITPF would consider a corpus fund generation during the 3 project years from the commercial activities on the website to ensure its continuity. However, considering the extent of this service, ITPF would create a separate and dedicated service department after 3 years.” UNI adds the following perspective for India: “The wageindicator project could be gradually extended to other partners, in particular to other unions. In India for example this could be done through the UNI Indian Liaison Council, a group representing currently 23 different UNI affiliates in the country. In order to make the project sustainable in the long run, certain commercial activities should be tested such as paid advertising on the website and sell specific targeted surveys (anonymously) to reliable clients.” DIEESE, in anticipation of the project, is already laying the foundation for a broad Brazilian coalition. It is confident that the project will continue after three years: “DIEESE has a large tradition in relevant researches for the labour market. It started fifty years ago with Cost of Life Indicator. Employment and Unemployment Research, which started twenty years ago, in São Paulo, is nowadays present in five metropolitan Brazilian regions and in the Federal District. The credibility and long tradition of DIEESE in the Brazilian labour market as well as its characteristic of being maintained by trade unions and confederations will be valuable in making the wage indicator project sustainable in the long run. Already, in the beginning of December 2004, DIEESE had a meeting with five Brazilian confederations (CUT, Força Sindical, CGT, CGTB, CAT) who agreed to sign a letter of intent to support and take part in the global wage indicator project. In that meeting, it was agreed that DIEESE and the confederations would arrange a follow up meeting to discuss about the role of each one of them in the project. Also DIEESE has contacted the sixth confederation (SDS), which wasn’t present in the meeting, to talk about its commitment. Apart from that, the social credibility of DIEESE will probably open possibilities of looking for partnerships with others research institutes and deepen its current partnerships in this project. DIEESE intends to work with Social Observatory and other partners it already worked with, like CESIT and Institute of Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), which is specialized in labour issues. DIEESE plans to evaluate the wage indicator website by the end of the three year period. This evaluation is an important step to continue the project, which is what it expects and wants.” 9 Working plan and time schedule Note WIF = Wage Indicator Foundation; NT = national team; TL = team leader; R = national research; AIAS = University of Amsterdam; Erasmus = University of Rotterdam Period 1 GO/No Go First quarter 2005 2 WIF + NT installation NT + researchers team/web workers in trade unions 3 WIF + TL arrangement contracts servers and hosting, security + domains + hosting 1 year 4 WIF+ TL arrangements contracts for installation content management system, text, images 5 WIF + TL arrangements installation design 6 AIAS + R start debate country specific questions, plus occupations and industries 7 NT + WIF start writing content for website + coaching 8 WIF + TL contracts and finance + concrete targets year 1 9 WIF + NT online meeting + teambuilding/M = international management 10 WIF + NT report: time, budget in relation to goals + recommendations Second quarter-2005 1 WIF + TL installation questionnaire engine + coaching technical support 2 AIAS + R finish debate country specific questions plus databases occupation, industries 3 R + AIAS translation questionnaire plus occupation/industries 4 WIF + NT implementation questionnaire + test questionnaire /industries 5 NT + WIF implementation websites, writing content website + coaching 6 NT + WIF marketing plan website = start marketing trade unions plus media 7 WIF + NT online meeting + teambuilding 8 WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 3 Third quarter 2005 1 WIF + TL technical support questionnaire engine, servers + coaching 2 WIF + TL first data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan 3 NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media 4 NT + WIF writing content website + coaching 5 WIF + NT online meeting + teambuilding 6 WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 4 Fourth quarter 2005 1 WIF + TL technical support questionnaire engine, servers + coaching 2 WIF + TL second data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan 3 NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media 4 NT + WIF writing content website + coaching 5 WIF + NT online meeting about targets year 2 6 WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations 7 WIF + FNV go-no go for period 5, 6, 7, 8. 8 WIF external accountancy Period 5 YEAR 2 First quarter 2006 1 WIF + TL technical support questionnaire engine, servers + coaching 2 R + ERASMUS database multinational enterprises 3 WIF + TL third data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan 4 NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media 5 NT + WIF writing content website + coaching 6 WIF + NT online meeting + teambuilding 7 WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 6 Second quarter 2006 1 WIF + TL technical support questionnaire engine, servers + coaching 2 WIF + TL fourth data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan 3 AIAS + R research for company negotiations 4 NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media 5 NT + WIF writing content website + coaching 6 NT + NL offline meeting global Wage Indicators, trade unions & research community 7 WIF + TL start of building national organisation 8 WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 7 Third quarter 2006 1 WIF + TL technical support questionnaire engine, servers + coaching 2 WIF + TL fifth data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan 3 AIAS + R accounting rules salary check 4 WIF + TL installation salary check 5 AIAS + R research for company negotiations 6 NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media 7 NT + WIF writing content website + coaching 8 WIF + TL online meeting + teambuilding with national organisation 9 WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 8 Fourth quarter 2006 1 WIF + TL technical support questionnaire engine, servers, salary check + coaching 2 WIF + TL sixth data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan 3 NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media 4 NT + WIF writing content website + coaching 5 WIF + TL online meeting + teambuilding with national organisation + targets after 3 year 6 WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations 7 WIF + FNV go-no go, period 9, 10, 11, 12. 8 WIF external accountancy Period 9 YEAR 3 first quarter 2007 1 WIF + TL technical support questionnaire engine, servers, salary check + coaching 2 WIF + TL Seventh data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan 3 ERAS + R update database multinationals 4 AIAS + R PPP 5 AIAS + R Research for company negotiations 6 NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media 7 NT + WIF writing content website + coaching 8 WIF + TL online meeting + teambuilding with national organisation 9 WIF + TL business plan for 2008, 2009, 2010 10 WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 10 Second quarter 2007 1 WIF + TL technical support questionnaire engine, servers, salary check + coaching 2 WIF + TL eight data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan 3 AIAS + R research for company negotiations 4 NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media 5 NT + WIF writing content website + coaching 6 WIF + TL online meeting + teambuilding with national organisation 7 WIF + TL realisation business plan 2008 and further 8 WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 11 Third quarter 2007 1 WIF + TL technical support questionnaire engine, servers, salary check + coaching 2 WIF + TL ninth data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan 4 NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media 5 NT + WIF writing content website + coaching 6 R+ERASMUS update multinational database 7 WIF + TL online meeting + teambuilding with national organisation 8 WIF + TL realisation business plan 2008 and further 9 WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 12 Fourth quater 2007 1 WIF + TL technical support questionnaire engine, servers, salary check + coaching 2 WIF + TL tenth data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan 4 NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media 5 NT + WIF writing content website + coaching 6 WIF + TL offline meeting global Wage Indicator 7 WIF + TL realisation business plan 2008 and further 8 WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations 7 WIF + FNV evaluation of periods 1 – 12 8 WIF external accountancy 9.1 Description of activities per period 9.1.1 Period 1 The first period is used to create national teams in South Africa, India and Brazil. ITPF, DIEESE, and NALEDI will recruit team members with an adequate background and qualifications in close consultation with the Wage Indicator Foundation. Simultaneously the Foundation will, together with the research institute, look for a suitable host for the website. In all probability these consultations can take place long distance, through phone and mail. As soon as a team and contracts for servers are in place, the next two steps can be taken. The website can be uploaded, with the help of the long distance technical support team from the Netherlands. This allows the national partners to start publishing content related to the national labour markets. At the same time, the research institutes in South Africa, India, Brazil and in the Netherlands will start debating the adaptation of the questionnaire to the national labour markets and, if desired, to include country specific questions. This process must lead to results within 3 months. Failing to do so will constitute a critical moment: go or no go? If there is serious doubt that the project will not take off a change of partner will be sought by the Wage Indicator Foundation. Finally the end of the first period sees the formulation of targets for the full first year, broken down into quarterly targets. These will serve as criteria to measure progress. 9.1.2 Period 2 Provided the first period has been successfully concluded, the questionnaire engine can be installed – long distance. The researchers round up their debates about the questionnaire and the occupation and industry choosers that are part of the questionnaire. The so-called choosers allow visitors to choose their occupation and industry within two or three clicks. The web team, consisting of internet journalists from the unions and national or regional (web based) media, will on the spot be trained in web writing and web marketing by the Wage Indicator Foundation specialists. The marketing team – in part identical with the web team – develops in the same period a marketing plan. The Foundation will send a trainer/coach for approx. 10 days. The national web teams, in cooperation with the Foundation, set up a critical mentor group of professional journalists and marketers, which is a reassuring idea for both the national team and for the Foundation – as this may work as an additional check on work in progress. The following targets will be met by the end the second period: a website with content, an online questionnaire, including databases for industries and occupations, and a marketing plan. Failing to meet these targets, it is wise to consider ending the project altogether. 9.1.3 Period 3 Now the website must function technically smooth, and the marketing effort must be under way as well as the production of new content. In this period, the coaching of journalists and marketers by the Wage Indicator Foundation continues in order to have a dedicated web team by month 9, capable of running the website themselves. The research institute will receive the first data, after a check of the data manager. An analysis of the data may reveal that specific actions may be taken, for example regarding underrepresented groups. 9.1.4 Period 4 The first serious project assessment now takes place. Again, this constitutes a go – no go moment. The reckoning takes place according to the indicators of achievements, listed in section 7. In addition, reporting takes place regarding the budget spent, and the workload put in. This evaluation will go fast as it builds on the quarterly progress reports preceding it in the first year, using one format. FNV then decides in consultation with the Wage Indicator Foundation whether a national project is fit for the second year. If so, the Foundation then formulates the targets for year 2 in consultation with the national team. 9.1.5 Period 5 A stable period, dedicated mainly to improve the website and its reach – guided and supported by online coaching from the Foundation. On top Erasmus starts to work with the national researchers on a database of multinational enterprises. 9.1.6 Period 6 At the start of this period team members are selected for participation in the first global Wage Indicator meeting, to last 3 days and to be held in Amsterdam, halfway the project period of 3 years. The Wage Indicator Foundation, AIAS and Erasmus will prepare the meeting and will invite some delegates to present their views on and contribute to workshops on research issues, web writing and web marketing. Some issues to be considered can already be specified. These are: - calculating the wage calculation rules for the national salary checks (AIAS) - explaining the PPP (purchasing power parities) (AIAS) - questioning the dataset in order to arrive at meaningful results for trade union negotiators (AIAS) - setting up a permanent national Wage Indicator organization (WIF) The Foundation and AIAS will try their very best to include the EU- and American teams, so that it will truly be a global meeting. On top the researchers deliver their first research report in close cooperation with their web teams. 9.1.7 Period 7 The Wage Indicator Foundation sees to it that all items discussed and decided upon during the global meeting stay on the agendas of the national teams. AIAS and the research teams make calculation rules for the salary check. The Foundation – assisted by the national team leaders - installs the salary check long distance. The Foundation – long distance again - tests the salary check, together with the national teams. The web teams intensify their marketing efforts, now that the salary check is online. The teams may also publish their first news, preferably in the form of press releases, with results from the first analysis of the national datasets. On top the researchers deliver their first research report in close cooperation with their web teams. 9.1.8 Period 8 By the end of this period, year 2, the Wage Indicator must be a well-oiled concern. The team members cooperate well and the first contours of a future organization are on the drawing board. As at the end of year 1, the national team and the Wage Indicator Foundation together judge if the targets set before were met for a go/no go decision for year 3. This reckoning takes place, as at the end of year 1, according to: - the number of web visitors - the number of questionnaires - the cooperation within the team - a report on project content, budget spent, workload put in. FNV then decides in close consultation with the Foundation whether a national project is fit for the third year. If so, the Foundation then formulates the targets for year 3 in close consultation with the national teams. 9.1.9 Period 9 Erasmus and the research team – online – upgrade the multinational database. Meanwhile research into reliable PPP’s is started up. The Wage Indicator Foundation and national teams write the business plans. The Foundation coordinates internationally, looks for and draws on the best practices of other national teams. It organizes an online debate on this issue. The national teams continue their web writing and marketing efforts. More than in previous periods frequency tables of the data will guide content production and the direction of specific marketing efforts, particularly if certain groups or occupations appear to be heavily underrepresented. The researchers will deliver their first research report in close cooperation with the trade union(s) and the web-team. 9.1.10 Period 10 The process that started in the previous period will be continued. By the end of this period a business plan must be finalized. On top the researchers deliver their second research report in close cooperation with the trade union(s) and the web-team. 9.1.11 Period 11 The business plan leads to prescribed action. The Wage Indicator Foundation supports the national teams in their attempts to create a permanent Wage Indicator organization for continued web presence and research. The multinational database is once again updated. 9.1.12 Period 12 The teams in South Africa, India, and in Brazil, the Wage Indicator Foundation, AIAS, SCOPE prepare a conference. Items on the agenda: • how to continue the national Wage Indicator websites? (NALEDI, DIEESE, ITFP) • how to institutionalise international wage comparisons? (AIAS/ERASMUS) • separate websites for the young, the elderly – a good marketing idea? (WIF) At the end of this period the Foundation and FNV/Bondgenoten conclude the project and evaluate its effects. The external accountant can start to do his job.