Hydro is a Fortune 500 energy and aluminium supplier operating in ...

“We are prepared to enter into an open dialogue with relevant
stakeholders to ensure that our activities are properly adapted to
meet local conditions and generate positive benefits both for the
company and the community. We shall give attention to initiatives
and input which serve to improve our social responsibility standards
and practices.”
HYDRO’S SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DIRECTIVE
Dialogue vital in restructuring processes
Hydro is exposed to strong competition in global
markets and has to continuously adapt to change.
This can make it necessary to restructure operations,
which can be a painful process involving plant
closures and reduction of manpower. An open and
constructive dialogue before and during such processes
has always proved valuable. There may be
different opinions about the need to downsize, but
once the decision is taken, we have found that
management and employee representatives have
been able to work together to find the best solutions.
The alternative is labour unrest and strikes,
which both parties regard as less favourable.
Dialogue has made it possible to find effective ways
of providing new jobs and developing widely accepted
social plans. It has also brought to light the
importance of training and skills development, not
only for the employees’ present jobs, but also for
their general employability.
In change processes, a good dialogue between
the company and the local community is also
important to promote understanding of the reasons
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for the change and an open discussion on how
to limit negative effects in the community.
We have gained experience from several
restructuring cases in recent years, such as the
closures and manning reductions in connection with
the downsizing of Hydro's former fertilizer operations
in several European countries. The importance of a
constructive dialogue was also demonstrated when
the magnesium plant at Porsgrunn, Norway, was
closed down. The closure proved to have a much
more limited effect on the employees and the community
than originally forecasted. A similar dialogue
is currently being held in connection with the reduction
of activities at some of Hydro's aluminium plants
on the west coast of Norway, where old technology
that is unable to meet the new, more stringent environmental
requirements is being phased out.
Positive social dialogue and responsible
restructuring are key issues also for the European
Commission in its ongoing development of the
CSR approach in the European Union.