Towards a Global Wage Indicator Extension to Argentina and Mexico Project proposal November 2005 Preface Lessons learned from the ‘Global-1’ project thus far * If a national team is in place when the project starts in a country, a fast take off is possible. This has been the experience in the case of India during the first ‘global’ round. In both Argentina and Mexico, national teams have been put together already. We hope to repeat this early Indian success in this extension of the ‘global’ project. * More time is needed to adapt the questionnaire to the national labour market and wishes of the trade unions involved; originally 6 months, now extended to 9 months. This is a matter of content, i.e. adapting the industries and occupation lists to national and international standards. And it is a technical matter. The national team is confronted with the questionnaire technique and methodology for the first time: it is completely new for them. It simply takes more time than originally thought to introduce them to the system. And to coach them in handling the underlying questionnaire management system. For this purpose additional meetings and training sessions are introduced in this extension proposal. * While the master questionnaire is being debated and adapted, a ‘shortlist’ of questions should be brought online for earlier intake of specific data. These data are sought with an eye to the creation of salary checks based on the national labour market. Offering such salary checks at an earlier stage in the project attracts more visitors and increases data intake. Online not later than after 6 months. * The fact that effective use can be made of labour market websites and/or union websites to interact with union rank and file and to upgrade union service (information) is an eye opener to many trade unionists. Therefore in the early stages after the introduction of the concept, a lot of effort must go into training and coaching trade unionist on the national teams on how to use the internet for beefing up trade union presence and policies. Thereby increasing union visibility, its capacity to act effectively and its recruitment potential. A good example was the reception of the WageIndicator as a trade union tool in South Africa (Global-1). * In the first ‘global’ round, the national teams got the master questionnaire and accompanying codebook in certain formats. These formats appeared to leave too much room for misunderstandings however, and were sources of frustration. Therefore the Dutch support team recreated both master questionnaire and codebook in such a way that they can now be offered in target group specific versions and excerpts. This means for example, that it is now much easer to take in data from the informal sector of developing economies. This qualitative improvement does not just benefit the Global-1 countries, but guarantees a smooth and effective roll out in both Argentina and Mexico (as well as future candidate countries). * Standardized procedures and formats for financial and administrative project support are a precondition for smooth operations and transparency. Such procedures and formats have been developed in the first phase of the ‘global’ project. Therefore they can be implemented from the very start of the planned extension to Argentina and Mexico. This will help to ease the auditing pressure. * Intermediary project aims, i.e. results to be achieved after a certain period, should be emphasized more. Good for morale and helpful milestones in the reporting cycle.   Executive summary The Global Wage Indicator project aims amongst other things 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. The online research system that the Wage Indicator essentially is, was first installed in the Netherlands in 2001, and it is currently under way in 14 countries. In the Netherlands it has proven to be a viable concept that attracts large numbers of web visitors and completed questionnaires. 8 EU-member states followed suit and are now in the phase of data intake. The Wage Indicator will also been introduced in the USA early 2006. The first grant under the FNV Mondiaal programme, ‘Global-1’ for short, led to the extension outside Europe, notably in Brazil, South Africa, India and South Korea (courtesy FNV Bondgenoten), all in 2005. The present proposal, ‘Global-2’, aims to bring Argentina and Mexico online along these same lines. 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 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 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 and given the exponentially increasing internet penetration, many thousands of completed questionnaires can be expected. These data will allow for salary checks on the 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 to the project 1.1 Project aims 1.2 Project approach 1.2.1 The first 3 months of the project 1.2.3 Involvement of trade union journalists 1.2.4 Contract to be concluded 1.2.5 Financial arrangements 1.2.6 Introduction of new elements 1.3 Project applicants 1.3.1 Wage Indicator Foundation 1.3.2 Argentina 1.3.3 Mexico 1.4 Project proposal outline 2 Empowerment of the trade union movement 2.1 Lack of proper statistical data on wages 2.2 Research for wage negotiations 2.3 Trade unions and the use of internet 2.4 Labour market information for employees 2.5 Strengthening the trade union movement 2.6 Research on multinational enterprises 2.7 International research on trade union issues 3 The Wage Indicator research 3.1 Short history 3.2 The concept 3.2.1 The questionnaire and the dataset 3.2.2 The salary check 3.3 Research on multinational enterprises 3.4 Purchasing power parities 3.5 Research on the data 3.6 Potential data bias 4 Participants and target groups 4.1 Participants in the project 4.1.1 Workforce 4.1.2 Trade unionists 4.1.3 Researchers and web workers 4.2 Identification of target groups 4.2.1 Workforce 4.2.2 Trade unionists 4.2.3 International institutions 4.2.4 Research community 4.3 Gender analysis 4.3.1 Female workers 4.3.2 Gender wage gap as starting point 4.3.3 Gender expressed in women’s and men’s websites 4.3.4 Gender mix on the project teams 4.4 National trade union gender policies 4.4.1 Argentina 4.4.2 Mexico 5 Implementation strategy 5.1 Strategic inputs for a fast roll out 5.1.1 Tried and tested system 5.1.2 Strong research backing 5.1.3 A running international operation and network 5.2 National strategic goals 5.2.1 Sufficient traffic 5.2.2 Creating a strong research and web team 5.2.3 Attractive websites to promote participation in the research 5.3 International strategic goals 5.3.1 International exchange of knowledge and experience 5.3.2 Cross-country studies into policies of multinational enterprises 5.4 Contribution to overall development goals 6 Specific project input and output 6.1 Inputs 6.2 Activities 6.3 Expected results 7 Monitoring and reliability checks 7.1 Monitoring 7.2 Indicators of achievement 7.3 Sources for benchmarking 7.4 Measuring the impact on development 7.5 Evaluation 8 Institutional framework and sustainability 8.1 Institutional framework 8.1.1 Argentina 8.1.2 Mexico 8.1.3 Netherlands 8.2 Assumptions and preconditions 8.3 Sustainability check 9 Working plan and time schedule 10 Budget Appendix 1 National requesting organizations Appendix 2 International requesting organization Appendix 3 Letters of intent 1 Introduction to the project 1.1 Project aims The present project has 5 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, helping to establish themselves as reliable authorities in the field of wage information; 5. improving comparisons of the wages in multinational enterprises in various countries in service of the global trade union movement. Such empowerment can be achieved by introducing the WageIndicator online research system in national labour markets. The project is already under way in 9 member states of the EU and the USA, in Brazil, India, South Africa and –thanks to FNV Bondgenoten – South Korea. The latter 4 are funded by FNV Mondiaal through the ‘Global-1’ project. Each country has its national WageIndicator website, consisting of job related content, an anonymous questionnaire, and a free and crowd-pulling salary check at the level of occupations, based on data from the questionnaire. This proposal has the aim to bring WageIndicator websites online in Argentina and Mexico along the same lines. 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. 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; * start negotiations for a contract (see 1.2.4). To speed things up, the will invite the 2 national team leaders to the Netherlands within the first 3 months of the project. Simultaneously a ground laying debate between invited researchers, including the experienced researchers from the Spanish partner, the university of Salamanca, and the Dutch research co-ordinator will take place, also in Amsterdam. 1.2.2 Team formation The formation of national teams in Argentina and Mexico is the first step. A team must at least consist of labour market researchers, trade unionists and journalists. In both countries this has already been taken care of (see sections 1.3.1 and 1.3.2). 1.2.3 Involvement of trade union journalists The union journalists in the team have a crucial role to play in the early phases of the project. First, they will be trained in the production of attractive website content, related to the labour market. Secondly, 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 website. 1.2.4 Contract to be concluded The coach will have to negotiate a contract in the initial stage, involving at least one national partner, as well as the Wage Indicator Foundation, bearing overall responsibility for the project. Provisions in this agreement include: * Duration * Rights and duties of parties * Deliverables and reporting rules * Use of data * Involvement of third parties * Liability * Termination of contract * Financial arrangements 1.2.5 Financial arrangements As project leader, the Foundation is responsible for all payments to the contract partners, following the regulations laid down in the contract. Basically payments will follow a quarterly cycle, as laid down in the contract. Provided the targets laid down for the 3 months’ term are met, the funds due according to the contract will be transferred. 1.2.6 Introduction of new elements In keeping with this step-by-step approach, new elements will be introduced gradually into the 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 Project 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 Foundation are representing (1) the FNV, (2) the Amsterdam Institute of Advanced Labour Studies of the University of Amsterdam (AIAS/UvA), and (3) the career 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. 1.3.1 Wage Indicator Foundation In this project the overall project leader and international applicant, 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, and is the overall project leader. The research efforts are co-ordinated and backed by the University of Amsterdam and by the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. In Argentina and Mexico the research will be carried out by institutes established by and/or linked with the trade union movement. In this way the involvement of the trade union movement in the project can be guaranteed. 1.3.2 CENE Argentina CENE is a centre of studies which belongs to a very well known university in Argentina: the University of Belgrano. The University of Belgrano was founded in 1964 and has gained an excellent reputation for the high quality services it offers to the community, its faculty commitment to research and technological innovation and its leadership role in the debate and implementation of social policy. The University has 92 active researchers working in almost all areas of science. CENE is one of its research centres, which is devoted to socio-economic matters, particularly on the changes that took place in Argentina’s socio-economic reality after the crisis of 2002. CENE in this project will work together with SEL (Society for Labour Studies) which is a well known independent research organisation. Its publications and information services are used by those responsible for personnel in companies, voluntary associations, trade unions and public sector organisations. Its reports are published regularly by the media. The proposed Argentinian team: Victor Alberto Beker, director; Ernesto Kritz, co-director; Bibiana Palacios, web designer; María Laura Calí, survey questionnaire designer; Nestor Legnani, liaison with the trade unions; Diego Valenzuela, liaison with the media. Trade unions the institute works with/for: * Federación Argentina de Empleados de Comercio y Servicios (Commerce and Services union), Jorge A. Bence (secretary for labour affairs), 700.000 members. * Sindicato de Luz y Fuerza de Capital Federal (Electricity union), Jorge Bermudez. (secretary for labour and technical affairs), 30.000 members. In both cases there is a previous working relationship, particularly studies on the wage structure done for the first one. In the case of Sindicato Luz y Fuerza, Prof. Legnani, member of the team, is a former official of that union with good contacts with it. Other trade unions which may be interested: * Asociacion Bancaria (Banking union) * Sindicato de la Sanidad (Public Health Employees union). * Telefonicos (Telecommunications union) * Union del Personal Civil de la Nacion (Civil Servants union) Media may be involved through the press office of the University of Belgrano. It has a permanent and fluent relation with the following media, which publish periodically all the information produced by the CENE. Newspapers: * La Nacion * Clarin * Cronista * Infobae * La Prensa * La U (University-addressed daily newspaper) Magazines: * Noticias * Competencia * Mercado * Fortuna TV Stations: * The University of Belgrano has its own weekly program in cable TV. News Agencies: * Nosis * DyN * Reuters The main newspapers as well as some of the magazines have their digital editions with free access for everyone. Besides that, CENE includes on its team a distinguished journalist, Diego Valenzuela, which has his own portfolio of media contacts, who will reinforce the diffusion of the project activities. Labour market websites for inclusion in the WageIndicator coalition: www.weblaboral.com ; www.bumeran.com ; www.computrabajo.com ; www.emplear.com ; www.trabajando.com ; www.laborum.com ; www.trabajosnet.com ; www.trabajos.com ; www.infowork.origin.com.ar ; www.universobit.com ; www.empleos.clarin.com 1.3.3 Mexico Centro de Investigación Laboral y Asesoría Sindical, A. C. (CILAS) is a non profit association, founded in 1990. In CILAS trade unionists and other labour market specialists come together (lawyers, doctors, economists, sociologists and pedagogues). Its aim is to contribute to the development and reform of labour organizations, promote the just application of labour law, to improve labour conditions and see to it that international labour standards are lived up to. In this project CILAS brings in the research capacity of the Faculty of Economics of the Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM. From its trade union network almost two dozen unions have been alerted. Some have expressed their wish to co-operate from the start. CILAS is confident that the project, as it progresses, will enlarge its scope amongst the Mexican trade union movement. Trade unions the institute works with/for: * Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Industria Nuclear * Asociación Sindical de Pilotos Aviadores * Asociación Sindical de Sobrecargos de Aviación * Asociación de Tranviarios de México * Sindicato Independiente de Trabajadores de la Industria Automotriz Volkswagen * Sindicato Independencia * Sindicato Democrático de Trabajadores de Pesca y Acuacultura de la Sagarpa * Frente Auténtico del Trabajo * Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores del Seguro Social * Confederación de Trabajadores Democráticos * Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas * Sindicato Independiente de Trabajadores de la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana * Consejo Nacional de los Trabajadores * Sindicato de Trabajadores Académicos de la Universidad Autónoma Chapingo * Frente Sindical Mexicano * Sindicato de Trabajadores de La Jornada * Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Impulsora de Telecomunicaciones * Sindicato de Telefonistas de la Baja California y Norte de Sonora * Sindicato Paz y Trabajo * Confederación Nacional de Trabajadores Universitarios The Mexican team consists of researchers Luis Lozano Arredondo, David Lozano Tovar, Tania Jimena Hernández Crespo, Gerardo González Chávez. They will adapt the methodology and questionnaire to the national context and periodically report on project progress. Furthermore journalist Jesús Ramírez Cuevas is to promote the project in the media and to feed the website. Webmanagement rests with Jorge Borrego (CILAS worker, expert in web pages design), who will adapt/design the website to face the local needs. Coordinator is Rodolfo Pérez Ruiz (CILAS, economist). National media the institute has contact with are: Journals: * La Jornada (http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/10/25/index.php) * Magazines: * El Cotidiano (http://www.elcotidianoenlinea.com.mx/default.asp) * InvestigaciónEconómica (http://132.248.45.5/publicaciones/web_invesecon/index.html) * Radio Stations: * Radio Educación (http://www.radioeducacion.edu.mx/) * News Agencies: * NOTIMEX (http://www.notimex.com.mx/) Jesús Ramírez Cuevas is a journalist of La Jornada and part of the project team. CILAS has collaborated with El Cotidiano and has relationships with Radio Educación and NOTIMEX unions. Investigación Económica is a review of the Economics Faculty, where som of the researchers work. 1.4 Project proposal outline 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 WageIndicator concept fits well into the trade union’s core business. * First, it gives insight into the earnings of the working people. This is valuable input for negotiations about collective agreements. * Second, the salary check in the 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. * 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 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. 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. To bypass all these shortcomings trade unions may get involved in the WageIndicator project, which will enable them in cooperation with research institutes to stimulate the creation of data needed for their members and potential members. Every 3 months a download may be expected – once the system is up and running. 2.2 Research for better wage negotiations The research is based on data, gathered through the 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 building up. The needs of the trade union movement will guide the research. 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 beef up negotiating positions. The national dataset is used to calculate occupation-specific wages, given sufficient numbers of observations. This information is used in the salary check, which is offered on the website. Most questions in the questionnaire are similar in all countries. 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 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 national teams of participating countries. 2.3 Trade unions and the use of internet The fact that effective use can be made of labour market websites and/or union websites to interact with union rank and file and to upgrade union service (information) is an eye opener to many trade unionists. Therefore in the early stages after the introduction of the concept, a lot of effort must go into training and coaching trade unionist on the national teams on how to use the internet for beefing up trade union presence and policies. Thereby increasing union visibility, its capacity to act effectively and its recruitment potential. The training offered by the Dutch support team consists of: * learn how to embed your website in the internet * use search engines * check statistics * know your virtual competitors These points are interrelated, of course. The team must get its website in all the search engines imaginable, install a statistical programme, monitor and analyse, also the performance of its online competitors, such as career sites. It should list media (old and new, online and offline), ngo’s, ministries, companies and websites with it which it wants to be associated and try to have one or more links to its website on theirs. Sell banners and licences. Attractive content generates a lot of traffic. Huge traffic makes a website a public place, a good proposition for advertising. Most importantly, the team has to write web language: short but friendly, serving the visitor’s needs, using figures, bullets, graphs or pictures where content allows. Finally, answering email is a must. People appreciate a daily email answering service enormously. In this way the team gets to know their work related worries. That helps to guide research. And it can generate free publicity too, through the news that such research may come up with. To sum it up: marketing the website(s) is crucial. For if there’s nobody to complete the questionnaire there are no data. And without data no salary check, no research. Therefore, initially a lot of effort must go into the marketing and promotion of any new WageIndicator website. It must attract many visitors. 2.4 Labour market information for employees 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. 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. The Argentinian and Mexican institutes underwrite this analysis. 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 complete 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 enrol and how to involve the union in wage negotiations; the national teams decide about issues related to the content; * 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 topics raised in the emails. 2.5 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, global union UNI (participant in Global-1) 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, 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”. From the letters of intent that are included in this proposal, it is clear that trade unions involved regard the Wage Indicator as an empowerment tool for their own organizations, as well as individual workers. 2.6 Research on multinationals Propelled forward by processes of globalisation, structures of production and distribution are fundamentally changing. Global factors more and more dictate the terms of competition. A majority of companies prepares for and is 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 huge. 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 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. 2.7 International research on trade union issues 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 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. 3 Wage Indicator research 3.1 Short history The WageIndicator is designed to solve the data and information problems described in section 2. It is meant to provide common building blocks for all parties involved in all participating countries. Starting in the Netherlands in 2000 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 websites 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. 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 Foundation, by Friedrich Buttler, ILO regional director for Europe and Central Asia) 3.2 The concept The WageIndicator concept consists of: 1. WageIndicator 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 main attraction of the 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 mean that a number of statistical problems has to be tackled first. Clearly, such parities only start to make sense once sufficiently large datasets have been built up. Therefore the calculation and adoption of updated 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 100,000 data were gathered by the Wage Indicator questionnaire in 4 years’ time. Presently data intake exceeds 200,000 questionnaires in all the participating countries combined, meaning that only in 2005 another 100,000 visitors completed a questionnaire. 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. Global union UNI envisages the data generated in this way 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 data 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 than it is possible today”. From the letters of intent that are included in this proposal, it is clear that trade unions involved regard the WageIndicator as an empowerment tool for their own organizations, as well as individual workers. 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 WageIndicator websites as well as on the project website 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. 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 – and possibly even earlier - 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 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 complete the questionnaire. 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 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. 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. 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 which focuses on wages, terms of employment and working conditions would be keen to see the outcomes worldwide, 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 participate. 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, overall pay differences between male and female employees are stuck somewhere 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 twofold 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 experience, 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 on 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. This is particularly important because the team should more or less reflect the composition of the national work force to ensure that marketing addresses 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 Argentina The Argentinian team co-operates with unions who: ‘are committed to an “equal pay for equal work” policy. The project will contribute to a considerable increase in transparency allowing every woman to know what other women are paid and what men with identical characteristics are paid for a similar position. This will be an enormous contribution to empower women workers and allow the participating trade unions to have more elements to fight for an improvement in women workers’ conditions.’ 4.4.2 Mexico The Mexican team reports about the practices in and by the unions it co-operates with, as follows: ‘When we observe wages for women and men in the unions we proposed, we find that they both have the same wages in job positions with the same name. But there are not enough studies on job positions with different names, different wages but similar responsibilities. In this issue we’ll find great differences, negative for women incomes and qualifications. From all the participating unions only a few of them have accepted -in recent years- the obligation they have to apply gender equity policies. One thing they have done is to allow women access to job positions considered before only for men. Now, women have a chance to apply for new professions and higher wages. We are sure that information exchange about wages not only among Mexican unions, but at international level, will be important to identify the gender differences and to allow union officials to adopt a strategic perspective to face gender wage inequalities.’ 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 WageIndicator system. This system is tried and tested, and contains the building blocks for a fast roll out. Experience with national roll outs has already been gathered and the master version of the questionnaire is available (as well as a version translated for and adapted to Spain), 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 other participating countries, all representing well established research institutes, will be made operational for applications in Argentina and Mexico as the roll out proceeds. The involvement of the Universities of Salamanca (Spain) and Harvard (USA) in the project may be of special significance for the successful implementation of this project in Argentina en Mexico. 5.1.3 A running international operation and network The strategic starting point for the countries participating in this third 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 Foundation. The same holds true for the wider international network that has been created over the last years. This network includes Monster, the world’s largest career 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 f.e. Gazeta Wyborcza in Poland and Süddeutsche Zeitung in Germany. 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 obvious: 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) 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 system functions 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 Foundation, who have experience with this in many other 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 are included in the national teams. They have feeling with labour market issues and are 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. Earlier developments show that in many countries willing media partners can be found, for promotion and marketing both online and offline. 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 the creation of 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 complete 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 with the Foundation. 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 have already been built up in the 14 countries that are operational for some time now. 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. The first opportunity to meet on a truly global scale will be offered during the planned international conference of national teams in Amsterdam on June 21-23 2006. 5.3.2 Cross-country studies into policies of multinationals 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. 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 those activities. In the economies of Argentina and Mexico 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 Argentina 27.1 Mexico 26.5 Source: UNCTAD World Investment Report 2004 Table 2 Key sectors with Multinational Enterprise presence Country Sectors Argentina Petroleum; Chemicals; Utilities (electricity, gas, water); Food, beverages and tobacco; and Finance (monetary intermediation) Mexico Finance; Machinery and Equipment; Trade; Transport, storage and communication; and Chemicals. Source: UNCTAD World Investment Directory - Latin America and Caribbean 2004 Table 3 Export processing zones / Special economic zones Country EPZs Argentina 4 EPZs (zonas francas/industrial parks), in which 3202 firms.* Mexico 3229 Maquiladora firms, in which 1.1 million employees (source: ILO 2003 database on EPZs) *note: no employment data or estimation available 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, 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. 6.1 Inputs questionnaire concept, questionnaire engine, codebooks chooser technique in questionnaire salary checkers concept content management system, website plus design dataset WageIndicator countries 6.2 Activities Web management recruiting & coaching of national web managers production of labour market content for the national websites marketing and promotion of the national websites development of instruction for trade unionists business & sustainability plan Research training of researchers: how to make the WageIndicator system work adaptation/translation questionnaire, lists of industries, occupations and MNE’s data handling and cleaning data analysis accounting wages, PPP Technique installation of content management system, questionnaire engine hosting and upkeep of websites General international exchange project management financial reporting and accountancy 6.3 Expected results Web management a web team with communications & marketing skills a web team with excellent relations with trade union web managers a WageIndicator website with regularly updated labour market information an attractive website with a lot of traffic content also interesting for trade union websites and magazines Research a research team with excellent research skills for large data sets a research team with excellent relations with trade union policy makers a questionnaire for different target groups a questionnaire made for national and international research a salary checker with a minimum of 100 occupations a dataset made for national and international research, each quarter Purchase Power Parameters for each country/region quarterly research reports for trade unions needs Technique - of course open source! state of the art hosting system – supporting a lot of traffic state of the art questionnaire and salary check engine state of the art content management system for website General a strong web/research country team sustainable general/financial management business plan for after 3 years a team that fits in the international WageIndicator community 7 Monitoring and reliability checks 7.1 Monitoring In this proposal, the criteria for monitoring are set. Specific targets must be defined in consultation with the national teams. The targets will be highly dependent upon national internet penetration and growth, as well as on access and exposure to media in general. The monitoring will take place on a quarterly basis, as in the ‘Global-1’ project. Quarterly reports of the national teams in Argentina, Mexico and the Foundation in the Netherlands will be the basis of the monitoring process. The quarterly reports will address all indicators mentioned below. 7.2 Indicators of achievement Web regular training & couching high quality web team enough web traffic enough recruited new trade union members through the WageIndicator enough completed questionnaires high quality labour market information Research regular training & coaching high quality research team state of the art questionnaire, adapted to the national labour market high quality data set quarterly research analyses improvement of trade union policy in relation to the research state of the art salary checker relevant PPP, per country/region Open source technique state of the art hosting and upkeep of servers, websites, questionnaires engines always the cheapest solution for now; later in relation to sustainability of the project General strong national team; not many personnel changes national team which a good gender balance adequate general and financial management business plan 7.3 Sources for benchmarking The quarterly reports - if possible in conjunction with the reporting cycle of the preceding ‘Global-1’ project - will include self-assessments of the functioning of the team, the involvement of trade unions, the training sessions and the support from the Foundation. The marketing and promotion efforts will be indicated by presence in the press and other media and links to the national websites. The number of unique visitors and the number of completed questionnaires will be traced by daily web statistics, which gives detailed insight in the tidal movements of web traffic. The number of responded emails will also be part of the web reporting. Research reports, the questionnaire and the salary checks will be on display on the national websites. The PPP’s find expression in research results and in the salary checks. The multinational database will lead to specific research and possible result in new salary checks. An important source for benchmarking is of course the international exchange between all national WageIndicator teams. To facilitate this, the Argentinian and Mexican teams will be invited to send delegates to the first ‘global’ conference, planned to be held in Amsterdam on June 21-23 2006. Also, it is quite sensible to create a ‘Latin’ group, wherein the university of Salamanca (part of the Spanish team) may assist Argentina, Mexico and possibly Brazil (Global-1). At a later stage the Americas may join forces to face inter-American economic diversity and conflict, when the American research partner Harvard steps in. 7.4 Measuring the impact on development The contribution of the project to the overall development goal is difficult to assess. However, the amount of web traffic reflects the quality, attractiveness and usability of work related information. This is considered a contribution to the overall development goal. In addition, should the international research continue to function after the project expires, this in itself would be an indication of its relevance and reliability. 7.5 Evaluation Project progress will be evaluated on the basis of the quarterly reports, as explained in the previous sections. Its quality will be assessed and evaluated similarly in the quarterly reports. Overall project evaluation is foreseen in the 3rd year of the project. This evaluation will include a strength and weaknesses analysis. Then, the national teams in consultation with the Foundation will explore the possibilities for continuation of the websites in Argentina and Mexico. 8 Institutional framework and sustainability 8.1 Institutional framework Research institutes and trade unions in Argentina and Mexico will participate. Their letters of intent are attached to this proposal. The research institutes act as partner for the Foundation. Rights, duties, input and expected output are laid down in separate contracts. The national project management is responsible, reports periodically and takes care of the (concluding) evaluation(s) of the project. It is responsible for the creation of a research and web team, for the online content, its updating, marketing and promotion of the website(s), research on the dataset, as well as for the building up and active involvement of a network based in organised labour. The 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 in a quarterly cycle. 8.1.1 Argentina CENE, Centre for the Study of the New Economy, belongs to the University of Belgrano. This university was founded in 1964 and has gained an excellent reputation for the high quality services it offers to the community, its faculty commitment to research and technological innovation and its leadership role in the debate and implementation of social policy. The University has 92 active researchers working in almost all areas of science. CENE is one of its research centres, which is devoted to socio-economic matters, particularly on the changes that took place in Argentina’s socio-economic reality after the crisis of 2002. In this project CENE co-operates with SEL (Society for Labour Studies) which is a well known independent research organisation. Its publications and information services are used by those responsible for personnel in companies, voluntary associations, trade unions and public sector organisations. Its reports are published regularly by the media. At least 2 unions have already expressed their wish to be involved: the Commerce and Services Union and the Electricity Union. 8.1.2 Mexico CILAS was established on September 4, 1990. It is a civil organisation, set up by active members of the democratic trade union movement and by representatives of the judiciary and universities. They shared the wish to create an institution for the support of trade unions in a multidisciplinary way, for its reinforcement, democratization and renovation. Over the past 15 years a project which started with enthusiasm and conviction, has matured into a well established and consolidated centre. In this project CILAS co-operates with the Independent University of Mexico (UNAM), department of economy on the one hand and with a selection from its trade union network on the other. 8.1.3 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 Argentina and Mexico can be as successful as in the Netherlands over time. A precondition is of course 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 as the project proceeds. This assumption is justified because internet penetration is considerable and growing fast, as illustrated in table 4. Table 4 Internet penetration   2001 2004 2001-04, % growth Million users % of population Million users % of population Million users % of population Argentina 3,7 10,0 5,1 13,2 37,8 32,0 Mexico 7,4 7,5 14,0 13,4 89,2 78,7 compare:             Netherlands 7,9 49,1 10,0 61,6 26,6 25,4 Source: ITU (International Telecommunications Union), The Argentinian team adds: ‘The use of Internet has grown very fast in this country. In 1997 there were 190.000 Internet users. In 2005: 9.900.000 users. Most of this increase has been in the low-middle and lower strata of society. This is the case for most of the users which entered after 2000. The use of Internet is widely spread among administrative and sales personnel. The connectivity to Internet by enterprise size is the following: Large (more than 200 employees): 100 % Medium (between 51 and 200): 100 % Small (less than 51 employees): 95 % The possession of websites has the following distribution by enterprise size: Large (more than 200 employees): 91 % Medium (between 51 and 200): 72 % Small (less than 51 employees): 49 % Source: Prince and Cook. 2004. We have chosen for participation in the WageIndicator project the main white-collar trade unions. We consider them the obvious candidates because among their affiliates there is a great penetration of Internet, which is not yet the case for blue-collar workers in Argentina.’ The Mexican team has also more details: ‘... 17 millon users in 2005. Of those, some 80 percent visits the internet at least 3 times per month. But half of these regular users at least 7 times per week. We estimate there are approx 7 million of these frequent users. Almost half of all internet users lives in the geater Mexico City area. Most of them are highly educated. Users connect at work, from home – but some 40 percent use internet cafes.’ 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 help ensure such marketing and promotion. 8.3 Sustainability check The project aims for self-supporting websites in Argentina and Mexico when the 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. 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 and maintenance of the website and questionnaire engine. The Argentinian team is confident: ‘We think that once the WageIndicator project has shown the benefits it provides it will become very popular and many other trade unions will join it. We have no doubt that at that moment the project will be self-financed by the following means: * contribution by trade unions * contribution from the Government * advertising in the WageIndicator website * sale of statistical reports’ The applicant from Mexico, CILAS writes: ‘We think that at the end of the project researchers and unions already involved and those that might appreciate its advantages during its functioning, must be in the position to run the WageIndicator project by themselves. It presupposes funding for the project. CILAS is prepared to propose to them a business plan in the last year.’ 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 Note During 3 years. Mangement- , webmanagement- and research- support and coaching. Technical support, and hosting. Period 1 First quarter 2006 WIF + NT installation NT + researchers team/web workers in trade unions WIF + TL contracts and finance + concrete targets year 1 WIF intstalation of web content management system and design WIF installation of questionnaire engine AIAS + R start debate country specific questions, plus occupations and industries, in A'dam NT + WIF start writing content for website + coaching WIF + NT online meeting + teambuilding/M = international management WIF + NT report: time, budget in relation to goals + recommendations Second quarter-2006 AIAS + R short version questionnaire online NT + WIF implementation websites, writing content website + coaching NT + WIF marketing plan website = start marketing trade unions plus media WIF + NT online meeting + teambuilding WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 3 Third quarter 2006 AIAS + R finish debate questionnaire, longer version questionnaire online WIF + TL first data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media NT + WIF writing content website + coaching WIF + NT meeting + teambuilding WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 4 Fourth quarter 2006 WIF + TL second data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media NT + WIF writing content website + coaching WIF + NT online meeting about targets year 2 WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations WIF+ NT external accountancy Period 5 YEAR 2 First quarter 2007 R + ERASMUS database multinational enterprises WIF + TL third data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media NT + WIF writing content website + coaching WIF + NT online meeting + teambuilding WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 6 Second quarter 2007 R+ERASMUS multi-database online WIF + TL fourth data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan AIAS + R research for company negotiations NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media NT + WIF writing content website + coaching NT + NL offline meeting global Wage Indicators, trade unions & research community WIF + TL start of building national organisation WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 7 Third quarter 2007 WIF + TL fifth data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan AIAS + R accounting rules salary check WIF + TL installation salary check AIAS + R research for company negotiations NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media NT + WIF writing content website + coaching WIF + TL online meeting + teambuilding with national organisation WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 8 Fourth quarter 2007 WIF + TL sixth data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan AIAS + R research for company negotiations NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media NT + WIF writing content website + coaching WIF + TL online meeting + teambuilding with national organisation + targets after 3 year WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations WIF+NT external accountancy Period 9 YEAR 3 first quarter 2008 WIF + TL Seventh data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan ERAS + R update database multinationals AIAS + R PPP AIAS + R Research for company negotiations NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media NT + WIF writing content website + coaching WIF + TL online meeting + teambuilding with national organisation WIF + TL business plan for 2008, 2009, 2010 WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 10 Second quarter 2008 WIF + TL eight data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan AIAS + R research for company negotiations NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media NT + WIF writing content website + coaching WIF + TL online meeting + teambuilding with national organisation WIF + TL realisation business plan 2008 and further WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 11 Third quarter 2008 WIF + TL ninth data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media NT + WIF writing content website + coaching R+ERASMUS update multinational database WIF + TL online meeting + teambuilding with national organisation WIF + TL realisation business plan 2008 and further WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations Period 12 Fourth quarter 2008 WIF + TL tenth data check on quality, plus indication for marketing plan NT + WIF marketing plan website = work on marketing trade unions and media NT + WIF writing content website + coaching WIF + TL offline meeting global Wage Indicator WIF + TL realisation business plan 2008 and further WIF + TL report: time, budget in relation to goals/statistics + recommendations WIF + FNV evaluation of periods 1 – 12 WIF +NT external accountancy 10 Budget separate National requesting organizations Argentina Name and address: Centro de Estudios de la Nueva Economia (CENE) Zabala 1837 – Piso 17, 1426 – Buenos Aires, Argentina Telephone: 5411- 4788-5400 ext. 2127/2514 Fax: 5411-4576-3912 Email: cene@ub.edu.ar Website: www.ub.edu.ar/institutos/cene/bienvenida.htm Name of bank: Banco Rio de la Plata, Suc. 35 – Av. Cabildo 769, 1426 – Buenos Aires - Argentina Swift code of the bank: BSCHARBA Account number of applicant: 035-1980/0 Organisation profile CENE is a centre of studies which belongs to a very well known university in Argentina: the University of Belgrano. The University of Belgrano was founded in 1964 and has gained an excellent reputation for the high quality services it offers to the community, its faculty commitment to research and technological innovation and its leadership role in the debate and implementation of social policy. The University has 92 active researchers working in almost all areas of science. CENE is one of its research centres, which is devoted to socio-economic matters, particularly on the changes that took place in Argentina’s socio-economic reality after the crisis of 2002. We are working together in this project with SEL (Society for Labour Studies) which is a well known independent research organisation. Its publications and information services are used by those responsible for personnel in companies, voluntary associations, trade unions and public sector organisations. Its reports are published regularly by the media. The proposed Argentinian team: Victor Alberto Beker - Director Ernesto Kritz – Co-Director Bibiana Palacios – Web designer María Laura Calí – Survey questionnaire designer Nestor Legnani – Liaison with the trade unions Diego Valenzuela – Liaison with the media Trade unions the institute works with/for: * Federación Argentina de Empleados de Comercio y Servicios (Commerce and Services union), Jorge A. Bence (secretary for labour affairs), 700.000 members. * Sindicato de Luz y Fuerza de Capital Federal (Electricity union), Jorge Bermudez. (secretary for labour and technical affairs), 30.000 members. In both cases there is a previous working relationship, particularly studies on the wage structure done for the first one. In the case of Sindicato Luz y Fuerza, Prof. Legnani, member of our team, is a former official of that union with good contacts with it. Other trade unions which may be interested: * Asociacion Bancaria (Banking union) * Sindicato de la Sanidad (Public Health Employees union). * Telefonicos (Telecommunications union) * Union del Personal Civil de la Nacion (Civil Servants union) Media that may be involved: The press office of the University of Belgrano has a permanent and fluent relation with the following media, which publish periodically all the information produced by our Centre. Newspapers: * La Nacion * Clarin * Cronista * Infobae * La Prensa * La U (University-addressed daily newspaper) Magazines: * Noticias * Competencia * Mercado * Fortuna TV Stations: * The University of Belgrano has its own weekly program in cable TV. News Agencies: * Nosis * DyN * Reuters The main newspapers as well as some of the magazines have their digital editions with free access for everyone. Besides that, we include in the WageIndicator project a distinguished journalist, Diego Valenzuela, which has his own portfolio of media contacts, who will reinforce the diffusion of the project activities. Labour market websites for inclusion in the Wage Indicator coalition: www.weblaboral.com, www.bumeran.com; www.computrabajo.com; www.emplear.com www.trabajando.com;www.laborum.com; www.trabajosnet.com; www.trabajos.com; www.infowork.origin.com.ar; www.universobit.com ; www.empleos.clarin.com CV’s of team members VICTOR BEKER Director of CENE (Centre for Studies on the New Economy). University of Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since 2001. Professor of Microeconomics. University of Belgrano. Since 1989. Member of the Institute of Economic Research. University of Buenos Aires. 1967-l972. Researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science Graduate School. 1970/72. Assistant Professor in Economics. University of Buenos Aires. 1969-1975 and 1985-1988. Invited Professor in Economics. University of Salamanca, Spain. 1990. Chair of the Department of Economics of the University of Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina.1991/1994. Dean of the International Office. University of Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1995/2001. Co-director of the Project on Telecommunications Economics at the University of Belgrano (with Prof. William J. Baumol and Lic. Guillermo Rozenwurcel). 1995/1998. Visiting researcher at the C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics. New York University,1999. National Director of Socio-Economic Statistics. National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC). 1984/1988. Expert in Information Systems. UNIDO. In charge of designing an information system for the industrial sector in Central America at SIECA (Central America Secretary for Economic Integration). 1989. ERNESTO KRITZ Mr. Kritz holds a Masters degree in Economics (University of Buenos Aires). He has over 30 years of experience in the field of labour economics. Throughout his international career, Mr. Kritz held technical and managerial positions at the International Labour Office and carried out a number of consultancies for several U.N. agencies, the World Bank and the InterAmerican Development Bank. He has also been a consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development and to the U.S. Department of Labor. In the private consultancy industry, Mr. Kritz has been a senior associate to ISTI, Inc. de Washington D.C. In Argentina, Mr Kritz has been Presidential Adviser on Labour Economics (supplied by the ILO), member of the Advisory Board on Poverty, principal adviser on labour economics to the Deputy Minister of Economy and Secretary of Economic Planning, and Cabinet Adviser to the Minister of Labour and Employment. At present, Mr. Kritz is partner and CEO of Sociedad de Estudios Laborales (SEL), a Buenos Aires based consultancy firm specialized in labour economics and social affairs. In addition to research and policy advisory both to the private and public sectors, SEL regularly produces primary information through household and establishment surveys. As the CEO of SEL, Mr. Kritz has developed a significant programme of activities, including the first non government series of household employment surveys in Argentina, a series of population economic and labour confidence indices, an executive’s consumer price index, a 200 leading firms monthly survey on human resources management, a monthly establishment labour survey (currently conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment), compensation and labour cost surveys, studies on human capital, etc. Since 1997, SEL has carried out over 100 household and establishment surveys. NESTOR LEGNANI Coordinator on behalf of Universidad de Belgrano. National Network of Academic Institutions Devoted to the Study of Management by Local Governments. Since 1998 Research consultant. Project on “Environmental problems and challenges in small and middle sized cities in Latin America and the Caribbean.” The case of Formosa. I.H.S (Holland)– UB for the IADB (Project ATN – NE – 6515 – R.G). Published in http://www.iadb.org/sds/ENV/publication/publication_195_2069_e.htm. 2001. Co-director of the joint research project with Dr. David Scott Palmer (Boston University) on “The process of re-democratization in Latin America: Argentina-Peru, a comparative study". 1995-1997. Senior researcher in the joint project of research with the University of Columbia – Smithsonian Institute- UNESCO: “ Assessment of the Environmental situation in the basin of the Reconquista River.” MARÍA LAURA CALÍ Graduate studies in Advanced Marketing, Levy Marketing, Bachelor in Sociology, English (intermediate level), software: Word, Excel, Power Point, SPSS (advanced level). Work Experience: SEL S.A Project’s director (1997 to the moment). Operative and commercial management for market, politics and working researches. Tasks: responsible of proposals and budgets, questionnaires and samples, field coordinator (supervision of the implementation, edition, codification and recording of the questionnaires), data process, writing and presentation of reports and development of strategic management projects. Direct treatment with clients. Mora y Araujo y Asociados, Projects analist (3/95 to 7/97). Tasks: responsible questionnaires and samples, field coordinator, supervision of the implementation, edition, codification and recording of the questionnaires, data process, writing and presentation of reports. Xerox Argentina ICSA, Special accounts analyst (10/93 to 2/95). Tasks: sale, counsel and follow up of special accounts. M.B. PALACIOS Graduate studies: E-business, MBA Course (2001), MBA in Strategic administration. Undergraduate studies: Bachelor in Computer Sciences (major in Business) – University pf Belgrano (1987-1991). Intermediate degree: Systems analyst. English. Work experience: University of Belgrano, Computer Department 1998 – to the moment, Leader of project: Internet, E-learning. Coordinator of web design work teams of the services site, institutional site and generation of new internal and external sites to the University within the framework of Computer Department projects. Responsible for implementation and contents of the platform of Virtual Education 1993–98, responsible for the internet laboratory (Room of telematics). Technical backup for infrastructure of Internet (hardware and software);CAPSA / CAPEX, 1990–92, technical backup (Management Systems). Jr. Analyst Strategic Administration (Management Administration), PC operator (Management Administration). Tools: Windows 2000 / NT / 98 / UNIX / LINUX Internet, Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator. Designs in FrontPage, DreamWeaver, Flash. Also Photoshop, CorelDraw. Internet programming languages: html, asp, java, javascript, php. Office 2000 / 97 (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, etc.), Adobe Acrobat. DIEGO VALENZUELA Universidad de Belgrano (UB), university degree in Economics. Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Master in History. Economic-political journalism on TV, on the radio and in the press. Analysis of communication, economic-political issues, History of Argentine journalism in the 19th century. 2005-2004: Radio Continental - Monday to Friday, 5 to 7 p.m. Host. Discussion and information program. 2005-2003: Radio Continental - Monday to Friday, 6 to 9 a.m. Columnist on current events, politics and economics. 2005-1998: El Economista, Weekly on economics and politics. Editor, columnist. 2005-2003: Fortuna, magazine on economics. Columnist. 2005-2004: La Nación, newspaper. Opinion column. 2002-Today:CIPPEC (Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento / Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Fairness and Growth). Member of the Board of the NGO seeking to help implement public policy. Mexico Name and address: Centro de Investigación Laboral y Asesoría Sindical A.C. Tabasco 262 Planta Baja, Colonia Roma Norte, México D.F. Código Postal 06700 Telephone: 52 07 41 47, 55 14 76 75 Fax: 52 07 41 47 Email: cilas@prodigy.net.mx Website: www.laneta.apc.org/cilas Name of bank : Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria-Bancomer (BBVA-Bancomer) IBAN: 121000358 BIC: BCMRMXMM Account number of applicant: 103755649 Organization profile: Centro de Investigación Laboral y Asesoría Sindical, A. C. (CILAS) is a non profit association, founded in 1990. In CILAS trade unionists and other labour market specialists come together (lawyers, doctors, economists, sociologists and pedagogues). Its aim is to contribute to the development and reform of labour organizations, promote the just application of labour law, to improve labour conditions and see to it that international labour standards are lived up to. CILAS presently employs 20 people. Trade unions the institute works with/for: * Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Industria Nuclear * Asociación Sindical de Pilotos Aviadores * Asociación Sindical de Sobrecargos de Aviación * Asociación de Tranviarios de México * Sindicato Independiente de Trabajadores de la Industria Automotriz Volkswagen * Sindicato Independencia * Sindicato Democrático de Trabajadores de Pesca y Acuacultura de la Sagarpa * Frente Auténtico del Trabajo * Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores del Seguro Social * Confederación de Trabajadores Democráticos * Sindicato Mexicano de Electricistas * Sindicato Independiente de Trabajadores de la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana * Consejo Nacional de los Trabajadores * Sindicato de Trabajadores Académicos de la Universidad Autónoma Chapingo * Frente Sindical Mexicano * Sindicato de Trabajadores de La Jornada * Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Impulsora de Telecomunicaciones * Sindicato de Telefonistas de la Baja California y Norte de Sonora * Sindicato Paz y Trabajo * Confederación Nacional de Trabajadores Universitarios The Mexican team: * Researchers: Luis Lozano Arredondo, David Lozano Tovar, Tania Jimena Hernández Crespo, Gerardo González Chávez. They will adapt the methodology and questionnaire to the national context and periodically report on project progress. * Journalist: Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, to promote the project in the media and to feed the website. * Webmanagement: Jorge Borrego (CILAS worker, expert in web pages design) * To adapt/design the web site to face the local needs. * Coordination: Rodolfo Pérez Ruiz (CILAS, economist) Academic research involved: Departamento de Economía, Centro de Análisis Multidisciplinario, Facultad de Economía, Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas (UNAM). National media the institute has contact with: Journals: * La Jornada (http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/10/25/index.php) * Reviews: * El Cotidiano (http://www.elcotidianoenlinea.com.mx/default.asp) * InvestigaciónEconómica (http://132.248.45.5/publicaciones/web_invesecon/index.html) * Radio Stations: * Radio Educación (http://www.radioeducacion.edu.mx/) * News Agencies: * NOTIMEX (http://www.notimex.com.mx/) Jesús Ramírez Cuevas is a journalist of La Jornada and part of the project team. CILAS has collaborated with El Cotidiano and has relationships with Radio Educación and NOTIMEX unions. Investigación Económica is a review of the Economics Faculty, where some of the researchers work. International requesting organisation The Wage Indicator Foundation Name: Wage Indicator Foundation Address: Plantage Muidergracht 4, Postal address: 1018 TV Amsterdam, The Netherlands Tel. : +31 (0)20 525 4301 Fax : + 31 20 525 4254 e-mail: Paulien@wageindicator.org contact person 1: Paulien Osse contact person 2: Kea Tijdens website: www.wageindicator.org name of bank: ABN AMRO BANK address of bank: internet-banking BIC of bank: ABNANL2A IBAN of bank: NL04ABNA0609132261 Account no.: 60 91 32 261 Cv’s of team leader and researchers Team leader Paulien Osse is since 2003 director of Wage Indicator Foundation/Stichting Loonwijzer. The Wage Indicator Foundation owns the Wage Indicator concept. The board is made up of the Dutch Confederation of Trade Unions FNV, the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies and the career website Monsterboard. In the Netherlands, the Wage Indicator Foundation manages 8 different Wage Indicator websites, each targeted at different groups in the labour force, such as men, women, young people, 40+, own account workers, etceteras. The Wage Indicator Foundation also directs the development of national Wage Indicator websites in 8 EU-member states. In her last job, as web manager of the FNV, Paulien Osse developed the concept of a Wage Indicator on the internet, combined with online research. As manager of a large website Paulien Osse gathered experience on how to create and make operational a number of websites involving a lot of different people. At that time she also set up with colleagues from global unions, ICFTU and some national unions an internet based helpdesk for trade union web workers worldwide: e-unions, now online in 6 languages. Before that Paulien Osse wrote handbooks on socio-economic issues, next to her job as editor of the FNV Magazine, a period which lasted for 10 years. She is a well known moderator and discussion leader in the Dutch socio-economic world. She teaches web management and writing for the web at specialized institutes. In Belarus over the past 4 years she has trained dozens of trade union journalists and trade unionists with journalistic ambitions. Research coordinator Kea Tijdens is research coordinator at the Amsterdam Institute of Advanced Labour Studies at the University of Amsterdam. She is professor of ‘Women and Employment’ at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her current research interests include women’s part-time work, working-time preferences, the gender pay gap, the gendered structures in organisations, the upgrading and downgrading of occupations, and occupational segregation. Her research has been presented in international conferences, as chapters in books and has appeared in several refereed journals. She has been part of the Dutch Wage Indicator project since its start in 1999. She has designed the questionnaire and has analysed the data. She is scientific project manager of the EU-funded Woliweb project to enlarge the Wage Indicator to 8 other European countries. Research coordinator multinational enterprises Rob van Tulder is full professor of International Business-Society Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam/Rotterdam School of Management. He holds a PhD degree (cum laude) in social sciences from the University of Amsterdam. Winner of the 1994 Erasm Research Award, winner of the 1998 "best teachers" award, Erasmus University Rotterdam, winner of the 1996 Gunnar Myrdal Award of the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE). Van Tulder published more than 100 scientific articles and co-authored 12 books in particular on the following topics: European Business, Multinationals, hightech industries, Corporate Social Responsibility, the global car industry, issues of standardisation, network strategies, smaller industrial countries (welfare states) and European Community/Union policies. Nominated for ‘management book of the year’ in 2003 for a book on Reputation and social corporate responsibilities. In his research the focus has in particular been on strategic bargaining relations between actors, the role of governments and of big influential actors with an international  often crosscountry and comparative  perspective. Acted as consultant for the International Metalworkers' Federation, The Danish and German Trade Unions, the European Trade Union Institute, the European Parliament, the Commission of the European Communities, UNCTAD, the OECD, The World Bank, several firms, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Dutch Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGIS). Academic Referee for various publishers and journals. Coordinator of the ERIM research project “International Business-Society Management” and the SCOPE databank project, bringing together a large number of interdisciplinary researchers of the Rotterdam School of Management. Chair of the Department of Business-Society Management. Van Tulder taught executive courses on International Strategic Management with (executive) managers and academics and has been visiting professor at several international universities. Researcher Fabienne Fortanier holds an MSc in Business Administration from the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus University. She worked at the OECD as a consultant on corporate social responsibility by developing country firms, and on the relationship between foreign direct investment and sustainable development in host economies. She acted as consultant for the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Dutch Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGIS) and worked as research associate for the SCOPE Expert centre (RSM). Presently, she coordinates projects for SCOPE aimed at updating and upgrading the databank that documents the strategies of the world’s largest corporations. Her publications focus on the interaction between multinational enterprises and host governments in developing countries, and on the impact of business-government interactions on economic growth and sustainable development. She currently works on a PhD research project at the Amsterdam graduate Business School (AgBS), Faculty of Economics and Econometrics at the University of Amsterdam, where she also teaches graduate courses on International Business and Sustainable Management. Researcher PPP’s Maarten van Klaveren is a senior researcher and consultant at STZ advies & onderzoek (Working Life Consultancy & Research) in Eindhoven, an independent research and employee consultancy bureau of which he was a co-founder in 1986. Earlier, he studied economics at the University of Amsterdam and worked 17 years as a researcher and trainer in the Dutch trade union movement. From 1976-1986 he was co-ordinator of the FNV Research Department. There, he carried out research on labour market developments, employees’ participation, and on multinationals and the ‘runaway’ trend (Philips, clothing, textiles). In STZ, his research projects focused on the social impact of major economic, technological and organisational developments, specializing in assessing the quality of work. He advised about 20 Dutch works councils in major processes of change, especially concerning the design of new factories, offices and terminals, mergers and takeovers, and the introduction of new forms of work organisation. Recent publications in English focus on labour market segmentation and gender, learning processes in trade unions, partnerships and the future of trade unions, as well as on call centre work and on telework. Appendix 3 Letters of intent Seperate pdf 8 Towards a Global wageIndicator, extension to Argentina and Mexico – November 2005 – WageIndicator Foundation