Initiative

Company agreement for the promotion of “Positive Actions” project in favour of equality at work

Summary of the initiative

Saint -Gobain is a multinational company founded in France in 1665. Today it is the world leader in building systems for housing, it produces and distributes materials for modern construction and supports energy efficiency. It is present in 64 countries with approximately 190,000 employees. In Italy, Saint-Gobain has existed since 1889 to date; there are 24 companies belonging to the Saint Gobain Group in Italy with 3680 employees, including 576 women.

A collective agreement (CA) was concluded in November 2011 for the promotion of “Positive Actions” project in favour of gender equality at work, by the Italian Department of Saint-Gobain and the following trade unions: FEMCA CISL, FILCTEM CGIL and UIL UILCEM.

The project “Positive Actions” was undertaken to overcome the disparities at entry and during the careers of women and has been initiated in the two most important group companies in Italy: Saint-Gobain Glass Italia (364 employees, including 85 women, no woman in the Steering Committee composed of seven members) and Saint-Gobain PPC Italia (749 employees, including 141 women, three women in the Executive Committee that consists of 23 members).  The project is entirely financed by the company.

The agreement between the parties will promote the presence of women in leadership and management, through the establishment of specific training paths for 30 high potential women in terms of future professional development. An innovative element of the target group is that female employees are not only female managers in usually ‘feminine departments (such as admin, communication, legal affairs or HR), but also female mid-level employees in technical and operational departments where women usually lag behind.

The project, which has a duration of 24 months, aims to reduce the disparities that still exist in women’s working lives through targeted training, facilitation of access to employment and career progression with the help of a guide and internal support. In addition, this project aims to promote reconciliation between work and requirements of personal and family life, for example through the provision of childcare facilitation in Milan. Every 6 months an assessment of the activities undertaken is made by the signatories of the agreement.

The agreement defined by the National Union of Glass and Saint-Gobain is a pilot project that will eventually be applied to all Group companies in Italy.