Chemie Dialog

Since 2007,  the Wittenberg Center has been coordinating the "Wittenberg Process of the Social Partners in the Chemical Industry". The German Federation of Chemical Employer's Associations (BAVC) and the German Trade Union for Mining, Chemical and Energy Industries (IG BCE) initiated this dialogue in order to strenghten the base of their cooperation and trust in a setting remote from the day-to-day operational business. They elaborated on issues such as: What are the challenges of the German social market economy in global competition; how can responsibility in business be implemented by help of common rules and ethical principles.

As a first step the social partners identified common positions through five workshops tackling topics such as "Social Market Economy", "Responsible Care", "Good Work", "Global Fair" and "Human Capital". The common positions became a base for a binding ethical Code of Conduct. It was signed by the Presidents of both organizations, Hubertus Schmoldt (IG BCE) and Eggert Voscherau (BAVC) in presence of the German Federal President Horst Köhler. The head of state confirmed the Wittenberg processe's best practice character and appealed to other industries to follow suit. He commented: "I am very happy about the fact that it was the Wittenberg Center for Global Ethics that helped this dialogue along with words and deeds because I feel very much connected to the objective of the Center."

Since then, an annual workshop has been taking place in Wittenberg to deal with current issues of responsible action in the chemical industry. Furthermore,  the employer's association and the trade union created the cooperative training institution "Foundation Social Partners Academy" ("Chemie-Stiftung Sozialpartner-Akademie"/CSSA) which tackles issues such as business ethics and their implementation.

The Wittenberg process is a real-world example illustrating the Wittenberg Center's approach: The process highlights the fact that a  frequently suggested debate about values and ethics can take on a tangible and substantial shape in the business world. In the face of mistrust towards globalization and competition, this type of commitment to cooperation to mutual advantage is of especially high value.

Chemie-Sozialpartner diskutieren in Wittenberg

Chemie-Sozialpartner investieren in den Faktor Vertrauen