Campaign organisations demand: NOKIA to lead the way in ethical consumer electronics

Nokia is encouraged to lead the way in improving the conditions in its supply chain in a new campaign launched today by three Finnish organisations. Join and sign the petition!

Nokia is encouraged to lead the way in improving the conditions in its supply chain in a new campaign launched today by Changemaker, Pro Fair Trade Finland and the Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland SASK. In a campaign that will continue until autumn, Nokia is asked for example to provide full public disclosure in relation to their supply chain and location of factories and to trace the minerals it uses to individual mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo in cooperation with other manufacturers.

The campaign by the Finnish NGOs is part of EU-funded makeITfair-project(opens in new window) . All the big brand names in consumer electronics are targets of the campaign, because the problems are shared across the industry. As the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world Nokia should also become the leader in solving the problems, the Finnish NGOs say.

Nokia is asked to trace the minerals it uses to individual mines in cooperation with other manufacturers, as for example trading with certain minerals contributes to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nokia should also use its influence to act towards bringing about peace in the country.

The campaigning organisations are not satisfied with Nokia’s current way of ensuring ethical principles in its supply chain. Nokia should provide full public disclosure in relation to their supply chain and location of factories, and adopt multi-party auditing throughout its supply chain. In addition to this, Nokia should cooperate with international free trade union movement and begin negotiations for an international framework agreement, an option the Finnish trade unions have offered Nokia for years.

The organizations will approach Nokia with an online petition(opens in new window) and a campaign to collect signatures. People can download a mobile phone wallpaper that tells them their phone is ”ethically out of order”. The campaign will use makeITfair reports(opens in new window) as its background material, of which FinnWatch (opens in new window) has produced two.

The online petition will be opened for signatures today. Changemakers will do their first campaign event in Helsinki this weekend and will continue campaigning all through Finland. Pro Fair Trade Finland will campaign though its local groups already operating in more than ten towns. SASK takes part in the communication through its communications network, which include two national trade union centers and three largest trade union federations in bargaining terms with Nokia.

More information:
Changemaker (opens in new window) – Tiina Keinänen, phone: #358.40 742 1051, email: tiina.j.keinanen@helsinki.fi
Pro Fair Trade Finland / Repu(opens in new window) – Säde Hormio, phone #358.44 595 0094, email: sade@repu.fi
Trade Union Solidarity Centre Finland / SASK(opens in new window) – Jukka Pääkkönen, phone: #358.20 76998 28, email: jukka@sask.fi