Best practice guide on whistleblowing for trade unions

The toolkit is an outcome of a project carried out by Eurocadres in cooperation with Protect, the UK’s whistleblowing charity with over 25 years’ experience advising workers on whistleblowing rights and promoting best practice amongst employers. Protect is also part of WhistleblowerProtection.EU, the whistleblowing directive campaign and advocacy platform created by Eurocadres. The project including the development of the toolkit is financed by the European Commission,

–We are immensely proud to today present the fruits of our project cooperation with Protect. It has been an absolute joy to cooperate with and learn from Protect and their over 25 years of experience of promoting whistleblowers rights. We are convinced that this toolkit can be a strong support to trade unions in engaging more actively in the whistleblowing process, says Martin Jefflén, Eurocadres President.

We are convinced that this toolkit can be a strong support to trade unions in engaging more actively in the whistleblowing process,

In a foreword to the publication Martin Jefflén, Eurocadres President writes: After several years of hard work there is now an EU Directive in place to protect whistleblowers. The Whistleblowing Directive offers both an opportunity and a responsibility for trade unions, and not only for trade unions representing professionals and managers.

Complex role of trade unions

The toolkit contains a model policy and discusses the sometimes complex role of trade unions, sometimes representing both the whistleblower and the person accused of wrongdoing. In a number of case studies the reader is invited to reflect on practical situations, which lessons can be learned from these situations, and what trade unions can do to help in these cases.

With the Whistleblowing Directive under transposition all trade unions with more than 50 employees will eventually be obliged to put in place an internal reporting channel. The toolkit is to assist trade unions in the work to engage with employers in the setup of internal reporting channels.

Webinar launch

During the Eurocadres webinar Workers with whistles on 3 December, Elizabeth Gardiner, Chief Executive of Protect introduced the toolkit underlining this aspect:

I hope that this toolkit will help trade unions take up those opportunities in developing effective channels with their employers and fulfill their responsibilities of better supporting those who are trying to speak up to stop harm.

–I hope that this toolkit will help trade unions take up those opportunities in developing effective channels with their employers and fulfill their responsibilities of better supporting those who are trying to speak up to stop harm.