Read the final statement (in Spanish) issued by the NCP of Spain – 31 July 2017
The trade union submitted a specific instance to the Spanish NCP by a letter signed 26 November 2013 and received in December. It referred to alleged events in Latin American branches of a Spanish company, which in their opinion violated the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The specific instance was accepted for further examination on 3 March 2014.
Bilateral engagement between the parties took place from the acceptance of the specific instance until the publication of the final statement with the purpose of fostering dialogue between the company and the trade union.
Despite the constructive approach displayed by both parties, the Spanish company rejected mediation because the trade union did not agree to suspend a campaign against it for a six month period. However, during this time both parties retained contact and the work climate improved in Colombia and Chile.
The Spanish company requested the closure of the case on 7 December 2015, despite disagreement by the trade union. The NCP agreed to close the case with agreement of the Advisory Committee.
A final statement was developed by the Spanish NCP in July 2017 which recommends that the Spanish company carry out due diligence in addition to the measures already taken over the past couple of years. For example through, investigating the facts presented by the trade union and implementing the company’s responsible business conduct policy.
On 31 July 2018, the company submitted a report to explain what measures they had implemented since the final statement was issued. The Spanish NCP secretariat is currently reviewing it and will update the final statement in the following weeks in order to reflect whether the company has followed the due diligence recommendations.