Read the final statement issued by the Luxembourg NCP- 10 November 2020: English.
On 14 September 2017, three unions, IndustriALL Global Union, Sitraternium and United Steelworkers submitted a specific instance to the NCP of Luxembourg alleging that Ternium International Guatemala SA, a company manufacturing of steel products established in Guatemala and headquartered in Luxembourg, had not observed the Human Rights (Chapter IV) and Employment and industrial relations (Chapter V) provisions of the OECD Guidelines. More specifically, the submitters claimed that the company had breached fundamental rights of workers and that it was unwilling to engage with the local union after their request.
Upon request from Ternium SA and with the agreement of the submitters, the Luxembourg NCP suspended the handling of the case prior to initial assessment while parties negotiated an agreement outside of the NCP process. This allowed to keep open the possibility for the NCP to examine the case in the event the negotiation failed, and provided an incentive to reach agreement.
On 20 October 2020, the Luxembourg NCP was informed that a collective bargaining agreement had been concluded between the local union Sitraternium and the representatives of the local enterprise. The agreement has further received approval from the Guatemalan authorities.
On 10 November 2020, the Luxembourg NCP closed the case and expressed satisfaction in the outcome agreement.