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22 Jun 2016

Complaints over labour rights against Starwood, PepsiCo before US National Contact Point for OECD Guidelines - report on outcomes

In 2016, the US Government National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises concluded two cases in which complaints were brought by the International Union of Food, Agriculture, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco & Allied Workers' Associations (IUF), one against PepsiCo regarding actions by a contractor in India, and one against Starwood Hotels & Resorts regarding Sheraton hotels in Ethiopia and Maldives.  These were two of the first cases before the US National Contact Point to go to mediation.

In the Starwood case, the parties reached an written agreement on resolving labour issues in both countries. 

In the PepsiCo case, the US National Contact Point stated, "While the parties weren’t able to come to a written agreement the Specific Instance did result in significant action by PepsiCo.  The company led an investigation into the allegations, reformed its supplier code of conduct, and is in the process of crafting a human rights policy in line with the OECD Guidelines."  IUF states, "Direct discussions between the IUF and PepsiCo, including mediation under the auspices of the [US NCP] for the OECD Guidelines..., have failed to remedy the abuses."