UAW and IndustriALL File OECD Complaint Against Mercedes-Benz, Demand Respect for Workers’ Rights Worldwide

STUTTGART, Germany — On August 27, The United Auto Workers (UAW) and IndustriALL filed a complaint under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises with the German National Contact Point (NCP), calling on the German government to facilitate dialogue between Mercedes-Benz Group and the unions over the company’s treatment of workers in the United States.

The complaint asks the German NCP to help establish a structured dialogue to ensure that Mercedes-Benz’s own Principles of Social Responsibility and Human Rights and internationally recognized labor standards are respected by the company across its global operations, including in the United States.

The filing comes after attempts by the unions to engage Mercedes-Benz directly over workers’ rights have been rebuffed. With the company and its lawyers continuing to dispute whether its global principles apply to its Alabama workforce, the unions say the OECD process represents an opportunity to move beyond litigation and toward meaningful social dialogue.

UAW and IndustriALL allege Mercedes-Benz has failed to live up to its social commitments. The complaint asks the German government to facilitate a direct and structured dialogue between Mercedes-Benz, the UAW and IndustriALL. The unions say the company’s approach has created an unacceptable divide between the labor standards Mercedes-Benz promotes globally and the treatment of workers in the United States.

Among the issues raised in the OECD complaint are:

• Rejecting the application of its own labor principles in Alabama. Mercedes-Benz’s lawyers have argued in U.S. labor proceedings that the company’s Principles of Social Responsibility and Human Rights do not apply to its Alabama workforce.
• Undermining workers’ freedom of association. The unions allege that Mercedes-Benz has failed to respect the internationally recognized right of workers to organize and bargain collectively at its Alabama operations.
• Spending more than $600,000 on union-avoidance consultants and lawyers. The UAW says Mercedes-Benz devoted substantial resources to opposing workers’ organizing efforts in Alabama—money the unions argue could instead have been invested in workers, operations and the company’s long-term competitiveness.
• Failing to engage in meaningful dialogue with global unions. The unions say they have repeatedly sought constructive engagement with Mercedes-Benz but have been unable to establish a meaningful process for resolving disputes over workers’ rights.
• Creating a two-tier approach to labor rights. The UAW and IndustriALL argue that Mercedes-Benz cannot credibly promote international labor standards and social responsibility while maintaining that those principles do not apply to workers in one of its major U.S. operations.

Less than two months after its executive leadership explicitly stated to its shareholders that all Mercedes employees, including those at subsidiaries, are covered by the Principles, the company’s counsel rejected that position during the ongoing election hearing before the NLRB. Lawyers for Mercedes argued that, “This [the Principles] is not the National Labor Relations Act. This is not an MBUSI policy. It's not a handbook here in the State of Alabama. It's a document between something in Germany and some group of unions in Germany, and we are wasting our time with this.”

The UAW and IndustriALL argue that the company’s global strategy is creating instability for workers across borders while undermining the principles of social partnership that have historically helped make Germany’s industrial economy successful.

The labor groups say this approach also creates unnecessary risks for investors. A multinational company that applies different standards depending on where workers are located exposes itself to recurring litigation, labor disputes, reputational damage and instability across its operations and supply chain.

“Workers at Mercedes plants in the U.S. should not have to navigate a maze of legal proceedings, consultants, and corporate structures simply to join a union and have a voice,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “We’ve tried over and over to sit down with Mercedes-Benz and work this out directly. They’ve chosen lawyers and litigation instead. That’s why we’re taking this to the OECD—to finally get the company to the table and have a real conversation about workers’ rights.”

The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises establish government-backed expectations for multinational companies concerning human rights, employment and industrial relations, working conditions and social dialogue. The Guidelines incorporate fundamental principles of the International Labour Organization and call on multinational enterprises to respect internationally recognized labor rights.

The OECD process has produced successful examples of long-term dialogue between multinational companies and global unions. In the DHL case, the German NCP facilitated a process that resulted in an agreement between DHL and global union federations UNI Global Union and the International Transport Workers’ Federation. The parties established a protocol committing them to ongoing regional dialogue concerning working conditions and supply-chain issues, with the agreement subsequently renewed.

The UAW and IndustriALL argue that the DHL experience demonstrates the potential for an OECD-facilitated process to move beyond individual disputes and reach an agreement.

“Mercedes-Benz has an opportunity to choose a different path,” said IndustriALL General Secretary Atle Høie. “Instead of fighting workers who seek a voice on the job, Mercedes-Benz can invest in its workforce, maintain high standards and embrace genuine social partnership.”

The unions are calling on Mercedes-Benz to participate in good faith in the OECD process and to agree to NCP-facilitated dialogue. The goal, they say, is straightforward: Mercedes-Benz should respect the same fundamental principles for workers in the United States that it expects and promotes throughout its global operations.

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