Spain announces the creation of a focal point on the ILO MNE Declaration
First Tripartite Meeting Held on the ILO MNE Declaration: “Advancing Social Dialogue, Multinational Enterprises, and Labor Rights.”
30 October 2024
MADRID (ILO News) – The International Labour Organization (ILO) Office for Spain organized a tripartite meeting on October 22, 2024, at the headquarters of the Economic and Social Council of Spain (CES). The event aimed to address the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy under the theme, “Advancing Social Dialogue, Multinational Enterprises, and Labor Rights.”
The central focus of the meeting was to present some of the experiences of Spanish companies and unions in applying the principles of the ILO MNE Declaration, alongside insights from the Spanish employers’ organizations, CEOE and CEPYME, and confederal representatives of the UGT and CCOO trade unions.
At the tripartite meeting attended by the Secretary of State for Employment, Joaquín Pérez Rey, some of the main Spanish multinational companies that apply the principles and guidelines of the ILO MNE Declaration when defining their supply chain strategies and actions, along with representatives of the Spanish ILO constituents (government, business, and union organizations) shared their perspectives. Githa Roelans, Head of the Multinational Enterprises and Responsible Business Conduct Unit of the ILO, as well as the ILO Office for Spain and other academic experts in the field, also participated in the event.
The Director of the ILO Office for Spain, Félix Peinado, opened the event together with the Secretary of State for Employment, highlighting the ILO MNE Declaration as a valuable guidance tool, the importance of promoting fair working conditions within the framework of Responsible Business Conduct, and the need to deepen social dialogue across entire value chains, “which is the purpose of this tripartite meeting.” For his part, the Secretary of State announced the government’s interest in establishing a national focal point in Spain to promote the application of the ILO MNE Declaration and emphasized that “decent work is already a key point of consensus and must underpin labor relations regardless of where it is carried out.”
The event also included the participation of Githa Roelans, Head of the ILO Multinational Enterprises and Responsible Business Conduct Unit, who outlined the scope and principles of the MNE Declaration and highlighted the tools developed by the ILO to support companies, such as the self-assessment tool created in collaboration with the IOE or the Helpdesk service.
The first roundtable featured some of the country’s leading companies, including INDITEX, El Corte Inglés, and Telefónica, which shared practical experiences in applying the Declaration alongside representatives from Spanish employers' organizations, CEOE and CEPYME. The discussion highlighted the ILO's role as a facilitator and support through existing assistance mechanisms for companies in various countries and how the ILO Declaration has served as a reference for companies in their actions throughout their value chains.
At the second roundtable, union representatives with experience in signing International Framework Agreements and from sectors where the Declaration is being applied, together with confederal representatives from UGT and CCOO, emphasized that many of these framework agreements are supported by the ILO, fostering a climate of trust and joint work with companies and preventing unilateral decision-making. They also called for a legally binding regulation on the matter and advocated for the establishment of a national focal point to promote the ILO MNE Declaration in Spain.
