1601, ave De Lorimier, Montréal (Québec) H2K 4M5, téléphone : (514) 598-2253, télécopieur : (514) 598-2052, courriel :claudette.carbonneau@csn.qc.ca

Montreal, November 3, 2010

U.S. OECD National Contact Point Review

U.S. Department of State

E-mail: input@state.gov

Re: Review of the U.S. National Contact Point

Dear U.S. National Contact Point Review Staff:

The Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), Canada’s second largest trade 

union confederation, welcomes your initiative to review the National Contact Point 

(NCP) of United States. 

We believe that this revision can contribute to the objective of achieving functional 

equivalence between the NCPs around the world. It is important that OECD countries 

be equally committed to promote the guidelines and to carry on the specific instance 

procedure which they agreed to put in place. This is one of the most important issues 

that is being discussed in the current process of revision of the guidelines. 

The improvements suggested by our colleagues of the American Federation of Labor 

and Congress of Industrial Organizations and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to 

the OECD, in a letter they sent you on October 27, should be implemented by all 

NCP’s. Therefore we support their following recommendations:

Resources: assign adequate resources to ensure that the NCP has sufficient levels of 

trained staff to support mediation and fact-finding;

Performance criteria: develop NCP structures and operating procedures in line with 

the existing core criteria of visibility, accessibility, transparency and accountability. 

As regards the specific instance procedure, ensure compliance with the additional 

criteria proposed by Professor Ruggie, UN Special Rapporteur on Business and 

Human Rights, of legitimacy, predictability, rights-compatibility and equitability;

Structure: involve relevant U.S. government agencies, including the Department of 

Labor, establish an oversight body involving the social partners and other external 

stakeholders, and provide for a right of appeal;

Consultations: hold regular consultations, at least once a year, with social partners 

and other external stakeholders;
1601, ave De Lorimier, Montréal (Québec) H2K 4M5, téléphone : (514) 598-2253, télécopieur : (514) 598-2052, courriel :claudette.carbonneau@csn.qc.ca

2.

Parallel proceedings: develop guidance that requires parties to show that there 

would be prejudice to the parallel proceedings in order for a case to be rejected or 

suspended and require any such rejection or suspension to be subject to external 

oversight;

Mediation: offer the good offices of the NCP for mediation for the purposes of trying 

to resolve issues arising under the Guidelines;

Determination: where a party refuses mediation or mediation fails, carry out an 

assessment of the issues raised and, where appropriate, make recommendations on 

the implementation of the Guidelines;

Final statement: in all cases accepted for review publish a final statement, including, 

where appropriate, recommendations on implementing the Guidelines;

Monitoring and follow-up: develop follow-up procedures, including reporting by all 

parties on progress made in implementing recommendations and the publication of a 

follow-up statement by the U.S. NCP describing the progress made;

Consequences: develop measures, together with procedures for using such 

measures, to preserve the integrity and the credibility of the Guidelines in cases 

where companies flout the Guidelines process or are involved in egregious violations;

Timescales: incorporate indicative timescales into the Procedural Guidance, while 

allowing for the extension of these timescales if all parties agree that it is in the 

interests of the case to do so:

Initial assessment: within 3 months of submission;

Mediation: within 6 months of offering its good offices;

Completion: within 12 months of receiving a case.

Finally, within the wider context of the Update of the OECD MNE Guidelines, we urge 

the U.S. Government to support mandatory peer review, in line with OECD best 

practice, in order to help ensure that all NCPs operate to an acceptable level of 

performance.

Sincerely,

Claudette Carbonneau

President 

CSN