Final Statement notification UNI Global Union vs IKEA Group

The Dutch National Contact Point (NCP) published the Final Statement of the Specific Instance of UNI Global Union versus IKEA Group, on Thursday 6 July at 2 pm. The notification is regarding due diligence expectations of IKEA Group headquarters in the Netherlands concerning workers’ freedom of association at IKEA in Ireland, Portugal and the USA.

On June 12, 2019, the Initial Assessment was published. Both parties have accepted the NCP’s good offices to facilitate a dialogue. The dialogue has led to an Agreement on principles between the Parties that would be the framework for implementation in practice at the local level on 21 June 2021. The Agreement is an annex to the Final Statement. Important topics are access to the workplace for trade unions and neutrality of the company towards freedom of association of workers. In the next stage of the procedure the parties met at the local level in the USA, Ireland and Portugal.

The meetings in Portugal have led to an agreement, in the USA and Ireland no agreement was reached. In the Final Statement the NCP describes the process and makes recommendations on the issues raised.