This Users’ Guide is intended to help trade unions worldwide in using the newly revised OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in order to secure and protect workers’ rights.

The text of the Guidelines was agreed by all parties involved - governments, trade unions, business and some NGOs - after long and sometimes difficult discussions within the context of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

An optimum outcome for trade union aspirations has not occurred on all issues. But The Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) believes that much progress has been achieved, especially when the new Guidelines are viewed in the light of earlier phases in this debate. Trade unions are therefore urged to make maximum use of this new instrument, in order to show governments and business that the labour movement means business in securing further respect for workers’ rights.

The Guidelines can also be used in trade union campaigns involving key global corporations on issues such as human rights, the supply chain, the environment, information disclosure, and combating bribery.

They can be useful in efforts to solve specific problems and to create a favourable environment for social dialogue and agreement with corporations.