"It is your turn Olymp! Former Olymp workers submit a complaint at the German OECD national contact point", 25 Oct 2023

Over two years since the announcement that Croatian garment factory Orljava was closing down, the Croatian trade union Novi Sindikat and partner organisation Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) Germany are filing a complaint against the factory's only foreign buyer, OLYMP, to the German National Contact Point for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

With the complaint, Novi Sindikat and CCC Germany are demanding on behalf of Orljava’s former workers that OLYMP: 1) ensures indemnification to the 172 workers that lost their jobs at the time of Orljava’s closure for damage caused by delayed payment and high inflation and 2) mitigates the harm caused to workers. The latter could include supporting them in finding alternative employment and/or consulting with them about resuming production for the brand in Požega, where the Orljava factory was based.

Former Orljava workers and organisations supporting them are filing their complaint in person to the German NCP in Berlin on Wednesday 25 October. The complainants argue that OLYMP failed to act in accordance with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in two aspects. First, OLYMP has failed to conduct appropriate risk-based due diligence, since it did not take action in preventing or mitigating the adverse impacts that their decision to end the business relationship with Orljava had on the workers. The 172 women that  stitched OLYMP’s dress shirts for decades were left jobless after OLYMP exited the factory, causing its bankruptcy. Second, OLYMP has failed to meaningfully engage with relevant stakeholders in relation to its decision to stop working with Orljava. The women workers were kept in the dark about this decision for many months before the factory finally had to close.

The workers turn to the OECD National Contact Point, which can provide mediation and conciliation around non-observance of its guidelines. Germany already has a human rights due diligence law in place, but this case is a painful reminder of the limits of this law which exempts companies with fewer than 3000 staff in Germany. The case of OLYMP, with only about 500 staff in Germany, shows that also smaller companies have considerable influence on the harm done and access to remedy for workers in its supply chain. However, all multinational enterprises, regardless of size, are expected to act in accordance with the OECD Guidelines, to which the German government also adheres.

Olymp told German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau that as a member of Fair Wear Foundation, Olymp was guided by its "Reponsible Exit Strategy" on the fair dissolution of business relationships. Further information is available here.