Communal landowners vs Excellon Resources

Allegations

A group of communal landowners from the Ejido “La Sierrita de Galeana” (La Sierrita) and several Canadian and Mexican civil society organisations allege that Excellon Resources has breached OECD Guidelines provisions on disclosure, human rights, employment and environment.

In 2008, La Sierrita agreed to lease a portion of their land to Excellon Resources for the development of the company’s La Platosa poly-metallic (silver, lead and zinc) mine. The complaint alleges Excellon Resources has breached the land rental contract with La Sierrita. The complainants allege that Excellon Resources failed to obtain consent before engaging in exploration activities on land outside the area designated in the contract and has also failed to take any steps to comply with its contractual obligation to build a water treatment plant, leading to reduced potable water supplies and contamination of La Sierrita.

The complainants furthermore contend that the company sought to stop workers from joining a local affiliate of the mining union, thereby violating the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining of workers at the La Platosa mine. The complaint accuses Excellon Resources of engaging in worker intimidation and actively supporting a “rogue” union to strategically undermine the unionization efforts of the SNTMMSSRM. The complainants contend the company has aggressively misled investors about the local labour dispute as well.

Relevant OECD Guidelines

• Chapter III
• Chapter III Paragraph 1
• Chapter III Paragraph 2 g
• Chapter IV
• Chapter IV Paragraph 1
• Chapter IV Paragraph 2
• Chapter IV Paragraph 6
• Chapter V
• Chapter V Paragraph 1 a
• Chapter V Paragraph 1 b
• Chapter V Paragraph 2 b
• Chapter V Paragraph 4 b
• Chapter V Paragraph 8
• Chapter VI
• Chapter VI Paragraph 2 a
• Chapter VI Paragraph 2 b
• Chapter VI Paragraph 5

Outcome

The complaint was filed simultaneously at the Mexican and Canadian NCPs. In November 2012, the Mexican NCP rejected the case. The NCP found that the issues raised in the complaint were material but not substantiated. The NCP also cited Excellons unwillingness to participate in any possible NCP-facilitated mediation as a reason for rejecting the case.

The complainants are concerned about the flawed procedures followed by the NCP, including the unreasonably high threshold for accepting a case and the failure to take into account international laws and standards for employment and labour issues. The complainants feel that the NCP exhibited a clear bias toward the company and are concerned by the lack of cooperation with the Canadian NCP, which appears not to have been involved at all.

In 2011, prior to the filing of the specific instance, the Canadian Office of the Extractive Sector CSR Counsellor received a complaint on the same issue and concluded that the request should directly proceed to structured dialogue. However, Excellon withdrew from this process before dialogue could begin. The complainants presentthese varying conclusionsas evidence that the Mexican NCP has unduly rejected the case, particularly as the Canadian official’s detailed investigation included a field visit to the mine site and the surrounding community.

More details

Documents

• letter

  9 January 2013

  TUAC (Trade Union Advisory Committee) publishes concerns about the procedures followed by the Mexican NCP.

  Project for Economic, Social and Cultur
• reject

  28 November 2012

  The Mexican NCP rejects the case.

  NCP Mexico
• file

  28 May 2012

  Communal landowners file complaint at Canadian and Mexican NCP

  Project for Economic, Social and Cultur