Verdi Commerce Conference in Germany turns spotlight on social costs of discount prices

UFCW

Ver.di Commerce conference in Berlin turns spotlight on social costs of discounting:
Lidl, Wal-Mart & Co race for cheaper prices - this hits hard in the whole distribution chain

Nowhere else in the world has hard discounting been able to permeate retailing as thoroughly as in Germany. Here, the Lidl's, Aldi's and others has reached an incredible market share of forty per cent. It is not only ver.di, the country's largest trade union, who being to be worried about the broader effects that this will have all through the distribution chain.

For two days, Germany's strong discounters and their operating concepts were under scrutiny at a conference arranged by ver.di's retail sector. Discussions and presentations focused on the whole distribution chain, with a particular concern of its most vulnerable links, those who work in production facilities in developing countries. The union will now follow up, establishing a network of all those who want to contribute to trying to improve the social conditions all through the chain.

A two-day conference in Berlin, arranged by ver.di's retail sector, brought together a representative group of commerce enterprises, employers associations, consumer groups, non-governmental organisations, commerce experts, and of course trade unionists, to look at the effects of discounting. Inevitably, Wal-Mart and Lidl received particular attention, being the leading companies when it comes to hunting low prices through squeezing labour costs.

- Their operating systems hit hard on the workers who pay the price for their continuous race to cut prices, says Ulrich Dalibor, head of ver.di's retail sector. - For us it is important to see how we could range them in, otherwise they will continue to have a destructive influence on the conditions in the entire distribution chain.

Speaking at the Conference, UNI general secretary Philip J. Jennings underlined the usefulness of global agreements with multinationals in trying to ensure a socially responsible behaviour. He also referred to the important role that can be played by the European social dialogue between UNI-Europa Commerce and EuroCommerce, illustrated by the agreement on corporate social responsibility.

New Black Book on Lidl gets on the market today

Today, a new Black Book on Lidl - SchwarzBuch as a reference to company founder Dieter Schwarz - comes out on the German market. Published by ver.di and edited by Andreas Hamann, the 120 page publication contains testimonials from Lidl workers and trade unionists around Europe.

Lidl has had to adapt to trade unions, social dialogue and collective agreements in many of the European countries. In others, trade unions have not yet been able to force the company to behave, with a result that an atmosphere of fear and intimidation can freely reign. This is a particular problem in the newer markets in Central Europe, where Lidl is gaining a reputation that matches the one it has in Germany, as an eager Wal-Mart follower when it comes to denying workers their rights.

Like in Wal-Mart, UNI Commerce affiliates approach Lidl in different ways, depending on the labour relations situation in their own countries. But what unites them is the demand that the German hard discounter must start to respect the human and trade union rights of its workers in Germany, as well as in other countries where this is still a problem. This was also confirmed at the Berlin Conference, where a broad range of UNI Commerce affiliates from around the world participated in an engaged and supportive manner.