|
Growing membership
in leading multinationals:
Uni Commerce and Poland's Solidarnosc work together on trade union organising The joint UNI Commerce - Solidarnosc organising project in multinationals is bearing fruit. In two years, the Polish trade union movement has established a solid foothold in the large and growing hypermarket industry. This is controlled by foreign retail giants, such as Tesco, Real, Casino, Carrefour and Ahold. 2000 members in Real Metro's hypermarket chain Real was the first target of the UNI Commerce and Solidarnosc organising campaign. Supported by German affiliate Ver.di, the project has already helped Solidarnosc to unionise over 2,000 hypermarket workers. Collective bargaining and other negotiations have helped the partners to solve a multitude of issues without having to resort to open conflict.
In December last year, the first Solidarnosc local was established in a Metro/Makro Cash & Carry market. A more comprehensive organising campaign will be launched this year, in cooperation with UNI Commerce and Ver.di. Social partnership agreement with Tesco With Tesco, the leading British retailer, Solidarnosc has concluded a social partnership agreement. UNI Commerce participated actively in launching the negotiations for this agreement, which set the ground rules for social dialogue and organising in the company. Problems are now being solved in negotiations between the social partners, and a Solidarnosc enterprise structure has been established. British affiliate USDAW is now supporting a joint UNI Commerce and Solidarnosc project to unionise the workers of Tesco Polska.
Also with Casino/Geant, Solidarnosc has reached an agreement about the ground rules for organising and social dialogue. This put an end to serious labour relations problems, which UNI Commerce and its French affiliates had raised in interventions with management. Now, the situation in normal and the Solidarnosc enterprise structure is able to do its job under proper conditions. Carrefour respects trade union rights Carrefour, the world's second largest retailer, has signed a letter of intent with Solidarnosc, where it recognises the right of its workers to join the trade union. This reflects the global agreement between UNI Commerce and Carrefour, where the company declares its respect for workers' rights. Negotiations about a partnership agreement are on their way, with the objective of setting up the rules for social dialogue in the company. Solidarnosc has initiated discussions also with other leading retailers, with a view of organising and securing collective agreement recognition. These include Auchan and Rewe/Billa, two companies which on the European level have proved to be less open than many others for a normal and constructive relationship with trade unions.
Training and trade union development Organising is not only recruiting members to a trade union. Also training activities and other trade union development measures play an important role. Solidarnosc has invested much effort in this work, which has been carried out in cooperation with UNI Commerce and many of its affiliates. The UNI Commerce - Solidarnosc organising project in multinationals will continue to play an important role for securing a solid trade union presence in European retail and wholesale trade. It is part of a larger cooperation programme, which incorporates also the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia. Also in these countries, much progress has been made. The newest project partner is the Russian commercial workers' trade union. A project to organise Metro Cash & Carry workers in Moscow is being prepared between UNI Commerce and the union.
|
