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For the second time already, the leading German retailer Metro has betrayed both its German and its international social partners. Only two weeks after concluding an agreement with UNI Commerce and German affiliate ver.di, which was to restore the normal trade union rights of Turkey's commerce trade union Tez-Koop-Is, management had misused another union and was forcing workers to join it, under threat of dismissal.

In what must be a world record in rapid organising, Metro succeeded in signing more than 1,000 workers into 'their' union within a period of just 2 days. This gave the union exclusive representation rights in the cash & carries and closed out the genuine workers trade union Tez-Koop-Is, which had both a solid majority and a good collective agreement in place when a union busting campaign got on its way about four years ago.

This newest betrayal by the commerce multinational comes two years after Metro concluded a similar agreement, but still went on with their union busting campaign, approved at board level in Germany. Ver.di has been able to retrieve an internal company document, which shows that the very top management of Metro were not only aware of the anti-union campaign in Turkey, but actually supported it.

Workers taken by bus to change unions

The newest phase of this unbelievable behaviour of Europe's number two trader started unfolding earlier this week, when workers at its Turkish cash & carry hypermarkets were being bussed in groups to notary offices, to leave Tez-Koop-Is and to join a 'union' misused by the company. The operation was prepared the week before, when identity cards were collected and photocopied, to prepare the notary documents. 

Those who wanted to remain in Tez-Koop-Is or who refused to join the new 'union' Sosyal-Is were threatened with dismissal on Friday. Incidentally, a new labour legislation with better protection against dismissals came into force in Turkey on Saturday, the day after the management deadline. UNI has asked the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions to advise the confederation of Sosyal-Is to denounce the action and to refuse to accept these 'members' forced by their employer to join.

We have heard that the whole operation was apparently planned and executed jointly between German and Turkish management, when the agreement with UNI Commerce and ver.di had already been made. At the same time, the top management in Germany pretended that they were cooperating to restore the trade union rights that had been denied the workers through the 'Delta Plan'. On Monday 17 March, management was due to meet with UNI Commerce and Tez-Koop-Is to agree on how the agreement was to be put into effect. On Thursday, Metro already refused to meet with Tez-Koop-Is, nor was the company willing to hear its workers tell about the bussing operation.

'Metrogate' was orchestrated by top managers in Germany

It is apparent that the whole operation was orchestrated by top management, including Mr Zygmunt Mierdorf, Metro board member, who only a few weeks ago gave his personal guarantees and those of Metro CEO Hans-Joachim Körber: this time, the agreement would hold, he told UNI and ver.di. As one now looks at this second gross betrayal, it becomes apparent that the objective of this 'guarantee' was rather to buy time to consolidate the results of the union busting. The 'field commander' in this operation was Mr Hakan Ergin, the Turkish country manager who has become infamous for his repression of the unionised cash & carry workers.

UNI, ver.di and Tez-Koop-Is will launch a major solidarity campaign next week. Meetings to prepare this will be held on Monday in Berlin and on Tuesday in Munich, with a major press conference to launch the action scheduled for Wednesday. UNI Commerce will ask its affiliates world-wide to participate actively in the campaign.

Both UNI and the national unions take the Metro affair very seriously, as it is rare that a major multinational is being caught red-handed for gross violations of workers' rights, like these.