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UNI Commerce meets
with Tez-Koop-IS: Metro Cash & Carry workers in Turkey have started to return to their trade union, Tez-Koop-IS. This follows a management-lead operation, where workers were forced to leave the unions and join another one. Now, workers are defying bosses' threats of sanctions and dismissals, giving Tez-Koop-IS their support and confidence. During a recent visit to Istanbul, Jan Furstenborg of UNI Commerce met with union members at a Metro Cash & Carry hypermarket. Together with Tez-Koop-IS president Sadik Özben, he heard them tell stories about pressure and intimidation by managers, who want to bust the union to be able to pay less for harder work. Metro security chief spied on discussions The meeting in the hypermarket cafeteria was closely surveyed by Metro security guards and workers who had dared to discuss with the union representatives were immediately put under pressure by their managers. When the discussions finally had to be moved to a downtown cafe, the union representatives were followed there by the hypermarket's security chief, eager to see who dared to talk with the union representatives. Most of the Metro workers told how they had been forced by managers to leave Tez-Koop-IS and join another union, which had no previous presence in Metro and whose total membership in commerce was almost non-existent. They were taken in groups to public notaries, where they signed out from Tez-Koop-IS and in to the new union, all fees paid. The operation was well prepared as management had collected all identity cards in advance, to fill in the notary forms. The aim of the Metro management, supported by their bosses at headquarters in Germany, had been to bring in a majority of all workers to the new union, which they could dominate. This would have closed out the workers genuine trade union Tez-Koop-IS from recognition, social dialogue and collective bargaining. Thus the objectives of the infamous Delta Plan, unveiled by German UNI Commerce affiliate ver.di earlier this year, would have been cemented. The Düsseldorf-approved secret plan sought to get rid of the collective agreement with Tez-Koop-IS, to allow management to pay lower wages and to deny workers other benefits. The Delta-plan backfired The discussions with Tez-Koop-IS and Metro workers in Istanbul showed that the plan had backfired. The new 'union' is shrinking steadily as workers return to their true organisation and is now well under the fifty per cent limit. It is obvious that with the present trend, Tez-Koop-IS will represent a majority of all organised workers within a short period of time. It is indeed interesting to note that the management operation has apparently lead to Metro Cash & Carry being Turkey's best organised commerce enterprise. What was intended to be a union busting drive has turned into an encouragement for workers to join Tez-Koop-IS, as management is forced to defend its action by ensuring that it respects the right for workers to join whatever union they want. Earlier, with only Tez-Koop-IS present, the Metro Cash & Carry management was infamous also in a Turkish concept for their heavy-handed treatment of unionised workers and union sympathisers. Management should now return to the agreement Only two months ago, the Metro Group, Metro Cash & Carry, UNI Commerce and ver.di's commerce sector agreed on full trade union rights to be restored in the Turkish cash and carry markets. This agreement was openly violated by management only days after it was signed. Apparently, the aim was to buy time for the union busting operation with its bus transfers to notary offices. As this did not work out in a way which management thought it would, time has come for the company to accept that they need to apply what was agreed, and to return to normal labour relations. The lack of serious intentions by Metro is also apparent from their failure to review the numerous cases where union members had been dismissed or otherwise victimised by management. Also this was agreed between the company and UNI Commerce. The German cash and carry management was to undertake the review and to discuss the results with UNI Commerce. Until today, nothing has been done by Düsseldorf although UNI Commerce and ver.di have repeatedly reminded management about the agreement. At the forthcoming UNI-Europa Commerce Conference in Stockholm, Sweden, Tez-Koop-IS president Sadik Özben and ver.di commerce head Ulrich Dalibor will tell delegates about how the problems with Metro have developed. The Conference will then discuss further solidarity measures with the Turkish cash and carry workers. Metro's union busting campaign will also be on the agenda when the steering group of the European works council meets later this month in Germany. Turkey's Metro workers have received strong support from the German union members, this is also expected to show when the company's annual shareholder meeting is held at the end of May.
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