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Uni Commerce helps unions
organise in leading commerce multinationals
The Uni Commerce organising campaign in leading commerce multinationals is picking up speed. The project started in Poland last year, where Solidarnosc has created its first trade union locals in German wholesale and retail giant Metro. Activities will now be stepped up also in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. A Uni Commerce meeting in Berlin on 20 - 21 March decided to add Rewe and Tesco to the shortlist of companies, which will be approached in the first stage or the organising project. Both companies have a strong presence in the countries concerned and have declared their intention to expand further. The Uni Commerce organising project is strongly supported by commerce trade unions in other European countries. German Uni affiliates DAG and HBV are actively involved in the Metro campaign. In Rewe, they are joined by Austria's GPA. The Tesco organising project will be developed in close contact with the British commerce trade union USDAW. All these unions underlined in Berlin that their own bargaining positions in the companies are dependent also on the organising rates in other countries. Training activities for organisers and union representatives will play an important role. Here, Uni Commerce will work together with Danish affiliate HK Handel and North American commerce union UFCW. Both organisations participated in the Berlin meeting, which also discussed trade union co-operation in some other multinationals, such as Ikea, Ahold and Wal-Mart. Uni Commerce will now follow up the Berlin meeting at enterprise levels. The first concrete activity will be a planning meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia on 20 - 21 May. Here, Rewe will be discussed by participants from Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia and Slovakia. A similar meeting in the near future will discuss Tesco, where also a European Works Council now needs to be established. |
