Wal-Mart's British distribution centres will go on strike on Friday

British distribution centre workers go on strike:
ASDA Wal-Mart prepares strike-breaking action, union says

Asda Wal-Mart is fully occupied with preparations to break a strike by its distribution centre workers in the United Kingdom. The company is said to add temporary workers to its centres, in anticipation of its ordinary workforce staging a five-day work stoppage from next Friday. Also transport trailers have apparently been moved to outside facilities, probably to allow for crossing picket lines pulled by trucks with rented drivers.

Last week in Berlin, Alan Spaulding, president of UNI Commerce Global Union, and Ulrich Dalibor, head of Ver.di's retail sector, came out strongly in support of the strike at Asda Wal-Mart in the United Kingdom. A UNI Commerce global Wal-Mart meeting in the German capital declared that the trade union international and its members would do all they can to back up the British labour action. Twenty distribution centres will be affected by the five-day strike, that is to start on Friday. UNI-affiliated GMB has warned employment agencies against providing strike-breakers, an illegal action which the Bentonville-based multinational is nevertheless actively preparing for.

The GMB strike comes as Asda Wal-Mart's CEO Andy Bond backed down from an agreement that he had already made with GMB, possibly after an intervention by the Bentonville bosses. This agreement would have opened the door to solving the outstanding collective agreement issues in the company's 20 distribution centres in the United Kingdom. Clearly, Wal-Mart's anti-union obsessions took the upper hand of a more pragmatic and result-oriented labour relations approach, and the firm's US headquarters once again exerted their authority.

The British Asda Wal-Mart distribution centre workers' union GMB is a UNI affiliate, with members in several sectors of the global union, including commerce.

Five day strike starts on Friday

The GMB Shop Stewards National Council meeting has now agreed a comprehensive programme of industrial action in Asda Wal-Mart's 20 distribution depots. From 00.01 Friday 30^th June until 23.59 Tuesday 4^th July - by the way, the US Independence Day - there will be a complete withdrawal of labour by all GMB members in all Asda Wal-Mart depots. This will be followed by a further comprehensive programme of industrial action.

GMB members working in Asda Wal-Mart's 20 distribution depots across the country voted by 3 to 1 (74.1% in favour) to take strike action in support of their outstanding claims with the company. They also voted by an even bigger margin of more than 4 to 1 for industrial action short of a strike to secure their objectives.

GMB members who will take part in the industrial action work as drivers and warehouse picker and loaders at many of Asda Wal-Mart's 20 distribution depots. They move 30,000 tonnes per day of ambient, fresh, chilled and frozen produce to 300 Asda Wal-Mart Stores around the country.

Workers want proper collective agreement

The distribution centre workers want to see the establishment of proper national bargaining structures between the company and GMB covering pay, conditions and union facilities in all 20 distribution depots.

Once established the first thing GMB members employed in the depots want is an agreement, via the new national negotiating structures, that Asda Wal-Mart pay the unpaid 2005 bonus of GBP 300 per worker. The second issue GMB members in the depots want dealt with via the new national negotiating structures is an end to the unilateral introduction of new technology leading to higher work rates in the depots which health and safety experts say will seriously injure GMB members over a long period of time. GMB members want an agreement that safe work rates are established by a panel of independent experts.

The British Asda Wal-Mart distribution centre workers and their trade union have also began to take steps to stop the company from illegally breaking the strike. The employment agencies which the Bentonville-based multinational wants to use for this purpose have been alerted that any such involvement would be illegal under British legislation.