Image: 

On February 7-8, ZSP held two pickets at Dino Supermarkets to protest against anti-union and anti-worker repression. The actions are a response to firings and other actions against workers who formed a union or responded positively to it, such as by making positive comments on Facebook. Since the actions against Dino started, we were contacted by other workers who have complained of mobbing, firings and disciplinary actions for reasons such as taking a couple of days off to care for a sick child. Although every worker has the right to do so, within certain limits, some companies in Poland respond with dismissals.

The first picket, on February 7, was in Ornontowice, where one firing took place. Leaflets were handed out to customers and information about the picket quickly spread through the town, a place which is no stranger to labor conflicts. (Although it is a very small town, a major strike took place there some years ago, in the Budryk coal mine.) The picket was received positively by local people.

On February 8, another picket was held, this time in Kutno. We noticed that Dino had prepared for this action and instructed people from the supermarket to call the police. However we just explained what the protest was about and were not bothered. Some local residents complained about problems at their workplaces as well.

Since we have started actions at Dinos, the company has threatened to sue us and we distributed this letter. The company has also tried to get our internet provider to close down our pages.

There have also been problems with the actions of local Solidarity leadership. The regional union boss decided to negotiate the return of one woman to work, but agreed with the bosses (without the participation of those involved) that they would not seek the reinstatement of another, the one who has been pushing for action. The worker was returned to work on worse conditions than before, despite the fact that she probably would have won reinstatement on the same conditions in court. What is worse is that the company and Solidarity agreed to some sort of „conditions” for her reinstatement. Following this, she withdrew some accusations filed with authorities against Dino. She also deleted letters from workers with evidence of violations from the union mailbox and deleted negative comments which were written on the Facebook page.

Solidarity has been ensuring that workers do not fight against violations at Dino. But Dino also registered a yellow union, founded by managers. This and other actions at Dinos have been described in one newspaper in great detail.

In the meanwhile, ZSP is planning more pickets. During the planning, we found out something interesting: Dino advertises non-existant supermarkets on its webpages. We had travelled to one location, only to find out the supermarket simply wasn't there! Then we found that there were many such phantom markets listed. This practice might have to do with the fact that Dino is trying to present itself as a rapidly expanding company in anticipation of the sale of a large part of its shares.

To support the rights of workers to organize without repression and improve their working conditions, you can send a protest email to Dino: dino.zsp.net.pl