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On May 10, protests were held at two Dino supermarkets in Dopiewo, where workers are fighting against dismissals and other violations of their rights.
Three local employees decided to take action after a number of incidents. In the end, two lost their jobs. A third wants to quit for various reasons. Dino supermarkets have been violating various rights of workers, including forcing them to work overtime while trying not to pay for that, breaking health and safety regulations, etc. etc. Dozens of violations have been confirmed by the State Labour Inspectorate and are reported by workers from all over Poland. Some of the workers are now fighting back and trying to collect money owed to them.
Besides these problems, there have been a number of objectionable dismissals. A number of unionists were fired at the end of last year and in January, including for things like criticizing the market on Facebook. Then, after labour inspections found many violations in Dino markets, some workers were made scapegoats by the management, who blamed them for the problems. (Of course the orders always come from above.) Other people (who perhaps the management fear – for no real reason was given for their dismissal) have lost jobs. In Dopiewo, one woman's contract was not extended and Dino gave absolutely no notice while another was forced to sign a resignation or face a disciplinary dismissal.
On May 11, the organizations EuroMajdan Warszawa and the Open Dialogue Foundation invited representatives of political parties running in the Ukrainian presidential elections to Warsaw. Among them where representatives of the Right Sector and Svoboda. We decided to go to this event and protest.
Our protest had many political layers. We denounce nationalist movements and fascism as the enemy of the working class and explained our opinions on the fighting going on in Ukraine. People are divided into allegiance to nations, a construct which is used to divide and control people. They wind up subjugating common class interests and common resistance to exploiting classes to national ambitions and hatred. We also denounced the role that the Polish state, the CIA and Western capitalists play in funding orange organizations in our city, which support changes of masters for the Ukrainian working class, so desperate to improve their fate that many follow the neoliberal charlatans who would be their new exploiters.
Over the last few months, Impuls agency workers from ZSP (and not affiliated) have been fighting with the temporary work agency for pay they have been owed and also to establish work relationships, in order to receive paid vacations, sick leave and higher salary. ZSP has been campaigning for direct employment of Impuls workers, especially by state and municipal institutions. We see that many of these institutions previously hired such workers directly, but now they chose to pay outside agencies who take a lot of money, but pay very little to the workers.
Many companies and institutions have resigned from their use of the agency. One last institution which uses the agency is the Psychiatric Hospital in Tworki. Workers in the hospital have also been having problems with the agency but we have been able to get at least part of what they are owed paid. The agency still owes workers there money.
ZSP calls on the institution to hire the workers directly. In the upcoming weeks we will be taking more action on this issue and encouraging local authorities to promote better hiring practices in the hospital and to look critically at the effects of the practice of outsourcing.
On April 29, Jozef Kulinski, director of a psychiatric hospital in Bielsko Biała, resigned due to increasing scrutiny and pressure on him by workers activists. A recent investigation into allegations made by workers proved the workers to be right. This is the end of a long-term struggle with the director, who had refused to correct various violations of workers' rights. Besides this, he is suspected of breaking the law on trade unions, falsifying documents and of financial machinations regarding funds for renovating the hospital.
In the past several weeks, Dino supermarkets have been undergoing not only protests, but also controls from the Labour Inspectorate. They have found dozens of violations of workers' rights in the supermarket. In response to this, some of the workers made „resposible” by the supermarket chain have been fired.
What is clear is that supervisors and middle-level managers are usually not the ones who decide policies and are usually just „following orders” from higher-ups. They are not the ones who decide to make people work overtime and not to pay, etc. etc.
People are different. Some supervisors act very willingly as the henchwomen of the company, conducting themselves like prison guards. Others do what they are told, completely in fear of losing their jobs. It may be hard or even impossible to defend their actions. But we find it reprehensible that after Dino was caught, the upper management tried to put all the blame on these pawns.
Just another reason to think twice about doing Dino's dirty work and screwing your fellow workers. You might be loyal to the bosses, but the bosses are never loyal to you!
Since the beginning of the year, ZSP has been in conflict with Dino Supermarkets. The union has been collecting evidence about various violations in the market, informing about them during pickets and on the internet. As a result of this conflict, the Labour Inspectorate has visited dozens of Dino supermarkets and have confirmed dozens of violations.
One of the most common violations relates to unpaid overtime work. The Inspectorate has cracked down on the supermarkets, ordering them to make payments. Dino must now make regular overtime payments. This is a big victory against the exploitation going on in the supermarket.
The order for back payment however includes only those cases which the Inspectors were able to uncover. It is clear that this is only the tip of the iceberg and that former employees were not interviewed by the Inspectors. The union has been encouraging workers to fight for what they are owed. Court cases start in a few weeks.
On March 30, another picket took place at Dino supermarket in Wrocław. This time the action was at Barlickiego Street. Leaflets were distributed and customers and local residents were informed about the situation at Dino, the violation of workers' rights, repressioning of workers for union activity, only because they decided to remind the market of their right.
ZSP has already organized pickets at supermarkets in Ostrow Wielkopolski, Pabianice, Łask, Ornontowice, Skarbimierz, Wrocław and Kutno. The pickets and other actions against Dino will continue until the workers are reinstated and conditions improve.
On March 22, the ZSP union organized four pickets at Dino Supermarkets to protest various violations on the part of the employer and demand reinstatement of a fired unionist and other workers. The protest came just days after the first results of a labour inspection were sent to the union confirming a large number of violations of workers' rights by the supermarket.
ZSP has been in conflict with the supermarket since the beginning of the year when it began its union busting activity by firing people for various reasons, including for liking the union Facebook. A total of 12 workers were fired under dubious circumstances. This is when we got to know about numerous problems at the supermarket such as unpaid overtime, forced work on holidays, various violation of working time norms, health and safety risks, etc. etc. Over the past two months we have been organizing and protesting the chain. A number of court cases are also pending.
Związek Syndykalistów Polski has been in a labour conflict with Dino supermarkets for the last couple of months. The conflict started with the firing of workers who had formed a union and were trying to improve working conditions and eliminate health and safety risks. Since then, workers and former workers of Dino have been organizing with ZSP, demanding the reinstatement of fired workers, compensation for unpaid overtime work, the correction of all violations of the Labour Code and the elimination of all health and safety risks.
At the request of ZSP, the State Labour Inspectorate conducted an inspection of Dino supermarkets. We felt that this step was necessary to help evidence our claims against the firm. ZSP has been informing workers and organizing to make the company pay the overtime due.
We are appealing for financial support for Magda, who is in a difficult situation because of her uncompromising struggle.
In the fall of 2013, the workers of some Dino supermarkets in Wielkopolska region formed a union, to fight for better working conditions. One of them was Magda. The supermarket got rid of her by not prolonging her contract. Magda had fought to get fork lifts since the workers were manually dragging too heavy weights, which could cause serious injury and to cut down on overtime hours, especially during holidays.
The regional bosses of structure to which the union belonged negotiated with the bosses behind her back and agreed not to fight for her reinstatement. They also tried to get her to take some money, in exchange for not protesting against the violation of workers' rights at Dino. But Magda decided to stick to her principles, join ZSP and keep fighting.
