Pracujesz na umowie śmieciowej? Możemy pomóc!
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.
On February 22, another picket was held at the Dino Supermarket in Pabianice. We decided to return to this market because when we were there last time, we saw how health and safety regulations were being disregarded.
One of the demands of unionists at Dino was that the workers be trained to use electric fork lifts, which the company has, instead of being forced to manually drag heavy stacks of cartons or bottles. The law clearly states how much women are allowed to drag on a smooth surface and for heavier loads, they need equipment to help. Many workers who are forced to move heavy weights sooner or later have serious back injuries. In one very famous incident in another supermarket, a pregnant woman miscarried from dragging heavy boxes.
During the picket, we explained about workers' rights in the supermarket and discussed with customers and people in the neighbourhood. We also put posters up informing workers about the health and safety regulations which apply. When we put up a poster on their door, one of the managers got crazy and said she would call the police. Later we met the police, but they just took a leaflet and left.
On the weekend of February 15-16, ZSP held pickets at 4 Dino Supermarkets – in Skarbimierz, Pabianice and Łask. The union protested against various violations of workers rights in the chain and the firing of union activists. Several fired workers participated in the protests.
In Skarbimierz, a couple of people were fired and upon hearing of the campaign, wanted to join in and organize a picket in their town. Activists from ZSP from Silesia went and about 20 people protested in front of the supermarket. Actions were also held in Pabianice and Łask.
Workers at Dino suffer a few main problems: unpaid overtime, health and safety risks and use of short term employment contracts are some of the main complaints. In Pabianice we found a good example of one of the common problems for workers. Two women, one very tiny, had to manually haul a huge pallet of bottles instead of using a fork lift. Complaints about this health and safety risk were supposedly dealt with by Dino; the President claimed that every store would have fork lifts and the employees trained on how to use them. However in many stores the fork lift was delivered but has never been used and the workers have no training. (Operating a fork lift without training is not allowed.) The same was true in Pabianice where the workers are forced to deal with the pallets manually. The situation will be reported immediately.
We also heard that in Łask they had been hiring people for just three months, then hiring new people, to avoid giving normal contracts with benefits.
It occurred to us that probably we should produce a brochure about these matters to hand out to workers in different locations. We have already published information on health and safety regulations regarding the fork lifts and how to evidence and claim overtime pay on our web pages.
During the pickets people were generally supportive and expressed their disapproval of Dino's actions towards the unionists. Some people decided to go shopping elsewhere after discussing the situation with fired workers.
About 1/3 of the members of "Solidarity" in Dino are gone and there are signs that the main activist in the union has signed a loyalty agreement with Dino. We say to workers that a union that does not fight for the reinstatement of their fired members (like that one) is not really a union worth joining. An initiative group exists in ZSP to organize more Dino workers and to fight for the reinstatement of the fired workers, payment of overtime, etc.
Please support our actions by sending a protest mail via the form on this page: dino.zsp.net.pl
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.
At the end of 2013, Dino Supermarkets terminated the employment of the workers who had organized a trade union. In January, 6 more workers lost their jobs, 3 of them for making comments of liking the union Facebook page.
Dino, together with Solidarity union, have come to agreement to discourage any worker protest in the market and have effectively isolated one worker who refused to stay quiet on the requests of the Solidarity leadership. She is fighting for her reinstatement at Dino instead of just looking for another job like the yellow union bureaucrats want.
In response to union organizing efforts, Dino not only terminated the employment of union members but also got people from their head office and management to register another yellow union.
ZSP calls for a boycott of Dino Supermarkets, which offer poor working conditions and violate the basic freedom of association and speech of its employees. It also calls for immediate reinstatement of Magda to her former position. ZSP also criticizes the actions of the regional Solidarity leadership which decided to sell out the workers who wanted to protest and fight to change their working conditions.
Please send a protest letter. You may change the text of add your own comments.
