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As it turns out, people can be fired from work for writing something or even just liking a union page on Facebook. Supermarket Dino already fired three women under different pretexts. All of them were union activists. Two weeks ago ZSP organized the first in a series of actions at Dino supermarkets in Wroclaw in solidarity with the women. We'll help those who want to fight with legal matters, actions, etc.
We've just learned that Dino fired three more people – this time disciplinarily, for writing on Facebook or even just for liking the Facebook of Dino workers.
We cannot tolerate such actions, which violate all principles of freedom, not only the freedom to organize in a union, but also to express ones opinions.
In relation to this, ZSP will organize more pickets and actions against the supermarket Dino, which is attacking the freedom and dignity of the people working there.
Current and former employees of the Impuls Agency are determined to continue the struggle with the agency which has violated their rights and has not been paying the workers. Organized inside the multi-branch union of the ZSP in Warsaw, plans are being made for new direct actions against the firm, as well as various legal actions.
As we understand, Impuls has had to pay the consequences of their actions and as many as 2/3 of the firms clients have suspended their contracts. This has led us to discuss the situation of the workers affected, who have been harmed by the agency in various ways.
ZSP has held the first picket in a campaign aimed at union-busting Dino Supermarkets. It is demanding the reinstatement of three workers, an end to the harrassment of unionists and improved working conditions throughout the chain.
Three unionists had their employment terminated at Dino market. The women, together with their co-workers, had formed the union this fall, hoping to get the supermarket to improve working conditions. One, who was on a fixed-term contract, did not have her contract renewed at the end of the year. Another was dismissed while on sick leave while the third was fired under a pretext for smoking (of course not at her work station), a practice which had always been tolerated and is done by other workers with no consequences. In a response to legal claims made by one of the workers, the supermarket refers to a „lack of trust” in the employee because she was „blackening the name of the supermarket” and „formenting unrest amongst the workers”.
What the workers were trying to accomplish were some simple improvements to working conditions. For example, they did not have a forklift and were forced to move heavy packages, exposing them to risk of serious injury. They also complained of overtime and having to work long hours on holidays.
The CNT-AIT in Madrid has been in conflict with OHL company related to the firings of cleaners in the Madrid metro and in particular to the firing of Angel, one of the militants of the SOV Madrid. ( Video ) In response to this campaign, some Sections of the IWA made solidarity actions in countries where that company has a presence, such as in Slovakia and Poland.
In Slovakia a picket was held at the Bratislava office. A protest was delivered to the office and the comrades demanded the reinstatement of Angel. In Poland there were 2 actions at OHL, in Warsaw and Wroclaw. In Warsaw there is just a tiny office but we visited to protest about the situation, informing people there of our solidarity with the fired workers. Solidarity posters were put on their doors and in the building. In Wroclaw there is a bigger office and people went with a solidarity picket but it is located in a place with no passersby, so it was only for the company to know what we think. OHL has been informed that we may visit again with a larger group of people if the demand to reinstate the comrade is not fulfilled.
On December 19, a couple of former employees of the Impuls agency went to demand payments they were owed. The company has not been paying workers, who sometimes have to wait even 6 months for their salaries - if they get them at all. ZSP has made numerous actions at the company, which have led to some payments being made. (See here: http://www.zsp.net.pl/action-impuls-payments-made-struggle-not-over)
Again we went supported by a few people from Sierpien 80 union, only this time, we found that the office was locked. Either they knew we were coming or somehow predicted this and decided not to let anybody without an appointment in. Arriving at the locked office, we started to scream to them to let us in, saying that we would not leave and that this would not stop us from coming back.
On December 12, members of ZSP IT Workers Union visited various branches of Bank Santander. Leaflets were distributed to customers and passersby informing about the situation of outsourced workers and the dismissal of the CNT-AIT union delegate in Spain.
Bank Santander outsources all sorts of work to companies which it actually owns but can avoid direct employment in the bank this way. ISBAN provides its IT services. The workers have various precarious working conditions and poor pay. Santander is outsourcing workers to companies it creates, which then do services again in Santander, as a way to avoid employers responsibilities. This is a situation which is very well known to IT workers in Poland too.
Members of ZSP went to a few branches of the bank in Warsaw. After the banks closed, posters were left on their windows.
A protest letter was sent to the bank demanding the reinstatement of the delegate, respect for the right to organize and improving the situation of the workers, especially in regards to their employment status and stability.
These actions were part of an international day of action called by the comrades of the Telecommunications and IT Union of the CNT-AIT Madrid. We made a few similar actions in the past and we are sure that the bank has noticed our actions, posters, banners and pickets (although modest). We will continue to inform people about the situation.
Leaflet (in Polish): http://www.zsp.net.pl/ulotka-bank-santander
On November 21, members of ZSP and Sierpień 80 went to the office of Impuls agency to demand that immediate payments be made to ex-workers who hadn't received any money for months. The agency specializes in hiring poor and desperate retirees who still have to work for a living. These workers were hired at 80 euro cents per hour and often worked up to 250 hours a month just to make 200 euros. To add to the problem, the firm often does not pay people for months, leaving them without money to pay bills or anything. Many workers have quit after a few months of not getting made and were not able to get any money.
We went to the office of the agency and demanded that the people be paid everything they were owed immediately. At first the Impuls people claimed that there was no money, even though today they are supposed to pay people. (It was typical that workers would should up on pay day and be told there was no cash and to come back another day.) We said we would not move until they were paid. The action was meaning filmed by a TV crew. After some time, one of the managers came and paid people. The four workers who went today received over 3000 euros in total. Most were owed 3-4 months salary.
In October we organized 3 pickets at Impuls agency and a number of other informational actions, including meeting with workers, posters, etc. Impuls agency has not been paying workers on time. The problems with this agency have been going on over one year. Many people work a few months and when they see they will never get paid, just quit. Others who are desperate for a job, hang on for months, hoping to get their salaries. Now some workers are taking action to get what they are owed.
Instead of paying workers, Impuls has been busy trying to scare them and unionists who are supporting them. The lawyer for Impuls has been very busy, threatening with suits of 40,000 euros for writing about the situation. A worker who quit and was picketing the office was also threatened by the lawyers. Impuls also has complaint to the police on numerous occasions and accuse us of crimes.
At the beginning of October, Full Job agency published a denounciation of workers who were fighting with the agency. It published the personal data of two former employees, which is clearly against the Polish law. In our opinion, this may have been an attempt to blacklist those people. ZSP immediately reacted to this, as did the press, which reported on this scandalous behaviour. The agency, faced with bad publicity and reminded that their actions are illegal, removed the material.
ZSP warns about using this agency which gave problems to its workers, uses trash contracts and piece work instead of normal contracts and reacts in such a manner to workers who stand up for their rights.
Our comrades who were employed through the agency are now directly employed by the company where they were working. The agency also considers this is be a breach of workers' non-competition clauses. We strongly oppose the idea that workers who get hired directly are breaking non-competition clauses, especially when the agency involved has neither hired them on normal contracts nor ensured that they are employed on the same conditions as the workers at the user employer, both of which should occur under the provisions of Polish law.
On Oct. 14, a delegation from various unions went to the Krogal factory in Glucholazy to talk to the owner about reinstating two repressed workers. ZSP also signed onto this action, along with unions from Electropower plants in Belchatow and Opole, from Opel factory in Opole, the Furniture Workers' Union and Workers' Accord. The unions call on the factory to undo their actions against the workers or we will take further actions against the company.
The situation started with a newspaper article. Journalists from the Nowa Trybuna Opolska paper decided to do a story on how people live on the minimum wage. They interviewed different workers anonymously, not giving their names or even the names of the company. But one boss recognized that it was about their factory: the Krogal factory in Glucholazy (owned by Drobmar). The next day, they went on a witch hunt to find the workers who gave the interview. The workers were identified about things they said about their life: a husband who had a heart attack, an ill daughter... After identification, the workers, who never even said anything bad about their workplaces, were fired.
Following news of this repression, various people began publicizing the case. The idea to do something was pushed by activists who themselves have been subject to repression and fired.
People in the factory, who have ways of exploiting mass fear and the anti-solidary pathology that accompanies it, have been trying to spread rumors that, because of this incident, the boss might close down the factory. Some workers who fear for their own survival have dismiss the repression and are used by the firm against the arguments of the unionists, however everybody recognizes how this works in similar situations and that the need to promote workers' solidarity in the face of such awful realities is greater than ever.
