Global trade unions take on Ikea
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
A global federation of labor unions is taking on Ikea over its treatment of workers at its first U.S. factory.
Workers at the Danville, Va., factory, which opened in 2008, say they are subject to mandatory overtime, racial discrimination and an aggressive effort by the company to keep out a union. Run by Ikea’s manufacturing subsidiary, Swedwood, the plant was the subject of a Times article early this month.
After a meeting this week in Washington, the International Trade Union Confederation released a statement saying it has ‘allocated substantial financial resources to make sure that this company acts responsibly in the USA.’
The federation, which says it represents 175 million workers in 151 countries, criticized the difference between Swedwood’s treatment of its workers in Europe and those in the United States, where wages and benefits are less generous. The group also condemned safety problems at the Danville factory and the company’s hiring of a law firm known for helping companies fight unionization campaigns.
‘Ikea is taking advantage of the lax U.S. workers’ protection,’ the organization’s general secretary, Sharan Burrow, said in the statement. ‘Clearly all is not well at this factory.’
The federation didn’t specify the actions it would take to challenge Ikea.
A spokeswoman for Ikea in Sweden, Josefin Thorell, declined to comment on the federation’s statement except to say that the Danville factory is in compliance with Ikea’s code of conduct.
Bill Street, a representative of the machinists union trying to organize the workers in Danville, said that after the Times article was published he was invited to speak with Ikea executives in the Netherlands, where the company has offices. But he said the meeting resulted in no agreement.
Thorell said that Ikea has an ‘ongoing dialogue with the machinists union, trying to reach mutual understanding.’
A few days after the Times article ran, the Danville plant manager, Ken Brown, told the Danville Register & Bee, ‘I’m surprised that anyone would want a union.’
‘We treat people fairly, and we do want people to come there and work and leave safely and have a good time,’ Brown said.
-- Nathaniel Popper in New York
Times Community News