The Solidarnosc National Section of Commerce Employees called for a strike on 7 October as to highlight the worsening conditions in stores of a number of large supermarket chains, including Biedronka, Carrefour, Real, Bomi, Praktiker, and Makro Cash and Carry. Union members will work-to-rule, following every single regulation to the letter in order to disrupt the pace of trade. They will hand out leaflets to customers explaining their grievances, which include the low rate of pay of shop-floor workers (hardly above the minimum wage) and the ever-increasing number of duties they are expected to perform. They also complain that they are rarely employed on full-time contracts and that jobs are lost when big supermarkets cut costs by allowing suppliers to stack shelves. The protests coincided with the World Day for Decent Work.
English: http://www.wbj.pl/article-51469-supermarket-strike-to-hit-poland-thursday.html?typ=ise
via http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/show_news.pl?country=Poland
Polish: http://www.gazetaprawna.pl/wiadomosci/artykuly/456789,dzisiaj_strajk_wloski_w_sieciach_handlowych_przygotuj_;
http://www.tvn24.pl/1,1676772,druk.html
For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI atwww.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2009.