Swedish furniture giant Ikea fired a local worker critical of the company’s LGBT policy. The worker used quotes from the Bible to voice his comments on an internal company forum. The conservative justice minister ordered an investigation of the case because he found the dismissal a violation of “the freedom of conscience and religion”. Other politicians suggested a boycott of the Swedish furniture retailer. The debate comes at a moment that the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has condemned the distribution of ‘LGBT free zone’ stickers by the newspaper Gazeta Polska. The ETUC is afraid that this kind of action will create unnecessary divisions and conflicts in workplaces and in society, as demonstrated by recent violence against members of the LGBT community. It might tempt people to break the law by discriminating on grounds of sexual orientation, which is against EU and Polish law, so the union confederation states.
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