ISTANBUL (dpa): Employees of Swedish furniture giant IKEA met in Istanbul on Thursday to demand common working conditions across the group. Organized by the Switzerland-based service sector trade union UNI Commerce Global Union, the meeting brought together IKEA employees from 14 countries and representatives from twenty trade unions. Its aim was to achieve “the same good standards of working conditions for workers at every IKEA workplace”. “Global companies such as IKEA, should guarantee the same good standards for its employees around the world,” said UNI's representative Alkenes Bössinger. In a written statement UNI explained that IKEA employees in some countries faced restrictions on trade union membership. The statement highlighted the situation of IKEA employees in Turkey, noting that they were being discriminated against on the basis of union membership and pressured by management to resign from the Koop-Is trade union which represents retail workers in Turkey. “We sell the same products and the same Swedish meatballs. Our problems, expectations and goals are the same as workers in other countries,” said Koop Is chairman Eyup Alemdar. “The goal is to solve existing problems through dialogue with management, said Bössinger, an aim echoed by UNI's written statement. “We believe that IKEA is fundamentally a socially conscious company. We believe it is in the interests of the company and its brand to decisively intervene in Turkey to ensure the rights of workers who work in all IKEA stores,” the statement said. According to Theresa Moller, a Swedish trade unionist and IKEA staff member, the company has in the past shown that it is able to act on the grievances of its employees, pointing to improvements in the rights of women in the Swedish labor market as an example. “If we can do it in Sweden, it must be possible elsewhere,” she said. BM David O'Byrne ShortURL: http://goo.gl/NARPE Tags: Ikea, Negotiations, Union Section: Business, International, Latest News
