IKEAs Turkish Labor Issue

ISTANBULIKEAs largely autonomous operation in Turkey is moving to guard the Swedish furniture giants reputation by threatening legal action against a local labor union that has staged a bitter campaign painting the company as a corporate bully looking to prevent workers from organizing. The dispute dates back to late 2011 and stems from claims made by Turkeys Koop-Is union, which already represents hundreds of IKEA workers. On Saturday, more than 1,000 demonstrators gathered on an empty plot of land across from one of IKEAs stores, with protesters causing traffic jams as they walked along the road while carrying antiIKEAslogans. Koop-Is alleges the company has tried to pressure workers not to join the union, and thus preventing it from reaching a majority representation where it could achieve collective bargaining, by dismissing or demoting employees who sign up and downgrading their performance reviews. IKEA Turkey says the allegations arent fair and is threatening to take legal action against Koop-Is, recently firing off a warning letter. The union has responded by threatening to stage more demonstrations in front of more stores. IKEA has about 2,000 employees and five stores in Turkey, including two locations in Istanbul. The stores are operated by independent franchisee Mapa Mobilya. The company, known for its blue and yellow branding, has labored in recent years to cultivate an image as a family friendly furniture retailer based on a Swedish heritage that values togetherness, respect and humility. The firm has at times been quick to respond to public pressure related to its business practices. Still, IKEA has raised some concerns. Earlier this year, IKEA dismissed four French managers who allegedly spied on company staffers. And union disputes at its Virginia manufacturing plant have made headlines in the U.S. Koop-Is represents a broad swath of Turkeys employee basefrom farmers cooperatives to teachers to rail workers. It also represents about one-third of IKEA employees here, but needs significantly more to join in order to secure collective bargaining rights. During Saturdays demonstration, Koop-Is Chairman Eyup Alemdar accused IKEA managers of encouraging employees to spy on one another and said the company has called the homes of workers pressuring them not to join his union. He also said IKEA has dismissed or demoted employees who join the union, and downgraded their performance reviews. The allegations are unfounded and groundless, according to an emailed statement from IKEA Turkey. The statement characterized the claims by Koop-Is as being damaging to IKEAs brand reputation. IKEA Turkey does not have the option to remain ambivalent against unreal propaganda that is disrupting the calm and peace of the work environment, because of these statements against the law and truth, the firm is mobilizing to use its right to appeal to legal means, said IKEA Turkey in the statement. The company said it remains open to having discussions on the issue.

A Koop-Is official said the union hasnt heard anything from IKEA since the letter warning of legal action was sent last week, and said the companys position is completely imaginary and has no legal validity. This person didnt want to be named because they arent authorized to speak on behalf of the union. The union will wait 10 to 15 days to see if IKEA Turkeys position changes. If it doesnt, the first foreseeable action is to spread the demonstrations to all five cities where IKEA has stores, the union official said. If Saturdays demonstration in Istanbul is any indication, further protests will continue to attract attention. The protest was held by union members who showed up to signal solidarity with IKEA employees who didnt demonstrate over concerns about safety, according to union officials. As protesters marched with signs that displayed slogans like Oppression wont daunt us, a bus decked with a platform above its roof blasted out anti-employer music from loudspeakers. Eventually, demonstrators were linked together in a traditional Anatolian folk dance, holding hands to form a long line and step-dancing in a circle to the tune of the zurnaa Turkish shrill pipeand the beat of a bass drum. People then assembled into a column behind the bus and headed to the front entrance of IKEA, blocking Istanbuls already congested traffic at roundabouts as they waved Turkish flags and blew whistles. Police monitored the scene. Alke Boessiger, the head of the commerce division at Uni Global Union, which represents 20 million service workers in 150 countries through 900 affiliated unions, said in a telephone interview this week that the organization will meet with IKEA officials on Friday as part of a series of meetings scheduled every few months. The labor situation in Turkey will be a main agenda item, and she will look for IKEA officials to outline a plan to put pressure on its Istanbul-based local management. The problem we have is that the franchise is run by Mapa Mobilya, the position theyre taking and telling the global firm is that they are a local Turkish company and they can do whatever they like and they dont need to comply with IKEAs global standards, Ms. Boessiger said. Were saying for us it doesnt matter who owns or runs the stores, she said. It says IKEA on the door and IKEA respects workers rights and collective bargaining, and we expect them to apply that to all their operations world-wide no matter who runs it. Ylva Magnusson, a spokeswoman for IKEAs global operations, said the company respects the rights of its workers to organize and welcomes dialogue with a collection of global unions. She said IKEA will not facilitate a preference for any co-worker association. Source : Turkey Furniture