23 April, 2014IndustriALL and its affiliates are staging a series of protests against U.S. based multinational, Crown Holdings, one of the biggest consumer packaging producers, which brazenly violates workers’ rights in North America and Europe.
The protests scheduled in the U.S., Canada, France, Italy, Switzerland and Turkey are taking place in conjunction with the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Philadelphia, U.S. on 24 April. IndustriALL joins its affiliates across the globe in demanding that Crown Holdings stops building profits through violations of fundamental workers’ rights at company sites in Canada and Turkey.
In September last year, Crown Holdings forced their workers, who are members of IndustriALL affliate United Steelworkers Local 9176, to go on strike at the plant in Toronto, Canada by imposing drastic wages and other benefits cuts while forcing new employees into a two-tier system. After seven months of industrial action, Crown used local legislation to further abuse the striking workers by obliging them to vote on an even worse contract proposal. The company’s miserable offer was rejected and the workers are now eager to continue their struggle.
In Turkey, Crown's behaviour is no better. IndustriALL affiliate Birlesik Metal Is is facing continuous union busting from the company. Using all possible legal loopholes in Turkish legislation, the company persistently tries to avoid collective bargaining and recently, under false allegations, has even fired four trade union leaders who were leading trade union organizing at Crown Bevkan plant in Izmit.
By staging protests, workers of the world stand shoulder to shoulder to address Crown Holdings and demand that they:
- Stop efforts to destroy USW Local Union 9176 in Toronto by refusing to return to the bargaining table
- Stop attacks on the next generation of Crown workers by ending the practice in North America of insisting on dramatic and permanent decreases in wage rates for new workers, aimed at creating divisions in the workforce and weakening the union
- Negotiate a fair and equitable contract and a back-to-work protocol which ensures that union members will not be targeted for their legal union activities and will return to their jobs after the strike ends
- Reinstate the fired members of the Birlesik Metal Is union in Turkey and negotiate in good faith a new collective bargaining agreement with the union, as has been ordered by the High Court in Turkey
IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary, Kemal Özkan, attending the Crown shareholders meeting in Philadelphia said, “Respect towards workers’ rights is a precondition of a loyal workforce building any company welfare. Crown is trying right now to build their profits on workers’ backs, showing no respect towards their own employees and we will not tolerate this. Be it in North America or Europe, we will fight for respect of workers’ rights by Crown Holdings and we will not stop until justice is restored.”