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The company did not hold preliminary consultations with the trade union and specified the serious changes in the economic situation in Russia as the reason for the announced redundancies. The Russian Interregional Trade Union "Workers Association" - ITUWA, an affiliate of IndustriALL, intends to take counter measures.In addition to cutting down one third of the workforce at the Ford Sollers Joint Venture in Vsevolozhsk the company announced plans of a complete stoppage of production during two months after 7 April and then after September the work would be organized only in one shift.  The company claims these tough measures are imposed by serious changes in the Russian economy due to the devaluation of Russian rouble and a considerable decline of the demand for middle class cars. According to the company the reduction of the staff is necessary for an active evolvement of the company under present conditions.The company has already declared about the launch of a ‘Program of voluntary dismissals’, which would offer workers the possibility to resign on the basis of a mutual agreement. Workers who resign under the Program would receive 5-month salary as compensation.Igor Temchenko, ITUWA leader at the Ford plant, said there was no preliminary meeting organized with ITUWA representatives. The board of directors informed the workers about the planned redundancies through a news release appearing in the mass media. Workers were notified about these plans only the following day. “The trade union ITUWA will certainly take counter measures. We believe the leadership of our factory tries to shift on workers the burden of their own responsibility for miscalculations in marketing and the planning department. We will fight to safeguard jobs or for a decent compensation for those who are cut down”, declared Temchenko.The chairman of the ITUWA union Alexey Etmanov expressed support to the workers claims and demanded from the company, “In order to understand what workers can do is enough to look at Belgium and Brazil, where attempts were made to close down the Ford plants. In result, namely through the strikes and demonstrations workers managed to fight back a rather good financial compensation in Belgium, while in Brazil they have even managed to keep their factory. We will not give it up and will fight for every working place. We will demand good compensatory payments, which in Russia are good enough to be able to have the ends met while in search for another job. Some 10-20 salaries, this is what we want to talk about”.Other automakers are also decreasing their production in Russia. Recent reports say Nissan is moving its plant in Saint Petersburg to a two-shift replacing three-shift day schedule as of 1 April.Volkswagen is planning to decrease in 2014 the production at its plant in Kaluga by 15 thousand cars, down to annual 135 thousand, informed chairman of the ITUWA territorial organization Dmitri Trudovoi.

Ford Motor Co.

Volkswagen

Multinational companies (MNCs)

Social Justice and Globalization

Workers' rights

Russia

Automotive

Unemployment

April Fools’ Day was a sad day for the workers of the Ford Sollers factory in Vsevolozhsk in Russia. The company released a press release announcing 700 redundancies, and this is not a joke.

ITUWA prepares to fight for every job

The current agreement expires on 31 December, and so far neither the employer nor the employees have taken the initiative of signing a new one.On 7 November, only 20 per cent of the staff - members of IndustriALL Global Union affiliate Interregional Trade Union "Workers Association" (ITUWA) - understand that concluding a new collective agreement depends on workers.If the union density remains the same, the employees of Volkswagen will start the next year without a collective agreement and workers will lose most of their benefits:<ul><li>There will be no increase of salaries</li><li>Employees will work for 100 hours a year more for free</li><li>There will not be four additional days off</li><li>Lump sums for vacation and after vacation will be cancelled</li><li>Payment for night work will be reduced from 40 to 20 per cent</li><li>Assignment of professional grades will depend on managers and Human Resources again, and not on experience</li><li>Housing project, car subsidy programme, support programme for pensioners etc will be cancelled</li></ul>ITUWA has set itself the ambitious plan to double their membership. Reaching the double size membership would allow to defend workers’ position in negotiations. The union is under pressure from the management to start collective bargaining in their current weaker position.“1,100 ITUWA's members are sure that a collective agreement is necessary, other employees are indifferent. We need 2,500 union members to win,”says Dmitry Trudovoj, chair of the Kaluga regional organization ITUWA.In 2013, the employer attempted to approve a new schedule. Union membership has increased by some 1,000 people in two months. This helped to strengthen the union’s influence, and a new work schedule including reduction of workforce was rejected.In September ITUWA recruited 18 members, in October — 22. Many workers join the union, but most of them leave afterwards. Out of 50 – 60 recruited last month, only 18 – 20 members remained.Dmitry Trudovoj states:<blockquote>“In fact, available ITUWA's membership is enough to conclude a new collective agreement. But the quality of the concluded collective agreement and the size of benefits depend on the power of the union. During the economic downturn it is even a challenge to defend the previous agreement, let along discussing something extra. That is why we encourage employees to join the union, since the quality of the new collective agreement will depend on how active they are».</blockquote>

Collective bargaining

Members of IndustriALL affiliate Interregional Trade Union Workers Association (ITUWA) at the Volkswagen plant in Kaluga, Russia, are fighting for a new collective agreement.

To be or not to be for a new collective agreement at Volkswagen

At an IndustriALL workshop on 19 and 20 April, representatives from the Interregional Trade Union Workers Association (ITUWA) and the Automobile and Farm Machinery Workers' Union of Russia (AFW) at Volkswagen plant in Kaluga discussed ways to conclude a strong collective agreement, which is currently being negotiated with the employer. Unions insist on a 20 per cent increase in wages, arguing that Volkswagen workers' purchasing power has declined by 22 per cent in recent years due to inflation, and labour intensity has increased by at least 30 per cent. For example, currently two shifts at the plant produce the same output as three shifts three years ago. However, Volkswagen is offering a wage increase of only 2.9 per cent. The parties will not agree on fundamental issues until 11 May, when the three-month period provided by Russian legislation for collective bargaining expires. After that, the pending paragraphs of the collective agreement will be included in the protocol of disagreements, and a collective labour dispute will go into process. It means employees are allowed to carry out collective action in support of the negotiators' demands. Chair of the primary organization of AFW at Volkswagen Group Rus Alexander Abrosimov, said: <blockquote>“We have planned several scenarios of collective action in a collective labour dispute, from working precisely by the rules to a fully-fledged strike. We have also developed an information campaign, which consists of a communication strategy within the plant, as well as an external communication plan, targeting consumers.”</blockquote>The trade unions have put aside their differences and now have <a href="http://industriall-union.org/russian-unions-join-forces-to-negotiate-collective-agreement-at-volkswagen" target="_blank">a joint organizing campaign</a>. As a result, both affiliates doubled their membership, covering more than 50 per cent of workers at the Kaluga plant. This allowed trade unions to initiate collective bargaining. ITUWA president, Dmitry Trudovoj, said,<blockquote>“We found ways to bridge the gap between our trade union organizations. The workshop showed there is no fundamental difference in the ideology of trade unions at Volkswagen and allowed us to bring our positions closer together.”</blockquote>Vadim Borisov, regional secretary of IndustriALL, commented:<blockquote>“Here is an excellent example of how two trade union organizations, which had been in conflict for a long time, have managed to find a common language and moved from confrontation to real solidarity. We believe that joint coordinated actions will help the ITUWA and the AFW to defend workers’ just demands."</blockquote>

IndustriALL Global Union affiliates at the Volkswagen plant in Kaluga, Russia, have developed a joint action plan to increase their negotiating power as a stalemate with the company over wage increases is due to become a collective dispute under Russian law.

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ITUWA prepares to fight for every job

To be or not to be for a new collective agreement at Volkswagen

Russia: trade unions prepare for wage dispute at Volkswagen

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