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21 October, 2007
A series of rolling strikes will occur at Unilever plants in The Netherlands until the Dutch foods and chemicals company backs away from a restructuring plan that targets as many as 12,000 European workers for the unemployment queue.
Late on the evening of 9 October, Dutch workers – led by FNV Bondgenoten and CNV Voeding – struck six plants for 40 hours. The strikes followed a failure of negotiations toward a new contract and Unilever’s unilateral decision to initially close three Dutch plants, costing almost 500 jobs.
ICEM at a Unilever Protest in July 2007
Last week, on 16 October, workers again mounted strikes in the company’s home country, the first coming at the Loosdrecht plant, a maker of Knorr food products. The next day, workers at Vlaardingen, where consumer products Lever and Cif products are made, struck. Unilever announced plant closings for those two plants, as well as at its Delft plant, where Calvé food products are made.
“We see no need for this,” stated FNV Bondgenoten’s Lucas Vermaat, FNV Bondgenoten’s chief negotiator with the company. “For Unilever, this is solely about cutting costs in our country. Beyond that, the directors have no strategy to increase revenue. There is no reason to close factories and not to guarantee jobs.”
The ICEM and the Dutch unions call on European unions to monitor the transfer of production to other plants during the rolling strikes. The ICEM also is calling on all global affiliates to write messages of support to Dutch Unilever workers through Vermaat at [email protected].
In early August, the company announced that is was embarking on a four-year reorganisation that would cut 20,000 jobs worldwide, the majority of which would come in Europe. It would close or dramatically reduce production at some 50 of its 300 global operations. Regarding the European closures, Unilever did this without consulting with the European Works Council of the company.
European unions are gearing up for a week of actions against the Anglo-Dutch firm in the first week of December, which will include a mass march and rally on 4 December in Rotterdam.
Meanwhile, the International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers’ Association (IUF) has asked for protest letters over the company’s conduct at a foods and tea factory in Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan. Management has called in armed militia and elite police troops to quell workers’ protests over a plan to replace 950 permanent jobs, out of 1,200, with casual and contract workers. Unions are invited to lodge protests with Unilever Pakistan Ltd.’s External Communications manager, Fareshteh Aslan, at [email protected].