18 December, 2007Striking workers at the Ford-Vsevolozhsk plant in Russia voted to suspend their indefinite strike after management agreed to commence a real negotiation process.
RUSSIA: On December 14, the trade union committee of Ford-Vsevolozhsk reached agreement with management on a number of demands advanced by the workforce in order to suspend the strike and begin real negotiations on wage increases and working conditions. The strikers voted in favor of a decision for the trade union committee to proceed with negotiations, according to an agreed upon schedule with management, from December 17, 2007 through February 1, 2008. Eight meeting are scheduled. If an agreement on wages and other items is not reached, workers could re-launch the strike.
Management also committed not to use any disciplinary penalties or actions against participants in the strike. The parties declare that "they intend to conduct negotiations in a peaceful and productive manner", and that "the workers' demands are integral to the unsettled disagreement and will be treated accordingly". Agreement was reached on timely payment of compensation for temporary downtime and for normal ordering of submissions of requests for skill classification upgrades.
The International Metalworkers' Federation and its affiliates support the workers at Ford-Vsevolozhsk and will continue to show solidarity with them in their fight for a fair and just collective agreement.