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Under the UNI Tesco Global Union Alliance participants shared information on labour relations with Tesco in their respective countries and planned the next strategic steps.



The discussions focused on the difficulties created by the global financial crisis and its impact on the retail sector. Tesco has seen its profits drop in the UK for the first time in two decades. The company is facing stiff competition from non-union discounters such as Lidl and Aldi but remains the leader in the UK not just in market share but also in pay and benefits among retailers.



Through social partnership with USDAW in its home market union membership has grown from 63,000 to 173,000. While other retailers have looked to trim staff and hours during the crisis Tesco has maintained or increased staff. Similarly in Ireland Tesco has maintained status as a fair shop and Mandate members will receive a 2% increase in 2013



However in Czech Republic and Poland the company is resisting organizing attempts among its workforce, cutting hours, outsourcing jobs and keeping pay and benefits low. News was more positive from Turkey. UNI affiliate Tez-Koop-Is this July finally gained recognition as the union representing Kipa workers and entered into collective bargaining with Tesco Kipa. This major win comes after a struggle that began in 2003. Some 4,000 of Tesco Kipa’s 7,600 employees were organised into the union, securing membership of nearly 60% of all employees.





Elsewhere in South Korea and Thailand the company is pushing employees to work longer hours and opening on important national holidays and expecting employees to work rather than celebrate. South Korea is also focusing on a problem recognised in the retail sector throughout the world that is now being articulated as "emotional labour" where a company attempts to regulate the emotional activity of its workforce through conditioning and discipline to be happy and pleasant while suffering abuse at the hands of customers.





The challenge of the UNI Tesco Global Alliance will be to hold the company accountable at the country level to their own goals & policies. John Hannett, General Secretary of UNI's UK affiliate USDAW and UNI-Europa Commerce President said, "This was a positive and productive meeting with a variety of experiences being shared among Tesco unions. Going forward it's important that we monitor industrial relations in all countries where Tesco operates so that we can build a list of best practices. Naturally, labour relations takes on a different flavour in each country due to national and cultural differences but there is no reason why Tesco's best labour relations practices cannot become the norm in all countries. This will be a positive development for Tesco and all its stakeholders."