News

As Mayr-Melnhof stretches out its lockout of employees at its packaging plant in Bootle, Merseyside, UK, UNI Global Union is demanding that the company act responsibly and end an action which goes against UK and European legal obligations.



UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings and Head of UNI Graphical and Packaging Steve Walsh have written to the CEO of Austrian company Mayr-Melnhof Packaging (MMP) urging the packaging multinational to reinstate the 149 dismissed UK workers, re-open the Bootle factory and negotiate with UNITE in good faith.



“MMP has acted disgracefully but it is not too late for them to do what is morally and legally right,” Walsh said. “Reinstate the Bootle workers, reopen the plant and negotiate with UNITE. UNI urges MMP to reconsider in the spirit of ‘Mitbestimmung’, or codetermination, and respect for its loyal workforce in Europe and beyond.”



UNI is supporting its UK affiliate Unite, which says the letters MMP local management sent to workers at the Bootle factory informing them of the company’s unilateral decision to dismiss them and close the factory are a clear violation of British law. Unite has not been consulted over the decision to close the MMP site and this breaches both UK and European legal obligations.



“MMP is a major multinational in the paper and packing sectors with 32 factories in 15 countries in Europe, South America, the Middle East and North Africa,” Jennings said. “It is one of the few multinationals headquartered in Austria, which has a long history of social partnership. But instead of exporting these values, it is disgracing itself and the country and behaving like yet another unaccountable multinational that thinks it can abuse and attack workers’ rights whenever and wherever it wants to.”



Unite has announced that it is filing suit against these unfair practices. UNI is urging MMP not to wait for court action but to act now and do what is right and end the lockout imposed on 18 February and enter into discussions with the union to negotiate a fair agreement on redundancies.



Unite is also calling on the Norwegian government, which is a shareholder in the Bootle company, and other shareholders to ensure that complies with its obligation under UK and European law to engage in talks with Unite before closing the plant. The Norwegian government is known as an ethical investor that has high standards for the companies it invests in.



Some of the UK workers have been at the Bootle factory for 30 years. UNI believes MMP should value this kind of loyalty rather than punishing it with summary dismissal.



UNI, which represents almost 1 million graphical and packaging workers worldwide, has been following the issues at the MMP factory in Bootle very closely and will provide all its support to the colleagues there so that they win a fair and positive outcome.



“UNI will stand shoulder to shoulder with our colleagues in the UK to fight this attack on union rights and demand MMP management obey the law and international labour standards and engage in real dialogue with Unite,” Jennings said.