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The essence of this contract dispute is that Solid Security refuses to pay into the Social Fund which provides supplemental healthcare and vacation benefits for children of security workers. Although virtually all major Polish security companies in the Warsaw market pay into this fund, which was previously mandated, by law, Solid has told Solidarnosc, we don't have to pay, we don't want to, and so we won't.



The situation at the bargaining table has continued to deteriorate. IKEA Poland, which contracts with Solid Security, is now directly assisting Solid in their effort to intimidate workers and to undermine the union. Specifically, workers have been called into IKEA management offices in Warsaw and questioned one-on-one by their Solid Security managers and presented with a letter that they have been asked to sign which says that they want to withdraw their membership from the union. Solidarnosc assumes these letters will be used in negotiations to attempt to claim that Solidarnosc has lost worker support. Solidarnosc and UNI allies around the globe has been distributing this flyer, which uses IKEA's "Save the Children" theme to point out the irony that Solidarnosc contract dispute is over benefits for children.



Flyers have been distributed at IKEA stores in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. In some instances, IKEA management threatened to call the police if the leafletters didn’t leave. Other times IKEA management chose to pretend the leafleting was not happening, and, in one case in W. Europe, IKEA management served the leafletters coffee and shared their own outrage over the activities in Poland.



We know that clients of cleaning and security companies are often intimately involved in decisions around collective bargaining involving their contractors. Contractors' margins are low in property services so contractors typically talk with their clients about whether these cost increases can be passed along through increased contract rates. In this case, sadly, IKEA Poland (to their economic benefit) has completely supported the regressive position of their contractor.



In a letter (to see letter please click on “Related Files”) to UNI Property Services dated 23 November 2009, IKEA Poland’s support of their contractor was unequivocal. They said they only require their providers to pay, “legally mandated benefits to which they are entitled under Polish labour law.” They also added, however, that IKEA does not intend to change their business partners, “even if the market conditions of the current world’s crises may provide us with opportunities such as lowering the cost of our operations.” Lowering costs is not really at the top of the list of concerns, since Solid Security currently financially undercuts every other major security firm in Warsaw. But, this response is consistent with IKEA Poland’s stated anti-union position regarding their own commerce staff organizing with Solidarnosc. They have said they don’t want a union at IKEA Poland.



So, this fight continues. Stay tuned for additional opportunities to support the members of Solidarnosc as they push on for a fair collective agreement.





Action in Poland (Solidarnosc) and in the Netherlands (FNV Bondgenoten)







Action in Australia (LHMU) and in Spain (FeS-UGT)







Action in the US (SEIU 6) and in Switzerland (UNI)







Actions in Ireland (SIPTU) and the US (SEIU 49)