News

Workers in Malaysia are celebrating this week after IKEA-Malaysia signed its first collective agreement with a trade union. IKANO Pte Ltd, which owns and operates IKEA stores in the Southeast Asian country, signed the deal with the employees union on 30th December.

The agreement, which is effective for three years, includes recognition of the union as an exclusive bargaining body, time off for union activities, paternity leave, co-workers discount on IKEA goods, child care leave and a personal accident and hospitalisation plan.

Mohamed Shafie President of the UNI-Malaysia Labour Centre (UNI-MLC) said, “It was a difficult task for UNI-MLC initially to organize these workers but subsequently with all our hard work and God's grace we managed to increase the membership number. The company then gave us voluntary recognition and now we have completed the final step that is to sign the first Collective Agreement.”

“From now on UNI-MLC and the union will hold several meetings with the members to explain the achievements and content of the Collective Agreement.”

IKEA is coming under increased pressure to tackle the anti-worker culture present throughout its global network. The UNI IKEA Global Union Alliance has stepped up its activities in key countries to make IKEA understand that workers rights are not for sale.

The Alliance, with its network of 40 unions and IKEA workers from 16 countries says the company has failed to live up to the values it holds up at home and has highlighted grave inconsitencies in IKEA’s approach to workers’ rights abroad. There is a clear division between IKEA’s Nordic operations where workers rights are largely respected and further afield where they are often ignored and abused.

In Canada, workers at the Richmond store have been locked out for more than 8 months over a collective bargaining conflict between their union The Teamsters and local management. UNI is mediating in the conflict but a solution has not yet been found. In Turkey, a plan to build relations between local management and the union Koop-Is and to fully implement worker rights to join a union and bargain collectively is still in the process of being discussed on local and global level.

Alke Boessiger, Head of UNI Commerce said, “This is a momentous agreement for the UNI Malaysia Labour Centre, UNI-Apro and UNI Score. We want these good practices to be applied to IKEA workplaces the world over so that hardworking employees get to share in the company’s global success.”