News

UNI Global Union welcomes the news that workers at the Swedwood factory in Danville, Virginia, have successfully won union representation after an overwhelming vote in favour of joining the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW).



This is the second recent victory for organising at multinationals in the US after a group of T-Mobile USA workers in Connecticut, won a union election to be represented by the Communications Workers of America. Both Ikea and Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s parent company, respect union rights in their home country but hired union busters in the US to keep their operations there union free.



“This marks the second big defeat for union-busting companies in a week,” said UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings. “This is a testament to the strength and courage of US workers. We will continue to support them globally so more can win union rights in the US and around the world.”



UNI was encouraged to see the success at Swedwood for the factory workers to organise as it works with its unions around the world to ensure that all the workers in Ikea stores have union rights as well. The Swedwood workers represented by the IAMAW and other Ikea factory workers are represented at the international level by Building and Wood Workers International (BWI). Ikea’s retail workers are represented by unions affiliated to UNI.



“The global support, especially from the home country unions in Sweden certainly helped these workers tremendously,” Jennings said. “Global solidarity is the key to winning more union rights with multinationals.”



You can find more information on the BWI website here.



The photo above is one of many sent by supporters of the Swedwood workers to show their solidarity with the brothers and sisters of Danville. You can see more photos here.