T&G Polish members join British Tesco protests

ireland / britain | workplace struggles | press release Wednesday August 03, 2005 23:25 by Ewa Jasiewicz - T & G 020 7611 2549

Transport and General Workers’ Union has announced that its Polish members in TESCOs will be joining the solidarity pickets with the Polish workers in Dublin TESCOs.

T&G Polish members join nationwide Tesco protest

Polish members of the Transport and General Workers’ Union will be joining solidarity protests outside Tescos stores tomorrow in support of two sacked Polish agency workers. Radek Sawicki and Zbyszek Bukala were employed by the agency Grafton as warehouse operatives working for the Tesco’s Greenhills Road distribution centre in Dublin, and were sacked after a series of protest actions. Tomorrow there will be a picket at Tesco on Baggot Street (near Stephens Green) at 6pm and solidarity protests will take place at the same time at Tesco Metro, St Johns Shopping Centre, Liverpool City Centre; and in London, Glasgow and Oxford.

Sawicki and Bukala had been protesting over the different pay rates for agency workers (350 per week compared to 500 per week for contracted staff), and the continuous raising of daily production targets for picking boxes in the Tesco warehouse, which rose from 750 to 800, to 900 and then 1,000. Sawicki is also a member of Irish union SIPTU which is taking Grafton and Tesco to court for exploitation of workers and unfair dismissal of a Polish worker respectively.

Ewa Jasiewicz, T&G Organiser, said:

“Polish workers in the UK have the same legal rights to fair pay, dignity at work, holidays and insurance as British workers yet despite Poland's accession to the EU in May 2004, Polish workers are still being exploited. With the self-organisation and solidarity growing between migrant and domestic workers, we know this will come to an end.”

Solidarity protests will take place at the following stores, and activists are encouraged to initiate their own protests (for campaign contacts call the T&G Press Office):
London, outside Hackney Tesco, Morning Lane E9 6pm
Glasgow, Argyle Street Tesco, Lanarkshire G2 6pm
Oxford, Cowley Road Tesco, Oxfordshire, OX4 6pm