Coalition of Unions file complain against IKEA with Dutch NCP of OECD following allegations of union-busting tactics at stores in USA, Ireland and Portugal
“Union are accusing IKEA of cracking down on Massachusetts workers in a series of ‘captive-audience’ meetings featuring fear-mongering PowerPoints”, 03 October 2018
A coalition of unions led by UNI Global Union … filed a joint complaint against the Netherlands-based company with the Dutch national contact point of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development guidelines for multinational enterprises on September 27.
The complaint alleges that the furniture retailer's "failure of due diligence" permitted local management to quash organizing efforts at stores in Stoughton, Massachusetts; Dublin, Ireland; and Lisbon, Portugal…
… [N]one of [the IKEA stores in the US] are unionized, though some of IKEA’s US warehousing operations are…
In 2015, 32 "goods-flow" employees at the IKEA store in Stoughton … made an attempt to change that…
The Dutch OECD complaint alleges that the Stoughton management team counterattacked with "an aggressive anti-union campaign”…
The UFCW alleged … IKEA's [attempted] to discourage workers against unionizing with so-called "captive-audience" meetings…
… During the meetings, the UFCW alleged, management disparaged collective bargaining…
… [T]he regional NLRB found "merit in charges that IKEA's management unlawfully interrogated employees about their union activities and sympathies."
The complaint alleges that the actions on the part of IKEA management in Massachusetts infringed on OECD guidelines…
In a statement released to Business Insider following the filing of the OECD complaint, an IKEA representative said: "We are committed to providing a great place to work, permeated by a spirit of collaboration, dignity and respect for all coworkers. We respect and welcome the free choice of our coworkers to seek representation through any kind of coworker association. Our position on union representation is clear — we firmly believe that the freedom of choice exclusively belongs to each and every one of our coworkers, and we will not take side or express preference to any association."