Europe Inc: strike and be sacked

January 20, 1993
Issue 

By Gina Rogers

The Hague — A continuing dispute between a Dutch multinational and British workers has alarmed trade unionists on both sides of the channel. Many of those involved see the case as an indicator of the future weakening of trade unions throughout a more unified Europe.

Three years ago, notorious union buster Robert Maxwell sacked 23 workers at Pergamon Press near Oxford for striking over union recognition. The sackings de-unionised the workplace.

After continued action by the Pergamon 23, Maxwell attempted to appease them by offering a financial settlement, which was refused on principle. Maxwell in 1991 sold Pergamon to the Dutch company Elsevier, which initially refused to negotiate with the strikers, then bullied them into accepting a lower cash settlement.

Seven of the strikers decided to take the dispute to Elsevier management in Holland, who dodged responsibility, claiming that they would have to fight the issue in England under English law.

The seven then approached print unions in Elsevier Holland to expose their double standards. Many Dutch workers were alarmed by the case and joined the seven in their campaign for union recognition. Together, they have formed the "Justice Campaign".

Ingrid Schutte, chair of the campaign, is quoted in its recent newsletter as saying, "If a major Dutch employer like Elsevier can succeed with denying basic union rights to its British workplace ... what will this mean for Elsevier's Dutch work force? ... Either they lose their jobs or accept wages and conditions closer to those being imposed in Britain. And if Elsevier can succeed with that, how many other Dutch companies will do the same?"

Under the Maastricht treaty on closer economic and political ties, currently being ratified through back doors, it will be easier for any European company to move to the EC member country with the cheapest labour; but there is nothing in the treaty which protects workers' rights or unions. This makes it easy for companies to undermine labour regulations in those countries with stronger unions.

Currently, England is attractive to large companies because a dozen years of Tory anti-union legislation have weakened

collective strength among workers. The government has even gone so far as to develop a package for foreign investors advertising the benefits of its cheap, unorganised labour force and guaranteeing trouble-free unions.

Reed International, Elsevier's new parent company, has used these conditions to make individual contracts that reduce wages throughout its Oxford print shops.

Ailko Van der Veen, also from the Justice Campaign, talked to Â鶹´«Ã½ about Dutch unions. In Holland, there are stronger laws relating to unions, particularly protecting striking workers from sacking and guaranteeing union involvement in wage agreements.

"But the union leaders don't like action, and union membership is low", says Van der Veen, "so it is important to inform workers at Elsevier of this struggle and its repercussions for de-unionised work forces. This has become one of our broader aims.

"It is not just the issue of jobs being taken from one EC country to another that's our concern, because this can become a nationalist debate. It is the basic right of unions to be recognised that becomes a European-wide issue under Maastricht."

For this reason, the Dutch Justice Campaign is working closely with a similar organisation in England, formed as a result of the Pergamon dispute. Collectively, their main aim is to fight for union recognition and rights to action throughout the Elsevier group.

Van der Veen sees it as a specific issue that has broader implications and needs to be used as a concrete example to alert Dutch, English and European workers to the importance of their unions and the threats to workers' conditions.

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