Ford Vsevolozhsk union organizer Alexey Etmanov (right) with Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov (with microphone), February 14, 2006
Photo: Íèêèòà Èíôàíòüåâ
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German Workers Support Russian Ford Strike
Workers went on strike yesterday at the Ford Vsevolozhsk plant. A day's standstill causes a loss of $3.6-4 million. To minimize the consequences of the strike, Ford plans to import cars assembled in Europe to Russia. The German union at the Ford Co. intends to foil those plans, however. Strikers say that they have the support of Federation Council speaker Sergey Mironov, who is supposed to meet with the strikers tomorrow morning. Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov has also expressed his support.
The Ford Focus, the most popular foreign car in Russia, is made at the Vsevolozhsk plant. The strike there began at midnight at a change of shift. “Participants in the strike just sat on the benches and talked the whole time. Those who wanted to worked,” a worker at the plant told Kommersant. “Shift leaders tried to organize the work of strikebreakers, but without success.” Production has now stopped at the plant, according to plant public relations manager Kulinenko. Workers say the strike will last until midnight, February 15, that is 24 hours after it starts, when it will be interrupted to hold negotiations.
This is not the first conflict between labor and management at the plant. In September 2005, workers demanded a 30-percent pay raise. In the following eight months of negotiations, workers held an hour-long strike and a week-long work slowdown that reduced output by a quarter, or 300 cars. A 14-17 percent pay raise came from those negotiations. A Leningrad Region court has ruled that the strike is illegal.
The new strike was announced after management refused to sign a collective contract drafted by trade unions that made several additional demands. The management counteroffer was considered insufficient.
Cars dealers are not frightened by the strike. “The plant shutdown will not make the wait for a car any more than a few weeks longer,” said Sergey Petrosyan, director of Rolf-Carline. Ford has announced plans to import 1700 cars to Russia from Germany and Spain on February 18. German unions have stated that cars from German plants will not be used to undermine the strike in St. Petersburg, but have not mentioned how they will prevent that from happening. Chief union organizer in Vsevolozhsk Alexey Etmanov was also unable to say how that could be accomplished.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Feb. 15, 2007
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