Workers at the Ford Vsevolzhsk plant brought production to a halt for one day to persuade management into a collective agreement that would fix working hours and limit outsourcing.
Photo: Nikita Infantyev
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Dispute at Ford’s St. Petersburg Plant Settled
Management of Ford’s St. Petersburg-based plant and its trade union reached a deal Wednesday night on conditions and pay at the factory. Workers managed to secure several long-awaited concessions. Ford’s management has also sounded satisfied with the outcome, though it will have to spend additional $4.5 million a year on higher wages.
The trade union has signed a one-year collective agreement with management, Alexey Etmanov, leader of the trade union at the Ford Vsevolzhsk plant outside St. Petersburg plant, told Kommersant Thursday. The management offered further concessions, including additional pay and vacations, but talks for more concessions will continue, Mr. Etmanov said.
Workers at the Ford Vsevolzhsk plant staged a strike early February, bringing production to a halt for one day, to persuade management into a collective agreement that would fix working hours and limit outsourcing.
“The signing of this collective agreement is very good news for the both sides,” said Theo Streit, the plant’s director general, in a statement.
Following the deal Ford will have to spend the average of $4.5 million a year for higher wages along, experts estimate.
The deal is yet another victory for the trade union which managed to secure a wage increase of between 14 and 17 percent in September 2005 after staging two strikes.
The success of St. Petersburg trade union has encouraged others. Pyotr Zolotarev, leader of the Unity independent trade union at Russia’s largest car marker AvtoVAZ, says the workers at VAZ are also determined to seek better working conditions.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 02, 2007
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