BY JONAS ANDERSON
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Workers here are waging a fight for
union recognition at Toys 'R Us, a U.S.-based multinational
company with outlets in the three biggest cities in
Sweden - Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmo. The company
refuses to negotiate with the Handelsanstalldas Forbund
(retail workers union). The employer also refuses to sign a
contract giving its workers the same wages, working hours,
and workers compensation that other members of the union
receive. Toys 'R Us wants a tailor-made contract for itself
or no contract at all.
The union struck May 16 after launching a nationwide boycott May 9. About 75 percent of the workers are members of the union and some have joined in the course of the fight.
Newly hired workers must sign for receipt of the Toys 'R Us Employee Manual. In so doing, each individual pledges to abide by the manual. The booklet states the company has the right to unilaterally change wages and working conditions. Workers must also pledge to tell supervisors if they suspect co-workers of theft or hear anybody "speak ill" of the company or supervisors. Anyone finking on a co-worker is eligible for a bonus. If they don't they can be fired. Mere suspicion of theft is cause for dismissal.
The manual has a chapter stipulating workers cannot engage in any open debate, speak publicly about the company, or talk about union activities at the stores. Starting wage for workers is $7 an hour and the average is $9 an hour. Those who don't join the union receive a $1.50-an-hour bonus.
Seven national unions have come out in support of Handelsanstalldas Forbund. The seafarers, transport workers, and public employees unions have stopped all shipping and transportation to and from the three Toys 'R Us stores. The electricians, maintenance, and municipal workers unions have ceased all maintenance, cleaning, and garbage collection at the stores. The bank employees union stopped handling the company's financial transactions, including daily sales deposits.
Handelsanstalldas Forbund put up picket lines outside the three outlets urging customers not to shop there. The pickets are union officials, unemployed members of the union, and unionists from other workplaces who have taken time off or come after work. The strikers themselves don't walk the picket line for fear of harassment from the company.
Pickets hand out fliers to potential customers urging them to "Stand by the retail workers! Don't shop at Toys 'R Us!" The number of customers has decreased markedly during the action; when the boycott was turned into a strike even more people responded favorably.
Few cars are parked at the huge lot outside the Stockholm store. Pickets report that those who actually do shop are mostly people with infants. The company offers Pampers-brand diapers at a sharply reduced price.
Therese Karlsson is a union member who walks the picket line every day. She was fired from Toys 'R Us earlier this year. "I was hired on probation for six months. I thought that was okay. I was confident that in six months I could qualify for a permanent job. I worked 20 hours a week. But sometimes I would do 40 hours overtime. During December I worked my 20 hours per week plus another 60 hours. I was never sick and I never reported in late. But two weeks before my probation ran out they told me I was fired and said straight to my face that they would rather hire somebody else on probation than hire me permanently. They don't give you a chance," said Karlsson.
Another worker, interviewed on national television, said she felt deprived of her democratic rights. She said she was guarded all the time and that her privacy and integrity were trampled on. "I want to work more than anything else, but not under the conditions they offer," she stated.
Toys 'R Us, which has outlets in the United States, China, Japan, and most European countries, has never agreed to collective bargaining in Europe. Unions in Denmark waged a struggle to force the company to sign a contract last year, but failed. So the stakes are high in the current strike in Sweden. It is very unusual for companies here to operate without union contracts.
Only a few small companies are not covered by union agreements. When McDonald's was established in Sweden more than a decade ago it tried to run nonunion. But after only a short while the company was forced to sign a contract. Toys 'R Us is the first large company to attempt to operate nonunion since then.
Jonas Anderson is a member of the municipal workers union in Stockholm. Anita Ostling is a member of the transport workers union in Stockholm.