Press Communication, 1 March 2010
The Swedish state-owned company Vattenfall is asking its German workers to cut in wages and benefits, to open existing collective agreements and to agree to major outsourcing so these companies are no longer covered by the collective agreement. The workers in the company contributed to 1.8 billion Euros profits and are now asked to keep their demands low so profits and dividends can be kept high. The workers are saying NO. To underline this point EPSU affiliate Verdi will organize a large demonstration in front of the Swedish embassy in Berlin on 3 March. The workers want to underline the responsibility of the owner: the Swedish state.
“Vattenfall workers can not accept that the company keeps its profit targets unchanged and goes to look for the money from its employees”, says EPSU Deputy General Secretary Jan Willem Goudriaan. “We expect more of a company that puts its Corporate Social Responsibility so high, or is this one other company that whitewashes its corporate image and basically cares just about reaping in money even if at the expense of its employees ?”
EPSU expresses its solidarity with the German workers and will follow the outcome of the conflict together with workers in other countries where Vattenfall is active such as Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and UK.
For more information on the action see here
For the good results of Vattenfal click here
Contacts for more information:
Jan Willem Goudriaan, EPSU, +32 2 2501080 or by email: [email protected]
- Swedish newspaper article on German action: Vattenfall dumpar loner I Tyskland (Vattenfall dumps wages in Germany)
Article of SEKO in support www.seko.se
- Review of German press on Verdi action in Vattenfall
- Position of the Verdi collective bargaining committee
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