Tuesday 28 February 2012

Solidarity with Repressed Unionist at Hotel Sobieski (Radisson)

On February 28 we went to a picket at the Hotel Sobieski in Warsaw (part of the Radisson chain) in defense of a repressed unionist. Malgorzata, who had worked for 19 years in the hotel, was dismissed last year on a bullshit pretext after being harrassed by anti-union hotel management. First, she found herself demoted: the management liquidated her job and offered her a job as a dishwasher. To be reassigned this job, she needed a health certificate, but when she didn't get it, she was summarily dismissed for disciplinary reasons.

Malgorzata was the union rep in the hotel. The new management had just before that started a campaign of harrassing unionists. The new management had a hostile attitude towards the union. Also, they wanted to avoid some provisions of the collective agreement which would have given workers like Malgorzata, who had worked for the hotel since it opened, a bonus upon completing 20 years of service.

More pickets are planned at the hotel and possibly internationally.