«As part of the upcoming collective agreement, Ikea Richmond employees followed the pay plan too quickly, which increased staff costs far more than the rest of the country,» Madeleine Lowenborg-Frick, a spokeswoman for the company, told The Globe and Mail. «We need to start by reconciling the wage developments at Ikea Richmond with the rest of Canada.» The agreement, valid for three years, includes recognition of the union as an exclusive bargaining body, leave for trade union activities, paternity leave, ikea goods rebate, child care leave and personal hospitalization. The company continued to commit to a collective agreement that will support the long-term success of the IKEA Richmond subsidiary, while providing higher wages and benefits than industry standards for all employees. IKEA is looking forward to welcoming everyone back. «When the CBA ended about a year ago, a large majority of employees at an IKEA subsidiary in Richmond, Canada, refused to sign the new agreement. IKEA blocked workers from their workplaces because they would not sign the new agreement. The 10-year agreement that ended the lockout was the result of a binding conciliation negotiated by Vince Ready. The union and IKEA management have agreed on binding conditions set by Ready. The workers did not vote on the contract. A series of major disagreements with its own workers in countries outside Sweden, including an 8-month lockout in Canada, is ruining IKEA`s image as a model employer and ethical company. Alke Boessiger, Head of United Trade, said: «This is an important agreement for the UNI Malaysia Labour Centre, UNI-Apro and UNI Score. We want these best practices to apply to IKEA jobs around the world, so that hardworking employees can participate in the overall success of the company. IKEA`s lockout was an attempt to rewrite the collective agreement, as union leader Dot Tompkins said.

In Canada, Richmond store employees have been locked out for more than 8 months due to a collective dispute between their union The Teamsters and local management. UNI plays a role in the conflict, but no solution has yet been found. In Turkey, a plan to strengthen relations between local management and the Koop-Is trade union and to fully implement workers` rights for union membership and collective bargaining at the local and global level is still being discussed. Under the expired collective agreement, Ikea Richmond employees must work 15 hours to qualify for performance coverage. The company had offered workers to pay 15 to 23 hours a week at 80 percent for themselves. Malaysian workers celebrate this week after IKEA-Malaysia signed its first collective agreement with a union. IKANO Pte Ltd, which owns and operates IKEA subsidiaries in the Southeast Asian country, signed the contract with the employees` union on 30 December. To read the full article in Swedish, click here: www.dn.se/ekonomi/ikea-anklagas-f UNI is asking IKEA to sign a comprehensive agreement guaranteeing good standards and workers` rights across the multinational`s global activities.