IBM 100 years - time for workers' rights

14/06/2011

On IBM’s 100^th birthday, workers ask the company to respect their rights

To mark IBM’s 100^th birthday, IBM trade union members have produced a happy birthday video, in which they tell the company it should treat its workers better in its next century.

Global Action Day on 14 June 2011!

IBM unions from around the world have come together to form the IBM Global Union Alliance through the International Metalworkers’ Federation, European Metalworkers’ Federation and UNI Global Union to demand that the company respect worker and trade union rights wherever it operates.

On June 14, IBM unions across the world unite in common action to call on the company to recognise the vital role played by IBMers in the company's success and to respect their rights.

Despite its early history of valuing its workforce, IBM has more recently taken to systematically denying basic rights to its employees.

Wherever it can, it fights the right of employees to choose to join a union. It has also denied employees pay rises in some countries that keep pace with increases in the cost of living.

Last year the global unions sent IBM CEO Sam Palmisano a letter alerting him to company management’s violations of the labour code in Bulgaria when it threatened workers who tried to form a union and refused to recognise the union as it is legally obligated to do. The global unions asked him to intervene. To date no reply has been received.

Now the global unions have written to Sam Palmisano again, to remind him that working conditions at IBM vary greatly depending on where you are in the world.

Trade unions are also asking him to meet with us in person to discuss how to improve the company's performance on worker rights. While IBM is in the top league in many international rankings of its business, it ranks near the bottom of the list when it comes to working conditions. This must change as IBM enters its second century of operations.

IBM employees and their unions today celebrate the contribution made by employees to the company's success and call upon IBM to reciprocate by fully recognising the basic rights of its workforce.

For further information please contact:

Lorenzo De Santis: Lorenzo.DeSantis@uniglobalunion.org, mobile: +41 79 656 68 69

Jenny Holdcroft: JHoldcroft@imfmetal.org, mobile: +41 79 616 0103