“We want to work with dignity,” Stokrotka supermarket workers emphasised during a protest on 29 April in front of one of the Lublin stores belonging to the Lithuanian chain. Stokrotka employees demand an improvement in working conditions but the company’s management does not notice their problems and does not conduct a fair dialogue with the trade unions. Approximately 11,000 employees work in the Stokrotka company stores in Poland.
The banners brought by the protesters included slogans such as: “We have had enough. We want normality” and “The employee is the best investment”. They brought a pallet filled with sacks of potatoes, reaching 2 meters high, symbolising the weight that store employees have to unload every day.
During the protest, Alicja Symbor, the chairwoman of UNI affiliate Solidarność, which represents Stokrotka workers, pointed out that the Lublin store previously had 50 employees, but its staff had been reduced by 40 per cent. “They added self-service checkouts, but cut staff. They also cut staff at the traditional stand, but added baking. Previously, it was delivered,” she said. She also noted that with the reduced level of employment, the opening hours of the store were extended. At first, the store was open from 7am to 9pm Now it is from 6am to 10pm, and on Saturdays until 11pm.
Another problem is Stokrotka’s violation of health and safety regulations. For instance, employees to buy their own work shoes. The employer reimburses the expense incurred for this purpose in installments, which also applies to newly employed people who have not yet received their salary.
“We will try to make our colleagues from Europe and around the world find out how the Lithuanian employer treats employees in Poland. We want dialogue, we want to improve working conditions in this company,” said Alfred Bujara, chairman of the National Secretariat of Banks, Commerce and Insurance of Solidarność, who also represents the union in international structures, including UNI Europa and UNI Global Union.