District 8 Director Thompson received the following correspondence from the Swiss union UNIA regarding overseas solidarity for locked-out members in Clarksburg, WV at EuropTec:
United Steelworkers USW
District 8
c/o Director Ernest Thompson
via e-mail
Dear Colleague Ernest
We refer to your e-mail dated 13 September 2016. On behalf of our organisation we send you our warmest greetings and express our fullest solidarity with our colleagues at EuropTec in Clarksburg.
It is scandalous but true that some companies are so profit-oriented that they stamp on the fundamental rights of their workforce and feel that they are even above democratically legitimised jurisdiction. It is therefore essential that we fight such conduct wherever and whenever it occurs. This is why the battle waged by our colleagues in Clarksburg is also a battle for us here in Switzerland! We thank you and wish you courage and strength in this difficult time. Our thoughts and feelings of solidarity are with you.
We will bring the scandalous events at your subsidiary to the attention of Glas Trösch and demand that they use their influence at EuropeTec to order the management board to end the illegal lockout and begin talks with the workforce and U SW.
We ask you, dear Ernest, to convey our message to your colleagues. You can be assured of our full solidarity and count on our support!
Yours in solidarity
Corrado Pardini, Industry Sector Head, Member of the Unia MB
Christian Gusset, Sector Head MEM Industry
Gewerkschaft Unia
Zentralsekretariat
Barbara Bringhen
Assistentin Sektor Industrie
Weltpoststrasse 20, Postfach 272
3000 Bern 15, Schweiz
T +41 31 350 23 67
F +41 31 350 22 55
barbara.bringhen@unia.ch
www.unia.ch
Letter to the attention of Glas Trösc: PDF