Spinneys
Mr. Michael Wright, CEO
Al Mankhool Street
P.O. Box 677
Bur Dubai, Dubai
UAE
Fax: +971 4 3555261
Nyon, 19 November 2012
Dear Mr. Wright,
I am writing to you to express our deep
concern over the recent events at Spinneys
Lebanon where workers got retaliated against
when they requested the implementation of
the legal minimum wage increase.
UNI is the Global Union for Skills and
Services. We represent 900 unions and 20 million
workers worldwide, including the retail
sector.
It is my understanding that the Lebanese
government issued a decision in January 2012
to increase the existing minimum wage. This
minimum wage applies to all the private
sector in the country, but your company has refused to implement the
governmental
decree.
I have been informed that your company has
dismissed workers that demanded you
implemented the minimum wage rise, hereby
violating national and international
legislation on labour rights.
In addition I have been informed that some
of your employees have to actually pay a daily
fee to the company in order to retain their
jobs as baggers. These workers are not paid by
the company and thus have to live of tips
from shoppers. When the workers took action
against this abuse your company has again
targeted those workers by threatening them.
The International Labour Organisation has
already condemned your company's actions in
its statement of 31 August 2012 which we
fully support. As the global representative of
millions of retail workers around the world
I am calling on you to immediately stop your
anti-worker and anti-union practices. The
dismissed workers must be re-instated.
Furthermore we demand you to implement the
national minimum wage of Lebanon with
immediate effect and backdated to the
beginning of 2012.
Should your company not comply with our
demands by the 30th of November 2012 we will
take further measures, including using our
contacts with the Lebanese government and
other governments in the region as well as
alerting the international institutions to your
case.
Yours sincerely
Alke Boessiger
Head
of UNI Commerce
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