Media’ s interest in the project
After the seminar: Women’s labour rights protection in super/hypermarkets in Poland our research and recommended by the SAAB amendments to the Polish labour law and its implemantation, which may have a significant impact on more effective protection of the employees rights of women employed in super/hypermarkets, met grand media interest.
Articles published by Polish Press Agency (PAP) and Informational Radio Agency (IAR) appeared in the biggest newspapers, e.g. Gazeta Wyborcza, Rzeczpospolita, Dziennik, Gazeta Prawna as well as in Krytyka Polityczna and popular economic, business and dedicated to labour market issues internet portals. The articles, what is worth to mention, were widely commented by the internauts. Information was published by TV service TVP.Info as well as by national radio stations: Polish Radio Program3 or Radio ESKA. The news appeared on the web pages of Center for Women’s Rights and Feminoteka, which are the most often read www pages of the women NGOs in Poland. Different trade unions portals also described the event and the SAAB recommendations.
Gazeta Wyborcza, 15.01.2009
Research in supermarkets – mobbing and blackmailing the employees
Failure to observe the labour law regulations about working time, unwillingness to give annual leaves, forcing to carry overcharge or mobbing – these are the most common infringements of the labour law in supermarkets. Today the results of the research: „Situation of women employed in the super/hypermarkets” were presented.
The research showed that the employees rights in supermarkets are still violated and the system of its protection fails. Problems relate especially to women as they represent about 90 percent of the general number of employees in supermarkets.
Mobbing is common
- Mobbing, that is deterring and demean, of the super/hypermarkets’ employees is so common that it can be considered as the element of the human resource management policy in such shops – says Aleksandra Solik from the KARAT Coalition working in favour for supermarkets employees’ rights protection.
The most frequent form of mobbing is punishing the employees who claim their rights with the unfavourable working schedule. In the inteviews within the research repeated stories about threats of dismisses and difficulties in getting the annual leave the employees were entitled to.
Less people, more work
The hipermarkets’ employees underlined also that less and less people is employed but it is more and more work to do. Currently, in the shop where I am employed, half as much people is working so they have twice as much work. The salaries stayed the same – says Elzbieta Fornalczyk from Tesco in the region of Silesia.
Bigger shops are better controlled
The biggest number of the employees rights’ infringements takes place in the middle size supermarkets and grocer’s disconts. The employees of the biggest shops are in relatively better situation as these shops are often controlled. It is less common situation there that „double working schedules” exist: one – official for the labour inspectors and the second one for the management of the company only, where one can obviously affirmed that working time norms are abused.
How to improve the situation of the supermarkets’ employees? The KARAT Coalition wants to promote changes in the labour law that will prolong from three to five years the period of the termination of actions agains the employer who broke the law. The experts also convince that the situation could be better if the National Labour Inspectorate controls would be more frequent and unannounced.
The research was conducted in 2008 in a form of group and individual interviews with women employed in supermarkets in Krakow, Olsztyn, Tychy and Warszawa.
rik, IAR, PAP
Translation: KARAT
2009-01-27
Media’s interest in the project
The KARAT Coalition’s report on working conditions and employees’ rights violations in the super/hyper markets in Poland: “Situation of women employed in super/hyper markets in Poland” met great media and National Labour Inspectorate interest. Several articles regarding the current situation of supermarkets’ employees and workers’ rights violations that were recognised there thanks to KARAT Coalition research were published in the local and national newspapers (Dziennik Polski Kraków, Dziennik). The radio braodcast from 26 October 2008 „Better late than never” in the radio station TOK FM, providing information and news, was also dedicated to those issues. The interest of media in our research, report and employees’ situation in the super/ hyper markets is a sign that the problem of breaking labour code and difficult working conditions in super/hyper markets concerns the Polish society as a whole.
2008-10-27
.jpg)
.jpg){kind=logo}
.gif){kind=logo}
(3).jpg){kind=small}
(3).jpg){kind=logo}
.jpg)
.jpg)
