A global union active in the UK, USA and Canada is challenging Crown Holdings’ ‘aggressive’ behaviour towards some of its employees around the world.
A partnership between United Steelworkers (USW) and Unite, Workers Uniting is campaigning on behalf of Crown workers across the world against job losses and worsening working conditions and standards.
Workers Uniting has written to Crown CEO John Conway questioning the company’s approach when dealing with UK workers that it says led to ‘numerous industrial disputes over the last 12 months’.
Also at issue is the metal packaging company’s ‘confrontational’ approach to bargaining in Canada, where Crown has already closed several plants and threatened to shift more production work out of the country if workers do not agree to concessions, according to the union.
“The employer, increasingly aggressive and confrontational, is trying to pit worker against worker as the company searches for the highest profit and the lowest pay and other standards,” said Ken Neumann, national director of USW in Canada.
Workers Uniting says it wants to see a more constructive approach to industrial relations and has offered to meet with the Crown senior management to discuss the concerns of workers.
“We are sending a clear message to the Crown CEO that we will stand united in challenging their hostility which is proving to be damaging to their workforce,” added Unite joint general secretary Derek Simpson.
On this development, Crown’s European HR director George Strelczuk told Packaging Today: “I have no comment whatsoever.”
Crown has operations in 41 countries which employ more than 21,000 people.
