For 5 long years workers at the Unilever factory in Doom Dooma, Assam, India have been denied the right to freely choose the union they wish to represent them to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment. An agreement signed between the IUF and Unilever under the auspices of the UK government in 2010 set out procedures for rectifying this situation. Workers were to be given the possibility to choose their union in conditions of security and anonymity; the results were to be verified by a mutually-agreed third-party. The majority union would negotiate the new collective agreement when the one stitched up between management and the union they created in the course of the brutal 2007 lockout [1] expired this year.
This was a straightforward commitment from Unilever, with ample time for implementation. Since the agreement was signed, Unilever management has engaged in an endless series of delays and provocations to ensure that this agreement would not be implemented. Most recently, on June 19, Unilever Indian management orchestrated a dangerous provocation to show its contempt for the workers, their union and the agreement signed with the IUF. The company is preparing to sign a new agreement with an illegitimate organization to lock in the denial of rights for at least another 4 years.
On June 20, the IUF lodged a formal complaint with the UK National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, holding Unilever to account for its serial violations of human rights. This latest complaint against Unilever brings to 10 the number of cases filed against this company for violations of the Guidelines, making it the corporate record holder.
The IUF will fight with all available resources to ensure that the rights of its members in Doom Dooma, as elsewhere, are fully respected.