H & M Workers Win RWDSU UFCW Representation Thanks to Innovative Pact

H & M Workers Win RWDSU UFCW Representation Thanks to Innovative Pact (11/20/07)

More than 1,000 employees of the H & M clothing store chain have won the right to be represented by the RWDSU as a result of an innovative agreement between H&M, a Sweden-based company and the union the RWDSU is affiliated with; the United Food and Commercial Workers. The pact with H & M is one of a series of agreements the company has reached with affiliates of Union Network International, a world-wide coalition of labor unions that has pressed the Swedish retailer to accept unionization.

Under the terms of an agreement negotiated earlier this year, H & M agreed to a process called “card check recognition” which required the company to respect the decision of employees to have representation once a majority signed cards affirming their support for the union. The company also pledged not to interfere with the workers’ efforts to organize.

“By respecting the right of employees to join our union, H & M is setting an example other retailers should follow,” said RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum, adding that he expects the National Labor Relations to certify the union as the workers’ collective bargaining agent.

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