Solidarity for OBI Workers - Not only in Poland

In response to a request from Polish OBI-workers, the first solidarity actions were made on Saturday, 12 February 2011,  in Wiesbaden and Hamburg. The reason for the actions are the working conditions in
Poland OBI markets and the actions of the managers of the multinational corporation against trade unionists and other active employees. Hamburg-Harburg

On Saturday, 12.2.there was a  joint action at OBI-Baumarkt Hamburg-Harburg organized by members of the FAU from Kiel and Hamburg, demanding the postulates of the the employees of OBI in Poland.

While on the site the activists had a  banner and  handed out leaflets to customers about the labor struggle of the ZSP in Poland; the activists spoke directly to the employee inside. They were initially surprised, but were not negative, but very interested. Some of them said that there was neither a works council or union  in that OBI branch. More remarkable was that these workers initially wanted to hang the flyer about the labor struggle of the ZSP on the bulletin board of the company. But very fast the management was informed, which
then showed up immediately with the security service and greeted the activists with the words: "You have 30 seconds to disappear - or we will call the police." It was of the opinion that in Germany has nothing to do with events in Poland. After the leaflet was presented to the management with recommendations to the OBI headquarters, the activists went back outside, in front of the store. They were pursued by the management and five security guards in tow and were repeatedly threatened that they would call the police.

The reactions and the conditions on the ground have confirmed only that it is necessary to inform about what OBI really does especially in this place. The international solidarity for the militant comrades of the ZSP-IWA in Poland will go on!

Wiesbaden

Members of the FAU in the Rhine-Main area visited the OBI office in Wiesbaden. At the beginning information was distributed to the employees in the OBI-Garden Center while other union members stood at
the entrance with a banner and flags, giving out  flyers to the clients.

The action continued in the area surrounding OBI-Baumarkt continued until all FAU activists were asked to leav. Meanwhile, flyers were left on many parked cars.

The third and best location to bring the information material to the people was a roundabout where there are the entrances to OBI and its competitor, Hornbach. Some small traffic jams formed here, as many cars of the arriving and departing customers stopped to take the flyers.

Our findings after two hours of discussions and the distribution of 500 flyers: the action was received very well, both from the customers, and by the staff with whom we spoke. It was amazing that a few customers vent their frustration and anger about the "official" unions' companionship with the SPD and their participation in the Hartz IV.

The Wiesbaden OBI is one of the few locations where there is a works council and where the conditions are not so bad, according to the workforce, as in other stores. In any case, we have found that issues such as exploitation and poor treatment of employees is of interest to OBI clients.

Leaflet:

http://www.fau-duesseldorf.org/downloads/aktuell-fleyer-plakate/obi4-allgemein.pdf