> McDonald's Workers Seek Union > ======================= > By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer > > MOSCOW (AP) - The struggle by some workers to unionize at McDonald's > Corp.'s food production plant outside Moscow could hinge on a court ruling > that is expected Monday. > > Yevgeny Druzhinin, a forklift operator at the ``McComplex'' facility since > 1992, brought the suit to challenge the company's latest reprimand in what > he says is a string of warnings designed to punish him for union activity. > > Druzhinin's case focused on McDonald's refusal to recognize the union. > Russia's labor laws say as few as three employees can form a union, and they > guarantee an elected member of a union's ruling body, such as Druzhinin, > cannot be punished or fired without union permission. > > McDonald's, which has successfully kept unions out of its U.S. restaurants, > contends it is abiding by Russia's laws and argues Druzhinin's group is not > a properly constituted union. > > The fight has grabbed the attention of international labor groups, the > Moscow city government and the Russian parliament, and some experts say it > could tarnish the image of McDonald's highly successful operation in Russia. > > Druzhinin says that before he joined the fledgling union last year, he was > praised by managers as one of the best workers at the McComplex. Since then, > he says, he has been hit with a series of warnings for such things as > showing up at work drunk and ruining equipment, accusations he says were > fabricated to punish him for union activity. > > ``Once I joined the union, the administration just started attacking me,'' > Druzhinin said. > > McDonald's executives and lawyers have refused to comment on his case > before the judges issue a ruling. > > Druzhinin and others claim the company has pressured them to drop the small > union, which includes just 18 of the plant's 400 workers. They say they have > been isolated from other employees and allege McDonald's has punished them > with inconvenient work hours and shorter breaks. > > McDonald's says it would gladly negotiate with a union, but contends > Druzhinin's group doesn't have any official status. > > Druzhinin says that is absurd. Natalya Gracheva, a security guard at the > plant for a decade, founded the union when pay and work hours slid after > Russia's 1998 economic crash, and the union contends it is officially > registered. > > The group's members concede that McDonald's employees do relatively well > compared to other Russian workers. Their monthly earnings of around $100 is > above the national average of roughly $82. > > But they lag McDonald's employees in many other countries. The Russian > workers earn about 15 rubles an hour, enough to buy one Big Mac every two > hours. McDonald's employees in Germany make three times as much. > > The company's Moscow operation says the overwhelming majority of employees > at the McComplex oppose unionization. But it has promised to negotiate if a > union ``fulfills the legal requirements for negotiating on their own > behalf,'' the company said in a statement. > > Russian unions and international labor groups have complained to the Moscow > city government, which owns 20 percent of the McDonald's operation in > Moscow. > > ``We have a pretty long history of confrontation with McDonald's,'' said > Kirill Buketov, Moscow representative for the International Union of Food > Workers. ``Their tactic hasn't changed throughout the world and they're > dragging out the process to exert more pressure on the union workers.'' > > A parliamentary commission has decided to investigate whether the fast-food > giant has violated Russian labor laws. Its chairman, Andrei Isayev, said if > the panel found any violations it could then recommend that the company be > tried in court. > > ``All foreign investors know there are Russian laws that they must follow, > and we won't do anything except require them to follow those laws,'' Isayev > said. > > McDonald's is one of Russia's major international investors and a popular > institution that ordinary Russians have embraced. There are 58 McDonald's > restaurants in the country, and the outlet in downtown Moscow is the > company's busiest in the world. > >
