Skip to main content

IKEA contractor loses Dutch court case

ニュース

IKEA contracts Brinkman to transport some of its goods, who in turn subcontract much of these transport operations to sister-companies based in Eastern Europe. These companies in the East employ drivers on Eastern European contracts, despite them working continuously in Western Europe. This avoids local workers’ rights, tax and social security contributions. Violations of the Dutch CBA result in a penalty of €100,000.

Company continues to violate court ruling

FNV’s research has shown that Brinkman’s subcontracting model continues to be in violation of court rulings concerning international road transport. The courts supported FNV’s claim that the Dutch CBA applies to subcontracted operations, and rejected Brinkman’s claims that the companies in Poland and Moldova are independent companies. Last year Dutch road transport inspections concluded that the Dutch company, not the Eastern European sister-companies, is the legitimate employer of the non-resident drivers. Several penalties claims remain outstanding regarding the company’s violation of regulations concerning driving and resting time, cabotage, and bogus self-employment.

IKEA needs to turn their nice words into action

Edwin Atema from FNV – Stichting VNB: “We have more court cases like this against bandit employers. Years ago, we raised our concerns about Brinkman’s international road transport with IKEA as an example of the broader issues in their supply chain. At first, they denied that there is exploitation in their supply chain. Then they accepted that there is exploitation. IKEA made several nice statements about potential solutions. Now the time has come for IKEA to act. They must properly pay drivers at Brinkman, respect their human rights, and end exploitation in their supply chain.”

Trade union whistleblowers

The courts have also heard the case of three FNV shop stewards that exposed Brinkman’s exploitation of drivers from the East. In 2017, the police required a bailiff to retrieve the penalty payments resulting from the first court ruling on the issue. All subsequent rulings on the issue have been in the drivers’ favour.

Leading the race to the bottom

Companies like Brinkman are driving down pay and standards and leading the race to the bottom. IKEA and other multinationals complain about driver shortages. They need look no further than the exploitation in their supply chains for a reason for this growing crisis in the road haulage industry.

For further questions:

Edwin Atema FNV – Stichting VNB: 00 31 - 6516 103 50

Post new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.

現場の声

ニュース

女性交通運輸労働者に安全を

 11 月 25 日(女性に対する暴力撤廃の国際デー)から 12 月 10 日(人権デー)に実施される 「ジェンダーを基にした暴力に反対する 16 日間キャンペーン」 は、女性交通運輸労働者の安全に関する労働組合の取り組み強化を呼びかけるものである。  今年の グローバルテーマは 「 10 分に 1 人の割合で女性が殺されている。女性に対する暴力をなくすために団結しよう! #NoExcuse
ニュース

ディーセント(衛生的な)トイレへの安全なアクセス:交通運輸労働者の基本的権利

毎年 11 月 19 日の「世界トイレ・デー」は、世界中で衛生面の危機に取り組むための行動を喚起する機会だ。 適切なトイレ施設や衛生設備への安全なアクセスと、最も重要なこととして、必要な時にそれらの施設を利用できる必要性は、広く世界中の交通運輸労働者が強く感じている問題だ。 世界的な衛生危機は世界人口の約半数に影響を及ぼしているが、私たちの生活と経済を動かしている交通運輸労働者にとって
ニュース

2024年ITF世界大会、平和、労働者の権利、国際連帯への大胆なコミットメントで閉会

マラケシュで開催された2024年ITF世界大会の歴史的最終セッションでは、全世界の交通運輸労組の揺るぎない決意を再確認し、今後5年間のITF戦略を策定する重要な動議を採択し、役員の選出も行った。 労働者の力を高め、搾取と分断を進める勢力に対抗することに明確な焦点を当てた今大会は、激動の増す世界において、正義、平等、連帯のテーマを定め、譲ることのできない一線を明確にした。その中心にあるのは