IKEA Workers Vote to Unionize While Union Claims IKEA Working Conditions Like ‘Developing Nation,’
- Posted on July 27, 2011 at 10:14pm by
Tiffany Gabbay
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DANVILLE, Va. (The Blaze/AP) — Union officials say workers at IKEA’s only U.S. factory have voted to belong to a union, like thousands of Europeans who work for the Swedish furniture giant.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers says employees at Swedwood Danville voted 221-69 Wednesday to have the union represent them in collective bargaining. The National Labor Relations Board had not officially released the results.
The union put IKEA’s reputation as a worker- and environment-friendly global corporate citizen to the test, describing working conditions at the Danville plant as akin to those in a developing nation.
They complained of low wages, unsafe working conditions and erratic scheduling.
IKEA said the Virginia plant, near the North Carolina border, operates by the same principles applied at its 26 Swedwood plants in Europe.
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Comments (203)
GulfPeg
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 7:25amWell, there go the good prices at IKEA. They will need to raised their prices to pay for these union demands. We will soon be importing more and more. I doubt it that IKEA is going to invest to build big and better factories here in the US.
Report Post »Bluefish49
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 7:40amIKEA…..please shut this plant down.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 7:53amThat was my thought. Wages are only low because Unions want to be paid so much. If we got rid of unions and everybody had to work for the LOW price of ONLY $10-15 an hour, the price of all goods would go down, too. When you have half the country earning $20+ an hour, things cost more.
Report Post »americansfightingforcommonsense
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 8:17amWatch: IKEA will move out of the country asap. I would if I were them.
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 9:06amClose the plant and move it.
Report Post »dave928
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 9:57amI agree, shut it down and move it. Let these people know that voting for unionization carries consequences. Show the Unions that they have outlived their usefulness and are only out to provide the Union with money to buy votes from politicians and useful idiots that believe their lies. The Unions, while critical in helping create Labor Laws were sorely needed in the early days, have done NOTHING lately but drive businesses into bankruptcy.
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 11:21amBecause unions and organized crime in general may be good for those committing the crimes, it’s the rest of us that pay the price for their greed, we are tired of footing the bill for the useless 1/3 of those in this country.
Report Post »drbage
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 11:55amWill IKEA pull a Ronnie Bryant and just say “see ya!”?
Report Post »Jaycen
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 12:06pmCrap Quality?
High Prices?
Poor Delivery Times?
Look for the Union Label!
Report Post »ginsberg
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 12:30pmUnions have little to no effect on the price of goods or services. Outsourcing is the result of sweatshop labor going unpunished and bad trade policies that gutted the u.s. workforce years ago. You people claim to support the middle class but are to stupid or dishonest to back it up. Unions are legal, constitutional entities.
Report Post »zorro
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 2:21pmUnions have no bearing on the cost? Are you serious? We wouldn‘t have outsourcing if it weren’t for unions!
Report Post »Jediusetheforce
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 4:26pmScrew the Unions. I wish people who wake up!! It is shocking coming from Danville, Va. though. Sounds like the rich against the poor again. The only thing true is “Money for nothing and the chicks for Free!!”.
Report Post »SLARTIBARTFAST
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 4:55pmWhy would they shut down? I’ve been in there lots of times because my folks are from Scandanavia and like that crap. The place just oozes the feeling of progressive liberalism. Their customer service already has the hallmarks of a post office or other union shop. They don’t even have model numbers, but give each item a personal name, like Rolf or something. Just too weird for me!
Report Post »getalong
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 6:38pmDitto, watch the prices go up. Why did they need the union? One more good company bites the dust.
Report Post »SovereignSoul
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 10:21pm@Loriann12. Why stop at $10 -$15 per hour. Just think how low prices would be if people worked for 15 cents per hour. Prices would be very low so 15 cents per hour would be more than a fair wage.
Report Post »Hobbs57
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 10:41pmI am just so tired of the whole mentality in America that everybody has to have everything. There is a certain idea here that happiness can only come through materials and travels. While I do understand, as I like to have certain things and go certain places as well, but I have been living well below the poverty line for years while in college and I am happy nearly everyday. Long ago, as an active addict, I was forced to come to a place where I had to find happiness in the fact that I have another day on this earth.
Report Post »I recall pondering for 3 days, as I once again found myself getting sober, about how to start over again. I had 2 choices. 1) Continue to pursue the worldly things, buying into the whole Hollywood idea of finding happiness by having a wife who wants me for what I have and not who I am, Like the big house, the nice car, and high paying job. The good ol rat race. Or 2) Adopt a faith in trusting that if I follow the spirit, my soul, and do the next right thing, with the only promises being that I will be fed, sheltered and clothed. I may or may not have anything, I won’t know, but I will have peace and serenity. True happiness.
Well, as hard as it was to give up on the programming that had been instilled in society since Eve partook of that evil tree of knowledge, I had concluded that it would not matter what I had as long as I had peace and serenity.I have been happy, joyous and free ever since. I am paid what I need, sometimes I don’t get paid at
BrianM
Posted on July 29, 2011 at 9:13amThomas Sowell says that the true minimum wage is zero. That’s precisely what it will be if the unions make it unprofitable for IKEA to manufacture in the U.S.
Report Post »Libertyluvnmomma
Posted on July 29, 2011 at 9:41amIKEA id for people who want to throw away furniture next year and buy new.
Report Post »Veneered junk.
Libertyluvnmomma
Posted on July 29, 2011 at 9:42amoops“ is” not id. I have a sinus infection!
Report Post »Thatsitivehadenough
Posted on July 29, 2011 at 9:50amI refuse to buy anything from any unionized company. I won’t pay for unions to support progressive/leftist/socialist politicians.
Report Post »1TrueOne55
Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:17am@SoveriegnSoul:
How about dollars a day, that is what the Chinese Gov’t pays its workers that make your iPad and other high tech devices. Even GE is moving to China to “save money” with its X-ray division headquarted in Wisconsin and those jobs along with the management are moving to China. And GE’s CEO is the head of the Jobs Commission that President Obama created to get more jobs in America, where are the jobs???
Report Post »wolfmanradio
Posted on July 29, 2011 at 6:56pmagreed.
Report Post »Neo Con John
Posted on July 29, 2011 at 7:52pmCorrection, There goes Ikea.
Report Post »They will be out of there like Sh*T THROUGH A GOOSE.
klg1956
Posted on July 30, 2011 at 1:58amI don’t understand how companies can unionize anymore when everything the Unions bring to the table has already been legally mandated through legislation, so every company whether unionized or not has to comply with the same laws: vacation days, health plan, sick day pay, mental health days, parents ill furlough days, maternity leave, paternity leave, ill pet days, social security, unemployment insurance, worker’s comp, disability benefits, Medicare, Fair Labor Standards Act, FICA, Equal Pay Act, Immigration Reform and Control Act, comprehensive benefits programs, life insurance, retirement plans, Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA). The following add’l laws apply if you have more than 10 employees: Occupational Safety & Health Administration Act (OSHA), more than 14 employees: Title VII Civil Rights Act, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The following add’l laws apply if you have more than 19 employees: Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Older Worker Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA), Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). The following add’l laws apply if you have more than 49 employees: Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The following add’l laws apply if you have more than 99 employees: Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). And if you have a grievance, they have a Human Resources dept.
Report Post »texasmama
Posted on July 30, 2011 at 9:45amAs for me, IKEA goes union, I go shopping elsewhere.
Report Post »Rice Water
Posted on July 30, 2011 at 3:28pmThat’s a HUGE majority for a union vote. That many people don’t vote to pay union dues without a good reason. This union represents the rest of Ikea’s factories in Europe, so perhaps Ikea management wants a uniform contract for all of their employees?
As with all Blaze stories, it’s always a good idea to dig a little deeper…
Report Post »The Third Archon
Posted on July 30, 2011 at 6:38pm@Pretty Much Everyone
I can’t believe you are so blindly devoted to your ideology, that you actively wish American jobs go overseas. But the ironic, and really funny part, is that it would be completely redundant, because IKEA, as mentioned in the article, is already running most of its businesses through unionized factories in Sweden. So you want IKEA to close the plant, in America, for something that other plants, in Sweden, a foreign country, already do, diminishing our employment, granted ever so slightly in this single instance, and while maintaining high employment doesn’t necessarily mean that product of the economy is valuable, it certainly is useful and necessary to maintain sufficient aggregate demand, the basis and prime mover of the productive machinery of the economy.
It just doesn’t make any sense at all why increasing unemployment and thereby making the American economy, which you are a part of presumably, worse would ever seem like a good trade-off for sticking it to an ideological opponent/dissenter to a rational individual–at least not to me.
Report Post »Rice Water
Posted on July 30, 2011 at 8:56pm@Third: Don’t overthink it dude; trust me, nobody else here is either.
Report Post »dottygoat
Posted on July 30, 2011 at 11:24pmYou are so right! Prices will go up, up, up and up!
Report Post »mils
Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:49amat one time unions served a good purpose…that need no longer exists here…shut down the unions and quit putting people out of work.
Report Post »wesleyapril
Posted on August 1, 2011 at 10:10amOf course the unions are going to say the working conditions are consist of a third world nation- they want your damn money! lol. I have to agree with the sentiments on this one – unions at one time served their purpose but have since stopped being of any use.
Report Post »Phxpaul
Posted on August 1, 2011 at 10:58amGulfpeg, You comment that they will need to import more and more. In think you misunderstand Ikea’s business model. They do not have factories, they have showroom/warehouses. They do not manufacture anything, they import everything that they sell. Items are usually produced in China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and other developing countries.
Report Post »Phxpaul
Posted on August 1, 2011 at 11:08amA lot of you are posting about lower prices if there no union wage rules. $10-$15 an hour vs $20-$25 an hour. The companies would just pocket the difference. Case in point, the ticket tax the airlines collect for the FAA. Most of airlines did just that in some form.
And as far unions causing high prices, I use the airlines as example again. Southwest is highly unionized and you know all about them. Their flight attendants are the highest paid in the industry!
Report Post »conservativeme
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 7:22amWell, you know the mentality. Rather than a job in less than perfect working conditions, I’ll take no job but perfect working conditions.
Report Post »Bum thrower
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 7:26amSounds good to me; what are the ‘benefits’?
Report Post »txbigfoot
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 6:35pmYep, close it and tell them — c ya… thats what we think of you and unions. Screw off
Report Post »getalong
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 6:42pmMy guess, Ikea will be gone in a year.
Report Post »BillyPenn
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 7:21amIKEA; Goodbye Danville, Hello Toronto.
Report Post »wildbluyonder11
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 7:16am290 less jobs in Virginia coming soon! Those evil corporations sending jobs overseas! Why? Unions.
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 9:11amI live in Virginia and I hate for my state to lose Jobs but I think IKEA should shut it’s doors and move to another state I guarantee the next group of employees will not unionize when they see what IKEA did to the last group.
Report Post »MJR
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 6:55amBye Bye IKEA.
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 7:32amOn top of that, I wonder if IKEA went through with their plan to carry only Mercury light bulbs, no candescent at all? Don‘t think they will ever have something I can’t live without, or can’t find somewhere else.
Report Post »Shellback
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 10:16amI used to buy buy IKEA, but if they go union, it’ll be bye bye IKEA.
Report Post »HanginOn
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 6:52amUnions have destroyed the telecom industry, why not everything else. People who can’t be fired, DON’T GIVE DAMN!
Report Post »Mort
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 9:57amwhat do you mean destroyed the telecom business, by 35.00 month phone now cost me 120.00 month. Everywhere else, technology lowers the cost with improved benefits. The phone companies are making bank, and will continue to do so until you can live without a cellphone.
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 11:20amMort, idiots and taxes are responsible for the high price of phone bills, tried to get a $10 line for alarm system, it ended costing $30 a month when you added the federal taxes. And idiots willing to pay $60 for a data plan for their smart phone and not demanding that that including tethering so you didn’t have to have another $60 internet plan for your home. Companies are going to charge as much as people are willing to pay.
Report Post »Eblaze44
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 4:48pmTechnology has NEVER lowered the cost of anything. the phone company used to GIVE you the phone and provide and cheerful service. Technology at the gas pump – now you get to pump your own gas, check your own tires and clean your windshield – and the price of gas – no -it hasn’t gone lower – it has lowered the boom on customers and jobs. Oh yes, now you can watch movies at home – no more taking a night out with the date, you get to sit at home in your skivvies, paying $10 to watch a movie that really needs to be seen on a truly gigantic screen with all the surround sound effects – oh – you’ve got that? I’m sure Star Wars is just as impressive on you 54″ screen as it would be on a 54 foot screen. We could go on with how technology has reduced the cost of anything.
Report Post »Lowgo1981
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 6:46amThis actually works out well. Now I have a legitimate reason to tell my wife I will not be taking her there any longer.
Report Post »zorro
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 2:24pmExactly what I was thinnking.
Report Post »smokie
Posted on July 31, 2011 at 5:38amI never shopped there. I married a man that can make furniture, and with good workmanship.
Report Post »Why by factory made when I can get custom?
poster
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 6:43amWell, so much for IKEA quality. Here come’s missing parts, broken pieces, etc.
I wonder if they’ll be smoking pot and drinking beer at lunch.
Report Post »Libertarian2
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 10:56amThe Union will help improve the area, Just like it did in Flint MI, Saginaw MI, Lansing MI, and all the Beautiful High unemployment High Crime areas.
Report Post »It is like winning the Poverty Lottery when you get the Union!!
commonsenseguy
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 6:25amwell, there goes more jobs to another country,or it will just start making crapper products and charge twice what it is worth, then go broke and ask the communist government to bail them out. i bought something from there years ago,it was bad i have never been back and never will again,especially now that they are going to run by communist union thug’s.
Report Post »quicker
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 6:18amNever shopped there. And now never will.
Report Post »jaxy
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 6:15amAhh crap, there goes the cheap furniture, now it will be twice as cheap and twice as expensive.
Report Post »the_ancient
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 5:50amNext Announcement “Ikea to Close only US Based Factory”
I predict that to happen in the next 18-36 months……
Report Post »NealPatrick
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 7:10amI think you are spot on.
Report Post »dlechkun
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 9:01amI bet the Corporate HQ in Sweden is already developing plans.
Report Post »Chasvs391
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 5:27amWell there‘s another store I’m not going to anymore. It won’t be long before the place goes out of business with lazy Union workers! IKEA has always been a great place to shop, but that’s over now!
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 5:05amThose union reps can help the employees fill out their unemployment forms when the factory shuts down.
Report Post »commonsenseguy
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 6:28amand help help themselves { the union bosses } to more money the government will give them for their 99 weeks of unemployment while still charging them monthly dues so they can continue to support obama,communism and economic terrorism while they live high on the hog with taxpayers money.
Report Post »fliteking
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 3:50pmNailed it.
Report Post »aguynameddave
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 4:36amHate to say it, but IKEA should close up shop in Danville then.
Move to Vegas, we could use the jobs.
Report Post »Harvey
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 5:11amMaybe the N.L.R.B.can see to that,forceing them to move to Nevada
Report Post »aguynameddave
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 6:21amI’m not so sure about that, after all, Obama seems to be against anyone coming to Vegas for any reason other then he, himself, coming to get some campaign cash.
Report Post »the_ancient
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 12:25pmWell any State that Elects Harry Warbucks Reid should reap what it sows
Report Post »USAFFELPMAN
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 4:35amIn a free country, isn’t it a shame that all workers are not allowed to join a union?
In a free country, isn’t it also a shame that all workers have the right NOT to join a union as well?
In a free country, isn‘t it a shame that a government can force an employer to spend private capital on employees they don’t want
Right to Work States RULE!!!!
By the way, if you want the government to support you and/or a union supporter, please don’t come to Texas. We only want those who enjoy personal liberty and are actually willing to work to support themselves.
Report Post »aguynameddave
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 4:37amNevada is a right to work state too.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 7:57amYea, except for all the illegals who get paid under the table. And don‘t say it doesn’t happen, I’ve seen it here in Garland. Pay them in cash so they don’t have to pay taxes, or pay them is “independent contractors” and let them worry about taking things out of their checks, which they don’t do.
Report Post »zorro
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 2:29pmI’m a Texan, too. I hear what you’re saying.
But technically, just because the IKEA workers voted to unionize does not mean you HAVE TO join the union. You don’t have to and by law, the union represents you anyway as they are set up to represent the whole body. However, when union employees find out you didn’t join, they begin to harass you and eventually force you to join or quit.
Report Post »countrysideflair
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 4:19amDon’t blame IKEA because they are getting unionized, it isn’t their fault, but it may end them. Yea, their stuff is particle board, but not everything, I bought a computer desk there and 12 years later, it is still going strong with heavy use. Not to mention, when a customer is single and in their early 20′s, junky furniture is the way to go. Cheap and disposable.
Report Post »justice
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 3:58amAnother Company I would refuse to buy from. Gm and Crysler and Walamrts if they Unionize. All can go down the tubes. Just like the rest of us.
Report Post »Slowman101
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 3:32amOh well, no big loss. They make all their stuff from particle board anyways.
Report Post »the_ancient
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 5:55amFrom what I see most of there stuff is made of MDF, which is not “particle board” the way most people think of it, “particle board” is a common name for LDF (Low Density Fiber) Medium Density Fiber and High Density Fiber (rare) is actually very good for making Cabinets and Furniture. Not at good as say Soild Oak, but unless you want to spend $1,000++++ on a small desk it is the only way to go.
Report Post »brejol
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 3:26amShutdown and gone within a year.
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 3:10amno more ikea for me
hey wait……….i dont buy that wafer board crap to begin with
Report Post »MHP
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 3:24amI don’t buy from them either..
Encinom this goes out for you.
Gunny Ermey has your ass, and Obama’s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCBBv9LVGmc
Report Post »End The Fed
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 3:04amWill no longer shop at Ikea.
Report Post »lylejk
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 2:47amThere goes another company that is going to leave the U.S. :)
Report Post »Fina Biscotti
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 2:45amWithe the UNIONS involved…….getting ready for the HUGE JUMP in PRICE changes for products and merchandise – from IKEA.
Unions destroyed the automobile manufacturing industry.
Report Post »HairRazor
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 2:31amUnion = Ignorance, greed, Obama supporters.
Report Post »Mannax
Posted on July 28, 2011 at 4:06amYou thought that their ugly overpriced furniture was overpriced before? (I said overpriced twice).
Report Post »