Campaign to reinstate Richie Venton

Trade unionist Richie Venton was sacked by management of IKEA in Glasgow, Scotland in August for standing up for workers’ sick pay.

Call sent to the Global May Day mailing list:

The campaign set up by workers furious at the victimisation and sacking of the elected Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers shop steward and convener in IKEA Glasgow, Richie Venton, and IKEA’s attacks on workers’ rights and conditions, including removal of wages from workers off sick with COVID-19.
Richie has been singled out and sacked for standing up for the health, safety and lives of workers he represents, demanding safety measures and full average pay for all workers sick or self-isolating with the virus.

He is the first trade unionist in Scotland to be sacked by employers in disputes over workers’ safety from the Coronavirus.
Since sacking him, IKEA imposed even worse cutbacks, including on company sick benefit, putting far more workers on just £95 Statutory Sick Pay, which could force some to continue working because of hardship, spreading the virus, endangering lives.

This campaign is to reinstate Richie to his job and his elected union position; to win full average wages for all COVID-sick workers, in IKEA and every other workplace; and to stop employers making £billions in profit but endangering workers’ lives by expecting them to survive on £95-a-week Statutory Sick Pay.

So far the campaign has had pickets in support at IKEAs all over the UK. If it goes global it will put even more pressure on the IKEA management to give in to the campaign’s demands and reinstate Richie. If your organisations can do solidarity pickets at your nearby IKEA branches, do solidarity protests and spread the news in your own networks it would be a great help.

And if you do any actions, I would ask that you please send pictures and write-ups to the email address of the campaign: ReinstateRichieVenton@protonmail.com 
or send them to the campaign facebook page at: fb.com/ReinstateRichieVenton

#ReinstateRichieVenton
#ReinstateSickWorkersWages
An Injury to One is an Injury to All!

Link to the campaign website: reinstaterichieventon.com
Link to the campaign petition: reinstaterichieventon.com
Link to article about the most recent pickets:  reinstaterichieventon.com

“Employers will be watching what’s going on at Ikea, to see if they can get away with attacking their own trade unionists.” – Analysis: Why so much depends on a fight at Glasgow Ikea

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