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Swissmem and Swissmetal demand clarity on the role of Unia in the strike at Reconvilier In a joint agreement, Swissmem and Swissmetal have defined the action they intend to take in respect of the legal clarification of responsibilities in the industrial dispute at Reconvilier in early 2006. Securing future adherence to the Collective Labour Agreement for the MEM industries, in particular absolute industrial peace and the duty of the contracting parties to exert influence on their members, are the focal points. Swissmem and Swissmetal expect this detailed examination of the strike at Reconvilier to clear up key questions which remain open. Their resolution will be crucial in determining what form the social partnership will take in future.
The agreement covers the following main points:
An arbitration agreement is to be negotiated with the Unia trade union in which conflict settlement procedures will be comprehensively defined. This arbitration process should lead to a ruling regarding the legality of the strike as well as claims for damages and any entitlements to benefits under a redundancy package.
Independently of this conflict settlement procedure, Swissmem is initiating an action for a declaratory judgement against Unia in a court of arbitration. This should establish that the trade union needs to correct its interpretation of the collective labour agreement in respect of absolute industrial peace and the general applicability of the duty to exert influence on association members.
Both points are to be ruled upon by the same court of arbitration. Swissmetal further reserves the right to assert its claim for damages against Unia before a regular court, if these are not taken into consideration in the aforementioned conflict settlement procedure. |
