Krzysztof Stawicki, a member of Trade Union "Workers' Initiative", has sued Bridgestone for his illegal dissmissal after refusing to work overtime for free for fourth time. On 17th January 2005 the first case will take place. Below, we present Krzysztof's relation describing the conditions of work in Poznan's company of Brigdestone.

Japanese concern Bridgestone is more well known as Firestone, the concern that was bought several years ago. Next to companies such as Michelin and Goodyear it is one on world's greatest potentates of tyre industry. Those concerns has dominated over 2/3 of world's tyre market. Bridgestone has over 100 factories over the world. The first factory in Poland was opened 6 years ago in Poznan connecting with regional Stomil. Polish government really wants this concern o invest in Poland. Currently, Bridgestone/Friestone wants to invest and open a plant in Ksawerow, close to Lodz, where 3000 people are to be employed. A factory of springs is being built in Wolsztyn (100-200 people are to be employed). There have been several workers' protests against Bridgestone all over the world, eg. in USA and in Argentina.

Poznan, 17 January 2005

Relation

My name is Krzysztof Stawicki, I am the former worker of tyre factory Bridgestone, in the production section on postion - operator of machines producing tyres. My direct superiors were leader Marek M., shift master Pawel W. and main master Bogumil S. I was working in the factory for 6 months.
On the 1 of October 2004 I was sacked from work. The reason for that was my refusal to work overtime without getting any extra payment or free day for that. On 30 September 2004 in the end of work the shift master Pawel W. announced that I was going to stay that day for another free overtime work. When I refused to do that adding that it is in conflict with the Law of Work Pawel W. stated that I was going to be sacked. A while later he took me to the main master Bogumil S., who gave me one minute to change my decision and if I did not do so he would sack me. When I said that "there is no such thing as free overtime work and it is illegal" Boguml S. stated that I am going to be sacked what happened the next day.

In the Work Court I am going to demand for my right to be paid for free overtime hours, during which I was doing different things for my employer and being paid damages for my unfair dissmissal, clear discrimination and being forced to work overtime under threat of being sacked.

I was demeaned, offended, mocked for many times, individually or in front of the group of other workers. It also conerns other workers from different sections. Workers are threatened with not getting a longer contract or being sacked. The politics and the strategy of the company are empolying people from regions outside Poznan where there is high unemployment eg. Gniezno. With impunity and premeditation, in a planned and very well-thought-out way the management of the company and of different sections abuse, break the workers' rights, discriminate, exploit, constantly rise the norms of work, under threat of being sacked forced people to work overtime for free, they used psychical or even physical violence, they threatened the workers that had families to feed, loans and appropriations to pay and lived in regions of high unemployment and were afriad to say anything and demand to respect their rights and being treated humanly. They know that any kind of refusal can effect their dissmissal from work. I am the best example for that. The situation like that is taking place in Bridgestone factory for years. The rise of the production in factory is compensated with workers' rights abuses, threats, using the bad situation of work market, mobbing, the rise in accidents, pollution of environment and more often quality mistakes in producing tyres.

In my section employees are abused in a way similar to abusing new soldiers in army. Once, one man was employed and was so often urged on and threatened that his hands were shaking all the time and he could not even calmly hold a sheet of paper.Another my mate was not walking but running and still is running next to the machine. I was also told by Pawel W. that "if he tells me to run next to the machine, I will do that". On average, new employees lose 5-7 kilograms. I was not he only witness to a situation when Pawel W. was training his inferior worker that if he did not execute the daily norms he would stay overtime after still very hard work. Even after me being sacked, other employees were threatened by Pawel W. "Do you want to end up like Stawicki?", "Do you want to be sacked like Stawciki too?"

Marek M. together with Pawel W. were able to come every day for two weeks and yell at me, threaten me with not lengthening the contract, abuse me, call names on me like "Do you want to be banged to work faster?", "Get the fuck out of here for your breakfast!" and laugh at my being from Poznan, that I "must be a smart ass". Marek M. hit me in the head for three times and pulled at my arm when I did not know something, even though I had been still during the training period. The other day, Pawel W. wanted to impress his mate has stimulated hitting me with a stick. There have been such situation that we did not have any time for break and were not helped after hurting ourselves etc.

The other problem is filming workers with handy video camera without their permissal claiming that it has a training aim. It is very stress-inducing and offensive. The newly employed person is being filmed working for about 10 minutes and then they divide the registered activities into particular parts. They estimate how much time take take and then another, more experienced, worker comes to the machine and he works faster and more efficiently, because of his experience. Then, in front of the whole group of section they compare those two persons, sometimes laughing at lower skills of the less experienced. My boss announced that I was even filmed secretly. Observing the workers, without their knowledge was also a daily routine.

Bogumil S. told his workers even earlier that they are going to stay for overtime 3 times a week for 4 hours for whole month. My colleague from other shift was forced by Bogumil S. to work overtime for free for not noticing three little wires lying next to the machine! The workers who were forced to work overtime were doing some extra job for the employer. Not once some reasons ans excuses were made up just to make people stay overtime for free and do the job that they should be paid for. Of course, no one demanded that because that would end up with sacking the person. Just the National Work Inspection asked for that. Today a lot of those workers are being paid for overtime work.
Most workers from the production section complain that they hate the company and the job just because of those people, because of raising the norms and bigger and bigger exploitation and mobbing etc. But they have no other way out, they have to work being afraid of losing their job, which is very hard to get nowadays. So, according to that, can tyres be made safely? And what are those tyres like? They are produced at expense of people's exploitation who instead of calling the factory their workplace they call it a labour camp.