Suzuki Motor Co

ILO violation 87 : The Suzuki car assembly plant in the city of Esztergom became the centre of media attention at the beginning of 2006, when the formation of a trade union (a branch of the LIGA Iron and Steel Association) as a result of an industrial dispute led to an extremely hostile reaction by the employer. The management forbade workers to form a union inside the factory, so the trade union inaugural meeting, on 13 January, had to be held in a rented bus. Trade union members remained anonymous for fear of retaliation. The trade union president, who made his name public, was summarily dismissed in February. The situation was seen as undermining the country’s whole democratic order, to the extent that the Hungarian Prime Minister refused to take part in the launch of the new Suzuki SX4 model and visited a trade union meeting instead. The Prime Minister issued a press statement about workers’ constitutional rights to form and join a union. At the end of the year, the trade union president was still trying to get his job back through the courts.: Hungary

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