#Justice4Paweł – Support the worker fired by AH/Ahold with a selfie or a chalk protest

Paweł Rudzki was an agency worker at Albert Heijn for eight (!) years. He was dismissed because he stands up for his colleagues. Since he started organising migrant workers (all of them agency staff) in the trade union, Albert Heijn has been trying to silence him. Show your solidarity and take action. Let Albert Heijn know that you find his dismissal unacceptable.

This summer, Paweł made history by mobilising hundreds of, mainly Polish, migrant workers for a unique strike for equal rights. For eight years, he never received a single complaint. But immediately after this historic action, he was suddenly forced into a “performance improvement plan”, full of fabricated accusations. And when Albert Heijn couldn’t find a single valid point, they resorted to the ultimate power play: humiliatingly dismissing Paweł from the company. This isn’t just a labour dispute. This is a violation of trade union rights. This is an attack on all of us. And that is why a support campaign has been launched. The first protest took place outside AH’s headquarters in Zaanstad.

In het Nederlands. In Dutch.

What can you do?

1. You can show your solidarity by sending an email to AH. This can be done easily via the petition on the Labourstart website.

2. Take a selfie with the hashtag #Justice4Paweł and post it on your social media, with a call to action like “hands off trade union activists”. Could you send it to us as well? Or tag us (Doorbraak.eu). And if possible, also tag Albert Heijn and/or Ahold Delhaize, because that damages their reputation, which they won’t be happy about. We will make sure everything gets to Paweł’s support group.

3. Chalk some slogans in front of your local AH branch. You could write things like: “Support Paweł, the strike leader fired by Albert Heijn”, “Support the struggle of Polish agency workers at AH”, and of course the hashtag #Justice4Paweł. Don’t forget to take a photo of it. Post it on your social media and tag us!

4. Come up with your own support action.

5. You can also still order and put up stickers that supported the strike of the Polish agency workers at the AH distribution centres this summer.

6. Join the #Justice4Paweł campaign. You can do this by contacting us.

7. And of course: call on your comrades, friends, family, and your followers on social media, to join in too!

Eric Krebbers