A group of 51 IKEA warehouse workers in Carolina, Puerto Rico voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday, Feb. 20 to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).
The IAM Southern Territory campaign began late last year when IKEA workers reached out about improving their work life, including fair treatment and pay. Workers at the facility were notified last year that they would not be receiving an annual holiday bonus.
“We could not be more thrilled to welcome Puerto Rico IKEA workers into our IAM family,” said IAM Southern Territory General Vice President Craig Martin. “We look forward to giving them the respect on the job they deserve. Our special thanks go out to Southern Territory Special Representative John Vigueras and Associate Organizer Jean Carlos Hernandez Ocasio for their tremendous work on this campaign.”
The IAM, which also represents IKEA distribution center workers in Illinois, Georgia, Maryland and New Jersey, relied on the IAM Woodworkers Department’s international relationships with Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), a 12-million member global union federation, and corporate IKEA contacts to put an end to local management’s anti-union campaign.
Workers at the Carolina, P.R., warehouse will soon be transferred to an IKEA facility in Bayamon, P.R., as the furniture retail company continues to expand on the island.
The IAM and its new members at IKEA will soon begin preparing for first contract negotiations with the company.