Lionbridge Fights Unionist in Poland

international | worker & community struggles and protests | news report Thursday August 14, 2008 17:52 by Seba

The case between an unfairly dismissed union activist and Lionbridge corporation started in July with solidarity pickets throughout Europe. On August 13, the parties in the dispute met again in the Warsaw Labor Court.

Lionbridge's revenues. From published annual report.

The company officially accused the activist of revealing company secrets on the internet portal CIA. (www.cia.bzzz.net). No details of what secrets he allegedly revealed were given in the dismissal letter. Labor activists who have looked at the case consider the it bogus. The State Labor Inspector recently confirmed that the unionist was in fact illegally dismissed.

This has not stopped the company, which insists that its confidential information has been leaked. In court documents it claims that the revenue of Lionbridge in Poland is confidential information, that only Lionbridge employees have access to it and imply that this information was stolen and published on the Anarkismo website.

Laure, a member of the Union of Syndicalists explains that such information is not at all confidential. "Lionbridge filed this information on its 10K form. You can find it on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website".

Sure enough, this is true. http://www.secinfo.com/d14D5a.t1x85.htm On page 84 is a list of the corporation's revenues in foreign countries, including Poland.

Besides the company's ludricrous claims that it's former employee leaked information about the revenues, they accuse him of showing this same colleague Lionbridge's Code of Conduct. "It's not true and I testified that in court. Honestly, I was astounded that they even made such unfounded allegations. To boot, the lawyers even misrepresented the plaintiff's testimony, which is a serious violation of professional ethics," claims Laure. "By the way, the Code of Conduct has also been published many times on the internet and is attached to Lionbridge's Annual Report as Exhibit 14," she explains.
(http://www.secinfo.com/d14D5a.t1x85.c.htm)

According to ITUC's survey of violations of trade union rights in Poland, unions report that employers discriminate against workers who try to organise in the private sector, and that the law has not been sufficiently dissuasive to prevent harassment. The survey found that trade unionists are often summarily dismissed on disciplinary grounds and that workers wishing to form or join a trade union are intimidated or even dismissed straight after informing the employer that a trade union had been formed or when a collective dispute takes place.

More information on the case can be found here:
www.lionbridge.zsp.net.pl

Faxes can also be sent to the CEO:

Rory Cowan, CEO
Lionbridge Technologies
1050 Winter Street
Suite 2300
Waltham, MA 02451
Fax: +1 781 434 6034
See also:
http://www.lionbridge.zsp.net.pl