The online fashion giant has terminated the contract of a subcontractor in the canton of Solothurn, 350 workers risk losing their jobs.
Zalando will relocate one of its two returns processing centers to Ticino. The online fashion giant has indeed terminated the contract with subcontractor CEVA Logistics in Neuendorf, in the canton of Solothurn. Next year, part of the package returns will be processed in Sant’Antonino, near Bellinzona, thirty kilometers from the Italian border, by the American logistics company GXO Logistics. The rest of the rejected clothing and shoes will continue to be received in Thurgau by another subcontractor, MS Direct. Consequence in Neuendorf: 350 people (the staff is 95% female) risk losing their jobs.
Unia calls on Zalando and CEVA to assume their social responsibilities. CEVA belongs to the French group CMA CGM, controlled by billionaire Rodolphe Saadé, which recorded 47 billion dollars in revenue last year, including 20 billion in revenue just for CEVA.
Unia has called a staff meeting for this Tuesday, October 8, informs Alain Zahler, regional secretary of Unia Bienne-Seeland/Solothurn. Supported by the union, the workers obtained last year the introduction of a 13e salary, general raises and a fifth week of vacation. They then earned 3,468 francs gross per month for 42.5 hours of work per week.
Zalando assures that its decision is “in no way a reaction to union activity”.
Precarious work sucks…
“We looked for a suitable location in southern Switzerland to better serve the market and reduce delivery times and transport routes for customer returns. In Sant’Antonino, we found a cutting-edge site that meets these requirements,” said the spokesperson for the e-commerce company, interviewed by AreaUnia’s Ticino newspaper.
In Sant’Antonino, GXO will settle in the depot occupied today by Luxury Goods International, a subsidiary of the French fashion multinational Kering which is leaving the south of the Alps after being heavily condemned in Italy for tax evasion. In fact, GXO is also the subject of an investigation for tax fraud in this country. The company is accused, reports the Corriere del Ticino, to practice unfair competition with a “fraudulent” economic model which “facilitates the exploitation of workers”.
“Ticino appears, once again, like the China of Switzerland,” denounces an inquiry to the Ticino Grand Council, filed this week by Giuseppe Sergi and Matteo Pronzini. The latter is a member of Unia’s industry sector management. “The objectives are clear: to reduce processing times and therefore costs. And the salary levels and the possibility of accessing a large cross-border workforce will certainly also facilitate the achievement of this objective,” point out the two left-wing deputies, asking the Council of State what it intends to undertake. to prevent a recurrence of the Kering scandal and the development of pockets of precarious work in the canton.
