Amac employees call off labor strike claiming "intimidation and threats"

Employees of the Amac retail store chain called off their planned strike on Sunday after being the subject of "intimidation and threats," the FNV labor union said. Staff members who planned to walk off the job were expected to hand out flyers on Sunday, which was expected to be one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Union leader Onur Erdem said that "several" employees heard threats of dismissal or legal action. "For now, we first are choosing for the safety and peace for the employees," said Erdem. "But it will be clear that we will not accept this. We will not be intimidated."

Workers have been demanding the return of the increased wages they received when scheduled to work on Sunday. Amac employees were previously paid 150 percent of their hourly wages for working on Sundays, but Amac ended the arrangement over the summer after agreeing to a pay raise for workers regardless of the day they show up. The retail chain's management said the return of the Sunday benefit would be too costly and unsustainable.

Amac CEO Ed Bindels said on Sunday he disapproves of intimidating the protesting employees. "I don't think we should intimidate people. It certainly is not coming from the management," he said. "I would like to invite the people who have been approached in this way to contact us directly to inform us about what happened, and how."

Amac is an Apple reseller that is part of the electronics company's Premium Partner program. Amac employees were planning to hand out flyers with the text, "No Sunday allowance? Not so premium."

Bindels claimed in an earlier remark that company staff will already receive an average 30 percent pay increase next year. He also said the FNV labor union is not a partner directly involved in contract talks, saying they do not have a collective bargaining agreement, and contract negotiations are coordinated with the company's works council.

"This is a growing company with a profit of 2.3 million euros, but in the meantime the people in the stores only earn the minimum wage," Erdem said. About 800 people work at Amac, the union said.