Jakub was warned by members of the management that having a union would
make the company "less competitive".  The reason given for Jakub's
dismissal was “damaging the company's image” and “disclosing
confidential information” by writing an article which was published on
the Internet. No proof of those allegations were given, and in fact,
another person has admitted to writing the article.

The article in question, published in Polish and then in a slightly
different English version, is in fact based entirely on information
available on the internet. Lionbridge is on Lou Dobbs' "Exporting
America" list of companies "sending American jobs overseas, or choosing
to employ cheap overseas labor, instead of American workers", as Dobbs
puts it, although now that the dollar's value has dropped so
drastically the firm plans more and more job cuts in Europe. Lionbridge
publicly announced its plans a few years ago to shift some 40% of jobs
from the US and UK to India and China. Information of this kind is
public domain.

Incidents of firing union members in disregard of the law are fairly
common in Poland, including firing protected union officials. Most
often summary dismissals are given shortly after the creation of a
union. There have also been a number of cases where unionists have been
dismissed for "acting to the detriment of the company" by describing
some aspect of work conditions to the press. ITUC has recorded many
dozens of instances of unionists being dismissed shortly after
announcing the formation of a new union. "Acting to the detriment of
the company" and "disclosing secrets" are typical charges. It seems
that the "birthplace of Solidarity" is now famous in European labour
circles for firing unionists.

Jakub has filed a case against Lionbridge in the Polish Labor Court.
The first hearing will take place on July 4th in Warsaw. The Lionbridge
case will be closely looked at not only by unionists, but also by human
rights organizations and even legal observers. What will be interesting
for legal observers is to see how the corporate lawyers will try to
argue that public information, available on the internet, may be
considered at the same time "confidential".

Jakub has been working for the company for almost 8 years and received
several promotions before becoming active as a trade-union organizer.

More information about the case is available at: http://lionbridge.zsp.net.pl

If you wish to express your support for Jakub, please write a protest
letter to Lionbridge CEO Rory Cowan, at Lionbridge headquarters:
1050 Winter Street
Suite 2300
Waltham, MA 02451
Email: rory.cowan [at] lionbridge.com
Tel: +1 781 434 6000
Fax: +1 781 434 6034