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Pepsi Union Answers Guatemalan Govt



Subject: Re: Pepsi Union Answers Guatemalan Govt

This item on Pepsi may interest those of you and remind others that the
struggle for justice today in a global economy involves not only the
brave Burmese victims forced to survive intolerable barbarism and
tragedy but equally those victims of international corporations bent on
destroying their freedom and dignity for the sake of more greed and
profits, and? when forced to leave one country, they exploit the labor
and resources elsewhere. What is solidarity among workers if it is not
shared and to lessen the burden of the struggle towards victory, freedom
and justice everywhere? 

We do not want that our victories harden the struggle of our brothers
and sisters. And we surely do not want to forget our victories at the
cost of furthering suffering. Corporations must withdraw from Burma.
And, of course, corporations will pull out and go elsewhere. In the
interest of widening the struggle for the peoples of the Burmese nation
and their friends fighting for independence, we need the good will and
international support of all nations and governments,  organisations and
individuals -- and justice for all.
Campaign for Labor Rights wrote:

metta,
Dawn Star
Euro-Burmanet (paris)
WORLDWIDE TOTAL BOYCOTT
http://www-uvi.eunet.fr/asia/euro-burma/total/
(the killer french energy company)
> From: Campaign for Labor Rights <clr@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> /* Written  2:05 PM  Aug 13, 1997 by clr in igc:labr.announcem */
> /* ---------- "Pepsi Union Answers Guatemalan Govt" ---------- */
> Labor Alerts/Labor News
> a service of Campaign for Labor Rights
> 1247 "E" Street SE, Washington, DC 20003
> clr@xxxxxxxxxxx   (541) 344-5410   http://www.compugraph.com/clr
> 
> GUATEMALA PEPSI UPDATE (#3)
> Title: Update: Pepsi Union Answers Guatemalan Government
> August 12, 1997
> 
> [This alert was prepared from information supplied by the
> U.S./Guatemala Labor Education Project (773-262-6502; e-mail:
> usglep@xxxxxxxxxxx)
> 
> SUMMARY:
> 
> The Embassy of Guatemala has sent out a press release on the situation
> at the Pepsi bottling plant in Guatemala City that takes issue with
> US/GLEP's updates on the firing of workers at the plant just as
> contract talks were beginning.  The Guatemalan government supports
> management's position that the workers were fired due to the need to
> down-size and that the company was not attacking the union.  The union
> answers that Labor Ministry inspectors did not interview any union
> workers who were fired or who were pressured to accept severence pay,
> adding that the company hired new workers to replace the union workers
> who were fired and therefore was not downsizing.
> 
> BACKGROUND:
> 
> A three-year old union at the Pepsi bottling plant in
> Guatemala City is seeking international solidarity.  On July 15,
> management of the Embotelladora Mariposa, S.A. (EMSA) fired 28
> members of the union SITRAEMSA in a well-orchestrated and
> coordinated effort that surprised the union.  The firings occurred just as
> the union submitted a new contract proposal; several of those fired are
> involved in the contract negotiations.  The union says the firings were
> illegal because they violate the union's current contract, which has the
> force of law, that the firings are discriminatory and an attack on the
> union.  Management says the firings were due to downsizing and the
> Guatemalan government says that it has  found no evidence of wrong-
> doing by the company.  The SITRAEMSA union is affiliated to
> FESTRAS, the foodworkers union of Guatemala, which is affiliated to
> the International Union of Foodworkers in Geneva.
> 
> Position of La Mariposa Management
> 
> On August 5, 1997, the U.S./Guatemala Labor Education Project
> received a letter from La Mariposa's Jose Raul Gonzalez, Director of
> the Corporation.  Mr. Gonzalez's letter states that 28 union workers
> and 35 non-union administrative workers were fired due to the
> globalization process and a necessity to down-size, that the firings were
> done in accordance with legal procedures, that the company is not
> attacking the union, and that the company intends to continue with the
> negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement.  He also denies
> that the company engaged in "intimidation or pressure" and says that no
> worker has been urged to resign.  Finally, the company also says that
> "two inspectors from the Ministry of Labor visited our plant and have
> 
> corroborated that the company acted within all applicable law,
> including the collective bargaining agreement...."
> 
> Position of the Guatemalan government
> 
> The Embassy of Guatemala in Washington, DC began sending out a
> press release on the Pepsi situation to various U.S. groups on August 6,
> 1997 that takes issue with US/GLEP's previous updates.  The news
> release summarizes a report from two inspectors from the Guatemalan
> Ministry of Labor's General Labor Division who visited the  factory on
> July 15.  The Embassy notes that Inspectors Pedro Borror and Mario
> Morales met with a member of management and two union
> representatives.  Each side presented their views.  The Embassy then
> reports that the labor inspectors "did not establish that the layoffs had
> been unjust," that in their view "the layoffs had not been retaliatory in
> their nature" and "did not establish any violations to the collective
> bargaining agreement, as the labor representatives did not prove such
> violations," and "did not determine that the laid off employees had or
> have been coerced into signing their resignation letters."
> 
> The Embassy stresses that union representatives signed the labor
> inspectors report.  The Embassy's emphasis apparently intends to
> suggest that the union representatives agreed to the inspectors
> conclusions.
> 
> The Union's Response
> 
> Labor Ministry Inspection:  The union says that the two labor
> inspectors who visited the plant on July 15 did not conduct a genuine
> investigation into the accusations made by union members.  The union
> says that the labor inspectors failed to interview any of the union
> workers who were fired or who reported pressure to sign a dismissal
> document and take their severance pay.  The union filed a complaint
> with the Labor Ministry on July 21 regarding the lack of impartiality of
> the inspection but has not yet received a response.  (Neither the
> Guatemalan embassy nor La Mariposa management acknowledge the
> existence of the July 21 complaint.)
> 
> The union also says that the signing of the inspectors' report was akin
> to accepting the minutes of a meeting (i.e. who was present, who said
> what) and was not in any way an acceptance of the inspectors so-called
> findings.
> 
> Claim of down-sizing:  The union says that the company has hired new
> workers to replace the union workers who were fired and they the
> company reportedly raised the monthly salaries of the replacement
> workers by a hefty (by Guatemalan standards) $50 a month.
> 
> Claim of non-discrimination:  The union asks why, therefore, were
> only union members fired from the production workforce even though
> the union represents less than 50% of production workers.
> 
> Neither the Guatemalan embassy nor La Mariposa management have
> responded to these basic issues.  The union and its lawyer continue to
> state the firings were in violation of the union's contract and therefore,
> according to Guatemalan law, illegal, that the circumstances
> 
> surrounding the firings and they way in which workers were fired and
> pressured to sign severance pay demonstrate that the company sought to
> deny these workers their basic rights, that the company engaged in
> tactics of intimidation, installing video surveillance cameras the night
> before the firings took place and having heavily armed guards
> accompany management personnel when workers were told of their
> firing and asked to give up their legal rights to challenge the firings.
> The union has provided to the company written statements from fired
> workers describing in detail acts of pressure and intimidation, even an
> attempted kidnapping of one worker's mother who refused to accept her
> son's severance payment from Pepsi personnel.
> 
> US/GLEP's Analysis
> 
> The Guatemalan government and management essentially dismiss all the
> union's claims: illegal firings, pressure to resign, and intimidating
> tactics.  Unfortunately, there is a long history of collusion between
> labor inspectors and owners, and somewhat of a revolving door
> between the two.  For example, two former Labor Ministry officials
> reportedly now work for La Mariposa.
> 
> US/GLEP has contacted Guatemalan Labor Minister Mendoza Cifuentes
> regarding the union's assertion that the inspectors failed to
> interview the workers making the accusations and did not carry out a
> fair investigation before issuing their report.  US/GLEP has also asked
> the Guatemalan government and La Mariposa management to respond
> to the two major issues: (a) how can management's defense of down-
> sizing be valid if the company turned around and hired new workers to
> replace the production workers who were fired and (b) why were the
> only production workers fired union members even though the union
> represents less than 50% of all production workers.  Until there is a
> satisfactory explanation to these issues, US/GLEP shares the view that
> the firings are illegal and the workers should be reinstated.
> 
> SUGGESTED ACTIONS
> 
> These remain the same as previously posted.
> 
> The union demands that the 25 fired workers who haven't accepted
> severance be reinstated immediately, and requests that protest messages
> be sent to, among others:
> 
>      Enrique Castillo Monge, President, Corporacion Mariposa,
>      S.A.; fax: (502) 366-4145
>      The Honorable Hector A. Cifuentes, Minister of Labor,
>      Ministry of Labor; fax: (502) 230-1363
> 
> If possible, send copies of your above letters to:
> 
>      CACIF (the business roundtable); fax: (502) 334-7025; and
> 
>      Ms. Geraldine Chester, U.S. Embassy; fax: 502-331-0564
> 
> The union also requests that messages of support be sent to:
> 
>      SITRAEMSA, Calzada Raul Aguilar Batres 44-31, Zona 12,
> 
>      Guatemala Ciudad; fax: (502) 479-1631 with a copy to
>      FESTRAS-UITA Fax: (502) 238-3075
> 
> For more information, contact the U.S./Guatemala Labor Education
> Project, P.O. Box 268-290, Chicago, IL 60626; Tel: (773) 262-6502; e-
> mail: usglep@xxxxxxxxxxx
> 
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