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A well-known property of capitalism is its
tendency to transform just about anything
into a commodity. An example of this is the
possibility of trading CO2 emissions on the
world market. The opportunities the system
offers for unscrupulous sellers and no less
unscrupulous buyers seem endless. Now as
easily as you can buy a liter of milk, you
can also buy a piece of that peculiar and
intangible thing called "corporate social
responsibility," which hawkers at the
service of big business refer to simply as
CSR.
Having amassed a huge fortune in a rather
short time, the Peruvian Añaños
family - owner of the transnational
beverages corporation AJEGROUP that
operates in eleven countries, marketing such
major trademarks as Kola Real and
Big Cola - is evidently convinced it can
buy anything, without regard for
authorities, laws or responsibilities. It is
also clear that the Añaños have
decided to thank their workers for the
economic success the corporate group has
achieved at their expense by adopting as
their foremost and guiding principle an
aggressive and unchecked antiunionism that
they apply consistently throughout every
country they operate in, including their
homeland.
So it was surprising to see AJEGROUP
listed among 50 Peruvian companies that had
been awarded the Bizz Award 2009 in a
story published on Oct. 9 in the online
newspaper Press Peru. This
prize is awarded by an organization that
calls itself the World Confederation of
Businesses (WCB), and it
distinguishes companies that exhibit
"business excellence," a category that
includes corporate social responsibility
among other features. Surprising was the
fact that, despite its background,
AJEGROUP was one of the companies
recognized for their CSR, but also
surprising was that such a large number of
companies had received this prize. The story
went on to mention that the winners would
"be participating in the Fifth EXPOBIZZ
Business Convention" to be held Nov. 15-17.
A quick Internet check* was enough to raise
some serious doubts about the credibility of
WCB and it soon became clear that
both The Bizz Awards and the
"prestige" that accompanied them came with a
price tag. WCB in fact sells their
prizes to the "selected" companies, and the
package these customers buy includes CSR. So
everything appears to indicate that
AJEGROUP purchased this questionable
award with the aim of presenting itself to
society for what it most certainly is not: a
socially responsible corporation.
Unfortunately for the Añaños, their
two "gold-plated" medals, the authorization
to use the WCB logo, and the diplomas
granted with The Bizz Awards are not
enough - no matter how much they may have
paid for them - to pull the wool over the
eyes of Peruvian society and hide the
reality endured by the workers of the
AJEGROUP bottling plant Embotelladora
San Miguel del Sur, who have been forced
to go on a hunger strike to denounce their
working conditions, or the workers who have
chained themselves to the fence of the
Arequipa Cathedral to demand decent wages
and respect for trade unions.
This situation led Rel-UITA (the
IUF Latin American Regional Office) to
address a letter to Ms. Karol
Pinedo, Latin American Director of
WCB, informing her of the anti-labor
attitude of one of the company distinguished
by the Bizz Awards, and asking her
that AJEGROUP be required to return
its prize, as a sign of the seriousness of
the organization she represents. No reply
has been received so far.
Almost simultaneously,
Ajegroup was making another
marketing investment. This one consisted in
sponsoring the Russian athlete Valentina
Sevchenko to represent Peru -
despite having lived less than a year in the
country - in the World Muaythai Championship
in November, where she came in first in the
60 kg category. Readers may wonder how this
family from the Andean region of Ayacucho
came to be so passionate about this Thai
sport? Here are a few clues:
1.
Valentina
Sevchenko is a top athlete and had
already secured first place in her
discipline in five previous championships,
so a new victory - and a return on their
investment - was almost sure bet.
2.
The venue of the championship in question
was Bangkok, Thailand.
3.
In the year 2006, AJEGROUP opened a
bottling plant in Thailand, 200
kilometers from Bangkok. The
selection of this site - a country with a
dictatorial government where people are
denied their most basic rights and trade
unionism is a practice that can cost workers
their freedom and even their lives - was
very much in line with the "socially
responsible" attitude of the business group.
Stay tuned for more developments.
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