Since August, the workers of Refrigerantes Minas Gerais (Remil) –recently acquired by FEMSA– have been engaged in fruitless negotiations over the wage clauses in their collective bargaining agreement. Sirel spoke with Hamilton Jeronimo da Silva, president of the Union of Beer and Beverage Industry Workers of Belo Horizonte, to learn where the situation stands.

-Tell us about the bargaining process?

-We’ve had several rounds of negotiations since August, and each time we hoped FEMSA had improved their wage proposal. On October 30, Remil workers gathered in two assemblies –one for each shift– and they both rejected the company’s last offer.

-What are the workers demanding in this sense?

-We are asking for a 15-percent increase in our real wages, based on the National Consumer Price Index (INPC) and a meal ticket of 200 reais (approximately 90 dollars). Another aspect where we’ve been unable to reach an agreement is in the issue of profit-income participation (PLR): the company offers a maximum of 750 reais, and we believe that FEMSA can give more than that.

-When will you be meeting again to resume negotiations?

-We still haven’t set a date, but it won’t be more than a week from now, because we’ve sent a formal communication to the company rejecting the last proposal, which is very far from what the workers are asking for.

-Why do you think negotiations are being drawn out?

-We’ve noticed that negotiations became more and more difficult after Refrigerantes Minas Gerais (Remil) was purchased by the Mexican company FEMSA; the mediator hasn’t changed but the guidelines for negotiation certainly have.