For the second day in a row, dozens of members of the Union of Workers of Embotelladora Central SA (STECSA) mobilized in the company’s main plant, in the Guatemalan capital, to demand that the company stop delaying the negotiations for the new collective bargaining agreement.

After more than 13 months, in which agreement was reached in 48 of the 85 clauses of the List of Demands, negotiations were suspended on February 21.

“The aim of these protest actions is to send Coca-Cola FEMSA a very clear message: we’re not willing to lose any of the rights we’ve gained over many years of struggle and we’re not going to stand for any more delays in the collective bargaining process,” STECSA General Secretary Carlos Luch told Sirel.

According to Luch, the union may intensify these actions. “It all depends on Coca-Cola FEMSA’s attitude in the next few weeks,” he said.

Also participating in the mobilizations was David Morales, General Secretary of the Trade Union Federation of Food, Agroindustry and Related Industry Workers of Guatemala (FESTRAS).

“FESTRAS is providing ongoing support to STECSA in its organizational process and collective bargaining efforts.”

“These mobilizations are part of a series of activities that we’re organizing on a national level with the union, synchronizing them internationally with IUF Latin America (Rel-UITA) and FELATRAC, which are continuously monitoring the situation,” Morales concluded.