The
Autonomous Union of BEPENSA-Coca-Cola Workers (SATRABECO) recently signed a new
collective bargaining agreement, effective for a year as from last July 2012
In dialogue with
Sirel, Linares Díaz Cabral,
general secretary of the union, observed that while the situation is still far
from perfect, great strides have been made with respect to past years.
“In addition to the
general wage increase of 5.5 percent, a number of social clauses were improved,”
he said.
“The most outstanding
gain, and also one of the goals the union had set for itself when it sat down to
negotiate, was getting management to acknowledge our labor organization and to
consult us every time the company decides to implement any kind of action that
concerns workers.”
“Also,” Díaz Cabral
continued, “we obtained an increase in the percentage of participation in the
company’s income and several gains for the Sales sector, which is one of the
most disadvantaged in terms of wages and long workdays, with no overtime pay.”
“SATRABECO
successfully negotiated extra pays for night shifts and improvements in sales
commissions, although we’re still negotiating a wage increase that adequately
matches the task performed and the hours put in by our fellow workers in that
sector,” he explained.
With respect to the
collective bargaining process the union leader noted that “the negotiations went
smoothly, without any major problems, and BEPENSA–Coca Cola
representatives even followed the reports published on the Rel-UITA site,
which I think helped streamline the process.”
“We would also like to
thank the Latin American Federation of Coca-Cola Workers (FELATRAC) and
our international organization (the IUF) for making the Collective
Bargaining Workshop headed by Bernabel Matos possible,” Díaz Cabral
concluded.
