The Latin American Federation of Coca-Cola Workers (FELATRAC) was
founded on May 6, 2008 in Buenos Aires. In these four years of efforts to
develop the organization and take action, the Federation has come out
strengthened as an institution and its affiliates have grown steadily in numbers.
FELATRAC
has
been playing a key role in the consolidation of trade unions that represent
workers employed by the transnational corporation Coca-Cola in the
region.
Capitalizing
on the strength of its 64 affiliate organizations from 12 countries of Latin
America, it has positioned itself as a legitimate representative of workers
in dealing with the region’s leading Coca-Cola franchises. This is evidenced by
the participation of companies such as FEMSA and ARCA at the 14th
Latin American Regional Conference of the IUF, held in November 2011 in Mar
del Plata, Argentina.
The signing in Nicaragua of a new
collective bargaining agreement between the Sole Union of Workers of Industria
Nacional de Refrescos SA (SUT-INARSA) and FEMSA on May 2, a
process supported by FELATRAC, is the best gift the Federation could
receive in this anniversary.
FELATRAC
still faces a number of challenges, including the absence of trade unions in the
Coca-Cola plants of El Salvador and Costa Rica, securing
the membership of the four trade unions that exist in Bolivia, and
furthering union efforts in Colombia, which are greatly hindered by the
lack of labor freedom in that country.
On behalf of the IUF's Latin
American Executive Committee, I would like to congratulate FELATRAC
president Raúl Álvarez for his determined support and enthusiastic
backing throughout these four years, and commend all the members of the
Federation for their work.
Fraternally,
