|
With
Daniel Reyes, Secretary General of SUTEC
FEMSA Wants to
Break Up Union
|
In 2002 Coca Cola
FEMSA took over PANAMCO, who until then had been the representative of Coca
Cola in Nicaragua. A mere two years later, the problems with the Sole Union
of Coca Cola Company Workers (SUTEC) began, with the union being unable to
meet with company executives. “We believe that the objective of this ongoing
and escalating campaign is to crush the union,” Daniel said to SIREL. In
late December 2005, two workers were laid off without justification,
engrossing the list of persecutory and repressive acts against union
activities.
-What has the Union’s
relationship with Coca Cola FEMSA in Nicaragua been like?
-As of two years ago, an
internal terror campaign was launched, with threats hurled first against
employees that occupied positions of trust in the company and who were
members of the union. They were told that if they didn’t end their union
membership, they’d be fired. Immediately after that, all newly hired workers
were forbidden from joining the union. Over the past eight months several
workers in those categories have been fired, in violation of clause 14 of
the Collective Agreement that provides for a mandatory bipartite
consultation to be held in cases of individual or group layoffs for any
motive whatsoever.
-Recently there were other
dismissals.
-Last December 28, two
presales employees were fired in these conditions, without giving the union
the chance to assess the situation of these two fellow workers, who had in
addition signed a series of petitions that the union presented the company
with in late November. Section 376 of the Labor Code, however, provides that
no employee who signs a petition can be fired without authorization from the
Ministry of Labor, but management claims that FEMSA has the power to make
this kind of decisions.
-How have you responded?
-We filed a complaint with
the Ministry of Labor, demanding the reinstatement of our fellow workers
fired in violation of agreements and workers’ rights. But what concerns us
most, and will continue to concern us, is the Ministry of Labor’s complicity
with the company. They have worked together to make sure that all the
decisions were made against the interests of the workers.
-Who is the current Minister
of Labor?
-Right now, it’s Dr. Virgilio
Gurdián.
-What do you plan to do from
now on?
-We are very worried, because
they need that personnel, and we think that they’re removing union members
to put in their place people who are intimidated and threatened, so that
they will work against us. They’ve already picked out some 20 people who are
ready to come into work at the plant as soon as they are told. And they will
continue to do that with everybody who has any contact with the union, a
practice which is in fact a denial of the right to form and join trade
unions. What they’re trying to do is crush the union, break it up so that
they won’t have to sign any more Collective Agreements or listen to any
demands from the workers. Moreover, on December 29, the day after the
layoffs, the workers organized a solidarity activity. We stopped work for
almost two hours, and that’s why we are now expecting the company to
retaliate by firing some union leaders, with the argument that we held a
savage strike. That threat is hanging over us.
-Was it like that under
PANAMCO’s management?
-Absolutely not. PANAMCO
always signed the Collective Agreements, never fired union members, and by
no means did it call to threaten them. This massive persecution was launched
with the management headed by Fabricio Ponte and some executives of Coca
Cola in Central America and Latincentro. But these people refuse to show
their faces and come talk with us.
-Who are the people that
won’t show their faces?
-In this case the
responsibility would fall on Fabricio Ponte and Emilio González, managers at
Latincentro, which is FEMSA’s regional coordination office. They’ve
practically abandoned us, as the local managers here in Nicaragua simply
take orders from them.
Interview by Carlos Amorín
© Rel-UITA
January 9, 2006
