New SICO members and national
authorities
Following a series of conversations with
Coca-Cola–FEMSA workers in the
cities of Villavicencio, Department of
Meta, and Bogota, the National Union of
Beverage Industry Workers of Colombia (SICO)
accepted their membership and called for
the establishment of the respective
divisions in these two cities.
In this way and for the first time ever,
both the Latin American Federation of
Coca-Cola Workers (FELATRAC)
and the IUF itself have members
in the labor sector of Coca-Cola
Colombia under the franchises
operated by FEMSA, as the workers
of Coca-Cola / BADUR
(Urabá Food and Beverages) work under a
franchise that is not owned by the
Mexican transnational corporation.
In view of these developments, which
strengthen the labor movement, SICO’s
National Committee convened a
National Assembly to elect a new
National Executive Committee and amend
the union’s bylaws to allow the
membership of food industry workers who
have expressed their interest in joining
SICO and the IUF.
The National Assembly, held last Sunday,
March 1st, approved the
amendment to the bylaws and elected the
new authorities, with an inclusive
criterion, giving participation to the
new Villavicencio and Bogota divisions.
The new Committee is formed by the
following workers:
Julio Padilla:
President (Bogota)
Gabriel Tapias:
Vice President (Carepa)
Manuel Roberto Martínez:
General Secretary (Bogota)
Pedro Garnica:
Fiscal Officer (Villavicencio)
The new Committee promised to hold an
assessment and planning meeting within
the next few days, to discuss the
strategy for the processes of labor
relations and union actions in several
fronts, and the adoption of an
organizational policy to expand the
coverage for food and beverage industry.
