|
Convened by the National Confederation of Food, Agroindustry,
Cereal Cooperative and Rural Workers (CONTAC) and the
National Confederation of Food and Related Industry Workers
(CNTA), the National Committee of AmBev Workers met last
Tuesday the 25th in Sao Paulo with an attendance
of 98 percent of all the unions in the country.
According to Siderlei de Olivera, president of the
CONTAC and the CUT National Institute of Health,
Labor and Environmental Matters (INST), “The meeting
of the National Committee of AmBev Workers is the
result of the way the company is treating its workers, with
methods that are clearly degrading. The gravity of the
situation led AmBev unions from the four labor
confederations to gather in this meeting: in addition to the
United Workers’ Federation (CUT) and Força
Sindical, organizations from the New Labor Federation
and the General Workers’ Federation of Brazil (CGTB)
were present.”
“This meeting enabled us to confirm a number of things -Siderlei
continued-, such as the pressure AmBev is
using to impose ‘hour banks,’ at a time in which unions
and labor federations in Brazil are struggling to
reduce working hours and eliminate the excessive work
pace in factories. With AmBev being one the
world’s largest breweries, we simply do not understand
how it can also have one of the worst track records in
the treatment of workers, imposing its policies through
coercive means, threatening to close down plants, and
pitting workers against workers, among other tactics.”
Siderlei
declared that “This cannot go on. First we will
coordinate actions and carry them out at the national
level, and then we will take global action, because we
know that this transnational corporation is applying the
same policies and procedures everywhere, and especially
in Latin America. The first efforts will be
focused on strengthening this National Committee,
coordinated by the CONTAC and the CNTA.
From now on, any AmBev-related problems will be
dealt with there. Then, we will contact unions in other
countries of Latin America to suggest that they adopt
this same modality of National AmBev Inter-Union
Committee, as a way of creating spaces for effective
coordination.”
Consulted by Sirel, CNTA president Artur
Bueno de Camargo observed that the meeting was convened
after “both organizations (the CONTAC and the CNTA)
became aware of the abuses and unfair treatment that
AmBev subjects its workers to in Brazil. The
meeting revealed pay inequalities, as well as a generalized
rejection of the ‘hour bank’ among workers, and a
questioning of the so-called Factory Excellence Program (PEF),
which awards bonuses to workers who meet the targets set by
the company. In addition -Artur Bueno continued- we
formed a committee that will meet on April 24 to survey
conditions in every AmBev plant in Brazil,
with the aim of devising a joint action plan.”
“There is widespread discontent -Artur said-, and we
will try to negotiate on these and other issues. The general
feeling is that if the company refuses to negotiate with us,
we will carry out a coordinated action, which could be
anything from a demonstration to a strike.”
Moreover, the CONTAC and the CNTA have decided
to publish a joint newsletter that will be distributed
simultaneously in all of AmBev’s factories in
Brazil.
 |
