Lázaro “Lacho” Antonio Serrano and Carlos Alberto Luch, former organization secretary and former general secretary, respectively, of the Union of Workers of Embotelladora Central Sociedad Anónima (STECSA), leave their positions as members of the union’s Executive Committee after serving eight years. They leave after an extremely dynamic period in the history of the union, during which the plant went from being a nationally-owned business to being controlled by two different transnational corporations, with perhaps different attitudes, but with one same strategy: undermining the union. 

-How many years have you been with Coca-Cola, Carlos?

-This is my 15^th year.

-And you, Lacho?

-I’ve been here 27 years.

-Yesterday, January 14, you both stepped down from your positions in the union’s Executive Committee. After your eight years there, what is your evaluation of that period?

Carlos –We had to face a lot of changes. In March 1998, Panamco (Panamerican Beverages Inc.) acquired the plant from Corporación Porras. Later, in 2002, FEMSA (Fomento Económico Mexicano S.A) purchased Panamco, forming the largest Coca-Cola bottling company outside of the United States and the leading one in Latin America.

Throughout this whole period, although we saw many different faces and characters in charge, in our opinion the boss has always been the same. If we look at the logs of claims presented by one or the other transnational corporation in 1998 and now by FEMSA, there are no changes in its basic strategy. Panamco may have been a bit more aggressive, but the goal of both has always been the same: to do everything in their power to undermine the union. In the face of this, as a labor union, we have maintained the same policy within the framework of the collective bargaining agreement: never a step backwards, always forward, even if it means taking tiny steps.

That is the battle we’ve been waging since ‘98, fighting off the attempts to break, as we say, the backbone of our collective agreement.

Lacho -We, who have been heading the Committee for eight years, have had serious clashes with the business sector. We have faced all of these situations from a position built through the ample support that workers have given us and the trust they’ve shown in our work. The rank-and-file members have corroborated this in countless meetings and in each election held in our union.

All in all, we think we’ve done a good job, but we also think the organization needs to breathe some fresh air, and that’s why Carlos and I have decided not to take part of the new Executive Committee.

-It is something that is evident when you see how any worker can come into the office where the Committee works, and they sit down and talk openly, without any problem, and the workers don’t feel inferior to the union leaders, who in turn don’t look down on them from a higher position…

Lacho –Which is something that management has tried to do. If you recall, Gerardo, during the negotiation with Panamco, which lasted 23 months and ended in 2002, the transnational corporation wanted the union to leave the plant, claiming they needed the space for storage purposes, and it tried to convince us by offering to pay the rent for a fancier place for our headquarters…

Carlos –They even offered us an entire floor in a hotel

(laughter)…

Lacho –They wanted us to hold our meetings in conventions centers in some hotel or in a theater. We know very well that our greatest strength is in maintaining a direct and permanent contact with our rank-and-file members, and we’re not going to give that up. The office space we have for the Executive Committee is very small, but there is a warm atmosphere there; it’s a place where we all feel equal.

-While the transnational corporations bring in their “union models”, you know full well that, from Rel-UITA, we seek to socialize the way this union works outside the country.

Carlos –I’d say that STECSA is the thorn stuck in Coca-Cola’s side since the 1980s, when the agreement between the IUF and the Coca-Cola Company was signed. That represented a milestone, because through the international boycott and pressure we were able to negotiate directly with the transnational corporation’s parent company. That is why when Coca-Cola realized what it had done, it tried to get STECSA out of the way. STECSA also represents a bad example in the eyes of any other transnational corporation.

-Does the struggle continue for you?

Lacho –Something we have been underlining throughout all these years is that the same responsibility you have when you’re in a leadership position in the union, you also have when you’re among the rank-and-file. The “compa” that says: “I’ve done my duty for the union, now it’s somebody else’s turn,” well, that worker just didn’t get it, he didn’t learn a thing!

-How would you define the way you feel being a member of STECSA?

Carlos –I joined the company when I was very young, at 19. STECSA gave me what nobody else had given me. My grandmother used to say that you have to give in order to receive, and, well, very soon l realized that STECSA gives you a lot, but at the same time it needs a lot from you. With the passing of time, I also became aware that the union is all of us and that it is everywhere.

Lacho –When I started working in Coca-Cola, during the hard times of 1979, we had at the most 50 members and a strong solidarista association that sought to destroy the union. From that moment, I began to understand that the union was to a great extent my family. Today I am grateful for all it’s given me. We’ve had some difficult times, but we’ve also had good moments, we can’t deny it.

I know that I’m only going to leave the union when I’m dead and buried. As long as I’m alive, I’m going to follow my organization closely, I’m going to continue fighting for STECSA.