Colombia

“It is sad that one of the main and most traditional exponents of the Colombian market, with the highest national private capital, would leave our Stock Exchange.” This statement, made by the President of the Colombian Stock Exchange Economist Juan Pablo Córdoba Garcés, published on Sunday 24 by El Espectador newspaper, contradicts the statements made by several government figures, who have claimed that Bavaria's purchase proves that “Colombia is becoming an attractive market” for foreign investment.

In social and labor spheres, this financial operation -the biggest in the history of the country- has had a clearly negative effect. The purchase was preceded by an attack against trade-union activities conducted by the company management, lead by Andrés Obregón, and the closure of workplaces. Such offensive was condoned since 1996 by the erratic and absurd policies of the company’s union Sinaltrabavaria, as we warned in a recent IUF article. When Obregón’s group took over, they boasted of having carried out policies of trade-union extermination in other companies of the Bavaria group, like Sofasa –a producer of Renault vehicles-, the airline Avianca and Conalvidrios.

Besides, this business is not going to have any impact at all in the creation of employment and the economic growth of the country, since it was just a cold-hearted calculation of the finance world. Before it was sold and over its past four years, Bavaria had had a “technical and administrative reorganization”, translated in the closure of 11 breweries and 2 malt makers. The company conducted at that time a ruthless trade-union persecution and imposed “voluntary retirement” for thousands of workers -men and women-, or simply a collective lay-off, with the surreptitious consent of officers at the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. When conditions were suitable and the union Sinaltrabavaria was sufficiently weakened and undermined, a collective bargaining was signed which was a disgrace and a humiliation for the workers, an overt violation of the national legal provisions in force and ILO agreements (International Labor Organization). The company nonetheless filed a suit before the High Court of the Judicial District of Bogotá for the termination of the union, arguing that it affected their interests and those of the shareholders. This process and the dismissal of 5,600 workers covered by collective bargaining agreements are taking place at the present time.

Bavaria’s payroll has been reduced to only 1,500 people, 60 percent of which are outsourced labour, with term contracts from 3 to 5 months. The company encouraged former employees to form co-ops organizations whose services were hired to perform duties which used to be done workers in the payroll, members of the trade-union.

At present, if company workers wish to keep their insecure jobs, they must prove they have no relationship with members of other companies’ trade unions, they must report their fellow workers who show signs of disloyalty to the company or laziness, they must be “disciplined” and unquestionably obedient to company management and of course make no attempt whatsoever of reorganizing the union. However, SAB Miller has to face more than 1,600 cases of legal action at labour courts brought by workers trying to individually defend their rights.

To this social disaster, adds the reality that SAB Miller has all the rights to remove their capital when they please, as any other multinational company; as a matter of fact the financial management of Bavaria is to be done in London.

SAB Miller trade unions and workers in other countries should take, in coordination with IUF International, political and union actions to protect the basic rights derived from the ILO agreements, in Colombia and other Latin American nations where Grupo Santo Domingo had vested interests. The ILO mission, soon to arrive in Colombia, shall have plenty of food for thought.

Luis A. Pedraza

© Rel-UITA

11 August, 2005